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Life in the Roman Army and the Realities of Rome

Khalid Elhassan November 19, 2021 37 min

Octavian and Mark Antony oversee the proscription of the optimates in 43 BC. Alamy

First century AD fresco of a Roman woman doing her hair — First-century AD fresco of a Roman woman doing her hair. Naples National Archaeological Museum

6. Roman Women Used Lead to Dye Their Hair

People have dyed their hair for thousands of years, but until the arrival of modern science, they often flew blind when it came to which ingredients they selected for their hair dye. As a result, to dye one’s hair was often a fraught affair, whose risks ranged from cosmetic hair damage or destruction at the low end to catastrophic damage to health at the high end. For ancient Romans, the safer end included temporary dyes such as henna, and odd dyes such as a paste made of pigeon dung and earthworms to lighten the hair, or the ashes of donkey testicles to fight hair loss.

The more dangerous end of the spectrum could include substances such as lead and sulfur. Both ancient Greek and Roman women used lead and sulfur in their concoctions when they wanted a permanent hair dye. Their hair probably looked great as a result, but the health consequences could be extreme. For example, we now know such exposure to lead could lead to maladies that include headaches, weight loss, miscarriages, birth defects, seizures, and death, among many other bad side effects.

Written by

Khalid Elhassan

A lifelong history buff, I developed a particular passion for WW2 history as a child, when I spent hours listening to my grandfather, enraptured, as he recounted his wartime experiences in the British East African Campaign and with the British 8th Army in North Africa.

I graduated with a history BA from George Mason University, then went on to get a JD from the University of Virginia School of Law. After lawyering for a decade, I moved to sunny Rio de Janeiro and a less demanding career, opening a tourism agency in Copacabana.

A big chunk of my free time is spent blogging (you can follow me on Quora https://www.quora.com/profile/Khalid-Elhassan ) or freelance writing, mostly about my favorite subject, history.