The upper classes liked to eat red meat. Lacking refrigeration, either you would eat the entire beast immediately at a feast where the extended family gathered, or you would salt it. The cooks of Rome used the spices of Arabia to bring flavor back to salted meat. Salt itself was valuable – we get the word "salary" from its root. (And a worker's "worth his salt.") In addition, there were the perfumes, especially the balsam manufactured at Jericho and Ein Gedi.