Jars
“Put the laserpitium in a spacious glass jar with about twenty pine nuts, grind some of the pine
nuts and you will be surprised by the flavor they give the food.” (Apicius, De
Re Coquinaria I.10)
Glass jars were an essential part of any Roman household. Large ones would store diet staples, such
as bread flour, olives, and dried fish. Small ones, if well-sealed, could preserve the seeds of a kitchen
spice such as black lovage or celery, the leaves of medicinal herbs such as rue or pennyroyal, or a skin-soothing
lotion perfumed with vervain or aloes. A physican’s drug-box also would be stuffed with such jars containing
the likes of seeds of opium poppy (for insomnia and coughs) and various herbal purges, such as Alexandrian senna or scammony.
All glassware is shown at a scale of one-to-one unless otherwise stated. |
Laserpitium or Silphium
(Scorodosma
foetida)
From Dioscorides’ De Materia Medica |
