We may presume that this was the practice at the Persian Court, and that the Great King therefore took care to have an officer, who should at all times be ready to provide his guests, or himself, with the scent which was most rare or most fashionable.
The Persians seem to have been connoisseurs in scents.

We are told that, when the royal tiara was not in wear, it was laid up carefully with a mixture of myrrh and _labyzus_, to give it an agreeable odor.

Unguents were thought to have been a Persian invention, and at any rate were most abundantly used by the upper classes of the nation.

The monarch applied to his own person an ointment composed of the fat of lions, palm wine, saffron, and the herb helianthes, which was considered to increase the beauty of the complexion.

He carried with him, even when he went to the wars, a case of choice unguents; and such a treasure fell into the hands of Alexander, with the rest of Darius's camp equipage, at Arbela.