The Natural History of Pliny, Volume 4 (of 6)

Chapter 369: CHAP. 2. (1.)—PLANTS USED BY NATIONS FOR THE ADORNMENT OF THE PERSON.

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The text compiles practical and encyclopedic guidance on crop cultivation and plant uses, beginning with cereals and farm management — types of grain, sowing and harvesting schedules, ploughing, seed selection, storage, and maladies — plus weather and stellar prognostics for agricultural timing. It proceeds to flax and garden plants, detailing varieties, planting and processing methods, garden layout, and pest and disease remedies. The final section assembles medicinal preparations and numerous remedies derived from vegetables and herbs, listing applications and recipes for treating ailments using garden-grown plants.

CHAP. 2. (1.)—PLANTS USED BY NATIONS FOR THE ADORNMENT OF THE PERSON.

I remark, in the first place, that there are some foreign nations which, in obedience to long-established usage, employ certain plants for the embellishment of the person. That, among some barbarous peoples, the females 2452 stain the face by means of various plants, there can be little doubt, and among the Daci and the Sarmatæ we find the men even marking 2453 their bodies. There is a plant in Gaul, similar to the plantago in appearance, and known there by the name of “glastum:”2454 with it both matrons and girls 2455 among the people of Britain are in the habit of staining the body all over, when taking part in the performance of certain sacred rites; rivalling hereby the swarthy hue of the Æthiopians, they go in a state of nature.