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(G.) Squillace Gli inganni di Cleopatra. Fonti per lo studio dei profumi antichi. (Biblioteca dell'Archivum Romanicum. Serie I: Storia, Letteratura, Paleografia 520.) Pp. x + 191, maps, colour pls. Florence: Leo S. Olschki, 2022. Paper, €22. ISBN: 978-88-222-6812-9.

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(G.) Squillace Gli inganni di Cleopatra. Fonti per lo studio dei profumi antichi. (Biblioteca dell'Archivum Romanicum. Serie I: Storia, Letteratura, Paleografia 520.) Pp. x + 191, maps, colour pls. Florence: Leo S. Olschki, 2022. Paper, €22. ISBN: 978-88-222-6812-9.

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 April 2023

Isabelle Algrain*
Affiliation:
Université libre de Bruxelles
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Abstract

Type
Notices
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2023. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of The Classical Association

S. is well known to specialists in ancient perfumes for having, among other works, published in 2010 Il profumo nel mondo antico con la traduzione italiana del “Sugli odori” di Teofrasto. This new volume completes the sources related to perfumes in Greek and Roman texts, presenting the original texts and their Italian translations, including some inscriptions. The purpose of this anthology is to function as a didactic tool, to be used for introducing the subject of perfume to students interested in the study of language, literature and other aspects of ancient societies. Its other goal is, in line with the work of Alain Corbin, to create a history of scents as well as to give an odour to history. Archaeological data is deliberately ignored, and a short bibliography provides some references for anyone interested in this specific subject. Most of the texts come from sources belonging to different literary genres (philosophy, botany, medicine, speeches, poetry etc.). The title of the book refers to several episodes of Cleopatra's life where she seems to deploy a real ‘olfactory strategy’ and which constitute the first series of translated texts. The texts are classified in fifteen thematic parts that concern, in the second part, the mentions of aromatic plants linked to mythological figures such as Daphne. The following sections are devoted to anecdotes such as the weakening of masculine virtues under the influence of perfumes, the geography of odours, the art of perfumery in the Greek and Roman world, the links of perfumes with political power, the main ingredients, medical recipes, inscriptions, perfume as a reason for mockery or contempt, the uses of scented oils by women and men, their uses during the banquet, the culinary use of aromatics, exceptional characters related in one way or another to perfumes and finally the perfume trade. Each part starts with descriptive and explanatory introductions. Various authors such as Theophrastus and Pliny provide information on perfumes and spices as well as the natural environment of the main aromatic plants. Pliny tells us about growing, harvesting and trading spices. Xenophon and Theophrastus mention the uses of perfumes, often decried, and considered inappropriate from a moral point of view, by women and men. Theophrastus presents techniques specific to perfumery, while Archestratus and Apicius are interested in the use of aromatics in the kitchen. The epigraphic texts highlight the use of aromatic ingredients in the medical field, completing information given by Dioscorides, and the social role of the perfumer in Rome. There are other texts mentioning perfumes and their uses as well as inscriptions relating in particular to the price of perfumes (for example IG XI/2, 287 A, line 54 and 203, line 39), but this useful book conveniently offers students and researchers an important series of sources on the subject.