The Amazing History of Spices by Emma L. (G5)

The Amazing History of Spices

By Emma L.

Grade 5

In modern day, you know the delicious spices you put on your food, such as cinnamon or bay leaves, but have you ever wondered, how did spices come to how they are today? People have been using spices since the beginning of history. One reason is that Rome, Italy, became extremely powerful in the first century BCE because they started the spice-trade. Another is that spices were extremely valuable, and only wealthy people could afford them because they were hard to get. Finally, ancient Greek and Roman scientists such as Hippocrates, Galen, and Pliny, believed that spices could heal. It’s amazing how long they’ve been used, and especially how spices have been used back in Roman times. Back then, spices were not used how it is used today. 

Rome, Italy, became extremely powerful in the first century BCE because it started the spice-trade. The spice-trade was when countries who wanted to trade spices with others had to pass through Rome. When they were transferring spices on the Silk Road, everyone had to go through Rome to trade to northern Africa and southern Europe. The Silk Road was used for transferring spices back-and-forth. It was special to them because back then; it was the only way the spice-traders could trade spices. Rome started the powerful trade center in Alexandria, Egypt. When Rome controlled the spice trade, it had much more strength and control over many other civilizations in the spice trade. Rome was called ‘The Spice-Trade King’ because of how powerful it was since they created it. It was the 14th century; Venice, Italy, was the new trade port for spices that went to western and northern Europe. The text, The Life of Spice quotes, “Soon, the competition for control of the spice trade turned bloody. European nations went to war over a group of islands in Indonesia known as the Spice Islands. Controlling trade with those islands meant big money-big, big money. There was so much at stake that Europe fought over the islands for about 200 years.” This shows that spices were precious because they were fighting over them for two hundred years. 

Spices were extremely valuable because they got rarer. At one point, spices became so valuable that only wealthy people could afford them, and then it became so valuable, it was hard for them to avoid them. Roman emperor Nero lost his wife, and he wanted to show how great his grief was. He showed it by burning a supply that could last for a year of valuable cinnamon. Holland gained control of Malacca, which is in Indonesia. The Dutch traders wanted to stop Holland’s wealth, so they burned the cinnamon trees. It made the spices rarer, but at the same time, more expensive. America joined the spice trade in the 18th century. They created their own spice companies and traded directly with the people who were growing the spices in Asia. They avoided the European trade companies, and American spice companies became very wealthy. “By this time, spices had become so valuable that only wealthy people could afford them.” This shows that as the spices got rarer, the more expensive they got.

Ancient Greek and Roman scientists such as Hippocrates, Galen, and Pliny believed spices could heal. During the Olympic Games, they showed how people won by awarding them with a crown made of bay leaves and myrtle. Scientists today tested whether medicines made from spices such as turmeric, cinnamon, oregano, and sage may heal people with Alzheimer’s disease or high cholesterol. The text cites, “In the ancient Olympic Games, which took place from 776 BCE to 394 CE, athletes were rewarded with crowns made of plants, including spices such as bay leaves or myrtle. Some ancient Greek and Roman scientists, including Hippocrates, Galen, and Pliny, believed that spices had healing properties. These ancient scientists may have been onto something. Today’s scientists have tested whether medicines made from spices such as turmeric, cinnamon, oregano, and sage might be able to treat conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease and high cholesterol.” This shows that they might have discovered that plants work for healing some things a long way back in history.

Overall, the spice trade was an amazing but bloody era for most Europeans. There were many countries that were powerful and very rich but then got overturned. Its beauty was when they got rarer, and expensive, along with many theories of it being able to heal. So the next time you sprinkle spices on your food, think about its history and how you would’ve been wealthy if you had lived then!