In classical times the term "spices" meant much more than flavorings for foods. Religious rituals required the burning of resins and incense to invoke the gods, to expel evil spirits, and to pay tribute to the emperors. Spices came in the form of ointments, powders, wood, bark, roots, resins, and herbs and were used in countless ways: 

Perfumes in powders (aromata)	Queen Hatshepsut of Egypt used cinnamon as an aromatic as early as 1,500 BC; the henna-flower perfume of the Romans had cardamom added; rose perfume included ginger-grass. Both spices were first soaked in wine.
In cosmetics
Incense for religious ceremonies  (thumiata)	Egyptian temples burned a rich compound of spices known as kuphi.  Julius Caesar's triumphal entrance into Rome was preceded by attendants carrying jars of burning spices as if    he was a god; Romans threw 210 loads of spices onto the    funeral pyre of Scylla.
Fumigants to purify the air	In the Ganges Valley, burning aloe-wood was used both as as a perfume and as a fumigant for use after surgery; the Romans used cinnamon to protect clothing from moths.
Ingredients in healing ointments and medicinal drugs	Hippocrates, the Greek physician, prescribed pepper as a cure for disease. Dioscordes, an army physician, wrote Materia Medica  on the function of spices and for their prescriptive uses for healing. His text lists twenty two pure, aromatic oils prescribed for specific ailments, such as safflower, sweet bay, myrrh, and myrtle, as well as twenty four compound ointments (made from herbs, resins, fragrant roots and woods) to be used for healing).
Preservatives (for embalming)	From earliest times, the Egyptians used rich mixtures of spices, including cloves as part of the mummification process. Upon the death of Nero's wife, Poppaea, a year's imports of perfumes, including cinnamon, were sprinkled on her body for embalming.
Antidotes against poisons (theriaca)	Crateuas, a famous physician, mentions a concoction using 36 ingredients; these include cumin, cardamom, anise, cassia, ginger, Indian nard, and myrrh. Mixed with honey and wine, it was said that one could withstand the strongest poison.
Love philtres and magical charms
For anesthesia in surgery	Early Greek writings mention the use of cloves and other spices for use during surgery.
For flavoring food and wine	Used to preserve foods as well as to flavor since earliest times. The first cookbook in the modern sense was written by the Roman Apicius. The 478 recipes, primarily for the rich man's table, were of wide variety and included exotic ingredients and use of    imported spices such as pepper, ginger, oil of cinnamon and turmeric.
As a valuable medium of exchange	Alaric of Gothe demanded 3,000 pounds of pepper from Rome in exchange for not sacking the city in 408 AD.

The sea trade was risky and often dangerous. It was also time-consuming and could take one or two years to complete the voyage. Myths and legends surrounded the origins of spices. Often traders were ignorant of the true origin of exotic goods they carried. It was also advantageous to conceal the source, because the strangeness and rarity of these spices meant that profits could be from forty to one hundred times the investment. 

• Refer students to the class lists of tasty foods, grooming products, cosmetics, and medicines. Can they imagine the demand in ancient times for similar goods?

• cinnamon/cassia 
• cloves 
• nutmeg/mace 
• ginger/turmeric 
• aloeswood  
• cardamom 
• black pepper 
• myrrh 
• frankincense
• vanilla
• saffron

• common name of plant/spice (title of poster) 
• drawing of the plant 
• drawing showing parts of plant used 
• habitat (name of countries where grown) 
• traditional and current (medicinal) uses