They put nice smelling wood or leaves into a fire. A nice smell came through the smoke. That is how we got the word perfume. In Latin, per means"through," and fumus means"smoke." In ancient times, people used a lot of perfume. The Greeks used different perfumes for different parts of the body. Everybody used perfume, both men and women. When guests came for a special dinner, the host gave them more perfume to put on themselves. The Romans did the same as the Greeks. But they did not just perfume themselves once a day. They perfumed themselves three times a day! They also perfumed their dogs and horses. They perfumed their flags and things around the house such as drapes and cushions. Perfume was as important as food.