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This article describes the process of reconstructing the scents of two perfumes used to prevent the plague during the reign of Marcus Aurelius and his son Commodus, as recorded by Herodian. Scent reconstructions have recently been proposed as a way of interpreting and presenting texts, similar to how visual figures have been traditionally used. However, issues of production, distribution, and scholarly methods and standards of evaluation are in flux and being refined. We began with the recent model published by Marx et al. from the Odeuropa project. Adapting their model required us to present and contrast two scents rather than one, and unlike Marx et al., we did not have detailed ancient recipes to work from. Therefore, we chose to interpret the contrast Herodian suggests rather than strive for strict historical accuracy of the two scents. Here, we present the texts we used and outline the methods and challenges involved when producing this olfactory interpretation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]