Miller, J. Innes.
Oxford University Press (Clarendon Press), 1998 (reprint of 1969 edition).
Book Number 19199
The word "spice" is derived from the Latin "species", meaning a commodity of special distinction, and during Roman times spices played an important role in religious ritual, in perfumery and in medicine as well as a minor role as flavourings for food and wine. The majority of spices came from the East and involved distant traders, routes and entreputs, and while the Romans themselves were neither traders nor explorers, their demand for spices involved others in the forging of new contacts and discoveries such as the use of the monsoons in navigation. In this closely detailed account Miller identifies the spice plants and their natural habitats in Roman times to reconstruct the trading networks and explore the role of the spice trade in scientific exploration and in the 'unconscious economic and cultural unity of the ancient world'. Fold-out map.