Staying Fresh in Early Byzantium
Staying Fresh
in Early Byzantium
Scented Care Products
in Aetius of Amida’s
«Libri Medicinales»
Maciej Kokoszko
Zofia Rzeźnicka
7 July 2026 – 5 PM (CEST)
The lecture will focus on a group of selected illustrative recipes for body cleansers and powdered deodorants from Book VIII of Aetius of Amida’s medical encyclopaedia entitled Libri medicinales, composed in the 6th century. The speakers will address methods and the application of the cosmetics, their ingredients, as well as reasons for the choice of topical components, and production techniques.
Since many of formulas for care products were borrowed by Aetius from earlier authors, mostly from Titus Statilius Crito (active in the 2nd century AD), the lecture will also address the transmission and adaptation of ancient medical knowledge in the early Byzantine period.
The analysis has been designed to place the topic in a broader context by highlighting the value of medical texts for the research into social and economic history. As a result, the speakers will discuss the gender aspect of Byzantine cosmetology, indicating which sex was more likely to use particular types of cosmetics.
Furthermore, the presentation will also attempt to specify social groups for whom care products were intended. To that end, myrrh will be set as an indicator of social status and through analysing such factors as its place of origin, varieties, supply ways and trade routes as well as types of preparations to which it was added, the speakers will try to sketch a picture of both myrrh-based and myrrh-free recipe addressees. On the way, an issue of aromatic substance adulteration and substitution in the Byzantine Empire will also be discussed.
The lecture will therefore demonstrate how cosmetic recipes preserved in medical compilations can be used as valuable evidence for reconstructing everyday life in the Byzantine world.
About the Speakers ...
Maciej Kokoszko is Professor of Byzantine History at the Faculty of Philosophy and History of the University of Łódź (Poland). He is the chair of the international multidisciplinary conference Colloquia Ceranea. He is a specialist in ancient and early Byzantine medical literature, particularly the works of Galen, Oribasius, Aetius of Amida and Paul of Aegina.
Zofia Rzeźnicka is a historian and classical philologist affiliated with the Ceraneum Centre and the University of Łódź (Poland). She is a member of the Commission for the Investigation of Byzantine Medical Studies of the International Association of Byzantine Studies. She also coordinates the sections devoted to the history of food and the history of medicine at the international conference Colloquia Ceranea.
