SPICES The first notable uses of spices and herbs in very early times were in medicine, in the making of holy
oils and unguents, and as aphrodisiacs. Priests
employed them in worship, incantations, magical rites, and rituals.
Ancient books of herbs, inc1uding those of Cathay, Sumer, Assyria, Egypt, Greece, and Rome, testify to the use of spices and herbs in the
treatment of diseases. Hippocrates, Galen, and Pedanius Dioscorides, among others, employed them. ln the first century of the Christian Era, Pliny the Elder, in his Natural History, comments a 10t about the efficacy and healing powers of spices and herbs in the treatment of just about every disease known to his days. With moderation, they were filtered down into the Middle Ages and are still known today.
By Fausto Fabio de Araujo