Gli inganni di Cleopatra. Fonti per lo studio dei profumi antichi. (Biblioteca dell'Archivum Romanicum. Serie I: Storia, Letteratura, Paleografia 520.) Pp. x + 191, maps, colour pls. Florence: Leo S. Olschki, 2022. Paper, €22. ISBN: 978-88-222-6812-9

The following sections are devoted to anecdotes such as the weakening of masculine virtues under the influence of perfumes, the geography of odours, the art of perfumery in the Greek and Roman world, the links of perfumes with political power, the main ingredients, medical recipes, inscriptions, perfume as a reason for mockery or contempt, the uses of scented oils by women and men, their uses during the banquet, the culinary use of aromatics, exceptional characters related in one way or another to perfumes and finally the perfume trade. The epigraphic texts highlight the use of aromatic ingredients in the medical field, completing information given by Dioscorides, and the social role of the perfumer in Rome. There are other texts mentioning perfumes and their uses as well as inscriptions relating in particular to the price of perfumes (for example IG XI/2, 287 A, line 54 and 203, line 39), but this useful book conveniently offers students and researchers an important series of sources on the subject. isabelle.algrain@ulb.be