UNGUENTA, ointments, oils, or salves. The application of unguenta in
connection with the bathing and athletic contests of the ancients is
stated under BALNEUM and ATHLETAE. But although their original object
was simply to preserve the health and elasticity of the human frame,
they were in later times used as articles of luxury. They were then
not only employed to impart to the body or hair a particular colour,
but also to give to them the most beautiful fragrance possible; they
were, moreover, not merely applied after a bath, but at any time,
to render one’s appearance or presence more pleasant than usual. In
short, they were used then as oils and pomatums are at present. At
Rome these luxuries did not become very general till towards the end
of the republic, while the Greeks appear to have been familiar with
them from early times. The wealthy Greeks and Romans carried their
ointments and perfumes with them, especially when they bathed, in
small boxes of costly materials and beautiful workmanship, which
were called _Narthecia_. The traffic which was carried on in these
ointments and perfumes in several towns of Greece and southern Italy
was very considerable. The persons engaged in manufacturing them
were called by the Romans _Unguentarii_, or, as they frequently
were women, _Unguentariae_, and the art of manufacturing them
_Unguentaria_. In the wealthy and effeminate city of Capua there was
one great street, called the Seplasia, which consisted entirely of
shops in which ointments and perfumes were sold.