Roman Oculists' Stamp

Staying healthy in Pontes, Roman Staines – an oculists’ stamp. This stone stamp measures 25.5 x 14.5 x 8 mm and was used to mark collyria, sticks of soft eye medicine. Shavings from the stick would have been mixed with a liquid and applied to the eyes. The lettering on the ends are ‘retrograde’, or mirrored, so when stamped it can be read. This one is marked ‘SENI LENE’ and ‘SENI NARD’. Ralph Jackson has interpreted SENI as meaning ‘Senior’, the name of the oculist, LENE as indicating it is a soothing medicine for treating conjunctivitis, and NARD is short for nardinum, indicating nard oil is the key ingredient. Nard oil was, kilo for kilo, more valuable than gold and was traded across the entire empire. The very best nard oil came from the foothills of the Himalayas and here it is in Roman Staines being used by an eye doctor, wow! Photography used a Canon EOS2000, a 50mm EF lens and a 12.5mm extension tube. F20 aperture was employed to achieve sufficient depth of field.