Roman perfume bottle. Plants used by the Romans to prepare aromatic oils and perfumes included roses, lilies, myrtle, violets, hyacinths and irises. These were mixed with olive oil and grape juices. Other ingredients included herbs such as dill, basil and thyme. This perfume bottle was found in Pompeii, a Roman city destroyed by a volcano in 79 AD, and excavated in the 18th and 19th centuries. Many such bottles and unguents, with characteristic shapes and colours, have been found in what is called the House of the Perfumer. The bottles are displayed in the National Archaeology Museum in Naples, Italy.