Hailed for the incredible lavishness of its formula, no less than twenty-four herbs imported at great expense from the most distant lands, this "royal perfume" was the idol of the wealthy Romans. They enthusiastically soaked themselves with it at every opportunity, as was the fashion of the time. Reinterpreted by Dominique Ropion, Artaban is a pure concentrate of the wonders of the plant universe. Delight in its fragrant scents - bitter and sweet marjoram, cardamom with a spicy fruity taste, nard with earthy, resinous and woody accords, and green and herbaceous calamus with multiple fragrant facets.  — Astier de Villatte

Artaban, one of three fragrances in Astier de Villatte's Trois Parfums Historiques collection (the others are Les Nuits and Le Dieu Bleu), was inspired by a recipe recorded by Pliny the Elder of a lavish perfume created in Parthia (and used with gusto by ancient Romans). The perfume’s list of ingredients was long: ben nut juice and oil (extracted from the Moringa oleifera), wine, honey, costus, cinnamon, cardamom, mint, myrrh, cassia, styrax, labdanum (rockrose), balsam, aromatic reeds, fragrant rush from Syria, oenanthe (water parsley flower), henna, broom, opoponax, saffron, souchet (tiger nut), marjoram, lotos (the yellowish resin provided by a ferrule from Syria or the seed of the lotus from Egypt) and spikenard (also known as ‘nard’ or Indian lemongrass).

Ancient Romans went even further than today’s biggest buyer of perfume – Brazil. Not only did (rich) Romans douse themselves in fragrance, while they were at it they put perfume in comestibles and drinks, on their dogs, horses and birds (whose fluttering wings were yesteryear’s scent diffusers). Like us, Romans scented their homes and clothing, even their shoes. They liked to be “coated” in perfume.

Astier de Villatte Artaban seems a much simpler scent than the perfume of Parthian kings* and ancient Romans described above — what I smell bears little resemblance to the antique list of notes (the notes I've smelled, at least). I wore Artaban over the course of a week and noticed four distinct phases: pine/turpentine, an herbal, bitter/sour “daisy-smelling” note, loads of musky-sweet labdanum and a faded (but, shock, natural-smelling) patchouli in the extreme dry down. (Ropion mentioned in one article I read that patchouli is a stand-in for the nard used in the ancient formula.) Each time I wore Artaban, it smelled different as one of the above-mentioned scents/accords dominated (labdanum was “triumphant” most often). 

Artaban’s opening is medicinal; top notes smell of tingly pine and cooling herbs (think all-natural muscle ointment for aches and pains). The herbal (and slightly floral) middle notes smell familiar — like many fragrance oils I’ve encountered at natural drug stores and street markets — elixirs made to scent the body, improve the mood, induce sleep or arouse your creativity (or libido). And those usually cost $20 or under, not $167-$285! In its next-to-last phase, which arrives within 15 minutes of application on my skin, Artaban feels heavy, with all-enveloping labdanum. Artaban becomes a pleasant, sweet patchouli skin scent within an hour of application (no one ever noticed I was wearing Artaban, even when I used 10 sprays of the perfume).

Next up, my final (and favorite) destination: ancient Egypt with Le Dieu Bleu.

Astier de Villatte Artaban Eau de Parfum is available in 30 ml ($167) or 100 ml ($285) spray bottles; a boxed discovery set with all three perfumes (Les Nuits, Artaban and Le Dieu Bleu) in 10 ml bottles includes an interesting informational booklet on the Trois Parfums Historiques project, $210.

As with all three historic perfumes, historian Annick Le Guérer was involved in Artaban's creation. I read her interesting commentary on the perfumes here.

Note: top image is Inlay, satyr Ptolemaic Period–Roman Period, 100 BC–100 AD, Theodore M. Davis Collection, Bequest of Theodore M. Davis, 1915 [doubled] via The Metropolitan Museum of Art, public domain.

* Possible origin of the "Artaban" name. 

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