Perfume Shop in Paestum

Poseidonia was originally founded by Greeks around 600 B.C.  Towards the end of the 5th century B.C., the Peseidoniates were defeated by the Lucanians who claimed the city as their own.  Another war broke out in the beginning of the third century B.C. resulting in Romans taking control of Poseidonia.  It then became the Roman colony of Paestum in 273 B.C.. At this point, in order to conform to the other Roman cities, modifications were made to the city.  This general layout is what you can still find today.  

Yesterday, we were able to visit Paestum.  Luckily, we were able to go on a day that they were celebrating a Saint known for protecting police and we were able to witness a bit of that celebration which was full of music and laughter.  The real reason we were there, though, was to see the old forum and look for evidence of perfume making and perfume shops.  Many people know that Italy is a major producer of wine, olive oil, but most don’t know that it was a major producer of wheat as well.  Paestum, specifically was known for their olive oil, which was used as the base for perfumes, and roses which added a nice scent.  These became a large part of Paestum economy by around 4 B.C.  Perfume was popular among all classes.  Perfume making and selling were very lucrative business opportunities, but the startup costs were high and there was a low social status attached to the profession.  Typically, a rich family, local leader, Senator, etc. would buy a perfume shop and charge a slave or freedman with the task of running it.   This was one way many slaves were able to buy their freedom.  There was also a fortune to be made in passing off perfumes made with second rate oil.

Perfumes were often used for community baths.  There was some controversy in this.  Perfumes were not appreciated in Rome in the early Republic as they were luxuries that suggested the Orient.  For a short time there were laws banning perfumes.  After the conquest of the Mediterranean and the war against Antichos III, that changed.  The Church, however, believed that the use of exotic perfumes was wrong because they could be used for seduction.  Though they did understand the importance of cleanliness and hygiene.  They also used perfumes for funerary practices and for different religious events.   The church was one of the biggest consumers in the perfume industry.  Pictured below is an image of the “Pool” in which community baths took place.

In the forum (a Roman market place) in Paestum, that there is a place set in the corner for a perfume shop.  This was quite common in other places in Italy as well.  Perfume shops used to be a gathering place for people of different classes to get together and talk about news.  In that time, it was rare to see people of different classes mingling in that way.  Some perfume shops had decorated presses so that shop owners could prepare perfumes for customers as they waited.  Most of these decorative presses were made of wood, making it difficult to tell if they had been traded or made in the specific places, it is most likely a combination of the two.  In addition, there was a lot of trade between cities for different ingredients of the perfumes.  Below is a picture of the Forum that we visited.

There was a perfume shop was located just at the corner of the forum.   The shop was constructed at the same time the forum was.  This section of the forum was most likely used as early as 273 B.C..  A second shop, dated back to the second quarter of the first century A.D. was also located near the forum.  This shop contained a press bed dating back to around late first or second century B.C..  Based on the date and the fact that the press bed was so carefully sculpted, archeologists found that this press was used for making perfume bases.  This shop was most likely one of the gathering places mentioned above which would explain the careful sculpting of the press as it was probably used to press olives as the base for perfumes in front of customers.

The press itself was carved into a marble block.  This was most likely a very expensive press.   The equipment for perfume making was a huge barrier to entry in the industry.  There is evidence of erosion on this particular press indicating a slow and cumulative erosion caused by pressing olive oil.  In perfume shops, the olives were ground up in mortars then the oil was extracted using presses, this process produced lower yields, but it allowed for smaller presses which would fit in the shop.  This is a picture of the perfume shop.