ANST - Roman Soap

[C. L. Ward]

Pliny does mention soap, to wit:

Prodest et sapo, Galliarum hoc inventum rutilandis capillis. Fit ex sebo et
cinere, optimus fagino et caprino, duobus modis, spissus ac liquidus,
uterque apud Germanos maiore in usu viris quam feminis. 

Soap is the invention of the Gauls and this is used to redden the hair. It
is made from fat and ashes -- the best is beech wood ash and goat fat, the
two combined, thick and clear. Many among the Germans use it, the men more
than the women.

(Pliny the Elder Historia Naturalis)

It is likely that this soap was not being used to clean the hair but rather
to bleach it.  You make the soap strongly basic, and it does bleach hair.
The beechwood and gaot fat are not magical ingredients -- Pliny is simply
reporting the best type of lye source (beechwood ashes) and fat source
(goat fat) for use in soap.

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