The Romans didn’t invent perfume but gave us its name. “Perfume” derives from the Latin per fumum, meaning “through smoke,” as incense was a popular way to fragrance the air.

Fragrance was not only reserved for the wealthy; it was also offered to the gods. Ancient customs involved priests throwing scented ointments on braziers, creating fragrant smoke that ascended to the heavens, reaching the deities. Classical poetry described the Graces wearing scented garments infused with crocus, violet, hyacinth, and rose. These scents symbolized dignity, youth and beauty. Perfume was an attempt to capture the divine aroma, granting mortals a glimpse of divinity when they wore it.
Roman perfumes took various forms like waters, powders, incense and oil-based unguents. Plant-derived ingredients, like flowers, seeds, leaves, and gums, were mixed with oil to create fragrances. Animal-based elements such as musk and ambergris, secreted by sperm whales, were commonly used as base notes in layered blends. Melinum from quince blossoms, metopium from bitter almonds, and susinum made with lilies, calamus, sweet rush, costus, spikenard, amomum, myrrh, and balm were among the scents one could wear.