Le Sel Dans L'Antiquite

What point in common can there possibly be between the goddess Aphrodite and ham preservation, a rose perfume and livestock feeding, the mummification of a human body and a gingival paste? Salt, according to Pliny the Elder, was “essential for maintaining life.”Among the Ancients, salt was mainly used as a powerful mediator. This attribute was due to its divine nature. The best illustrations of it were provided by Homer when he has Achilles and Patroclus in camp sprinkling their brochettes, or by Hesiod, according to whom Aphrodite was born from the salt produced by the crystallisation of Uranos’ sperm. A mineral substance endowed with the power of dissolving in water and reappearing in the form of crystals (evaporation), salt renders the various rituals or practices in which it is used sacred: the salt of the Covenant and its use in religious offerings among the Hebrews, table salt for sermons and refreshments among the Greeks, etc.Moreover, salt was used as a bond of friendship, as exemplified by a proverb cited by Aristotle and Cicero, which later would inspire a French writer to say: “Before you make a friend eat a bushel of salt with him.” The transversal approach of this volume gives us a panoramic view of salt in ancient times, which was regarded as a symbol of life in each of the cultures which helped to shape the Roman Empire, while the diversity of its uses lends these pages a special flavour.