Roman glass was a popular material within the empire, used extensively across all classes. The introduction of the glass-blowing technique revolutionised Roman glass technology from the 1st century AD. Glass items became so popular that certain clay cups had stopped being produced. Glass workers managed to colour glass by using metal oxides. For example, iron would be used to create green and white manganese made it purple. Coloured glass would be used to create unique vessels, jewellery and mosaic pieces. Engravers also found ways to cut glass to replicate carved gems which were found on rings.
The colour green within Ancient Rome was associated with youth, liveliness and freshness. It was paired with the vegetable leeks and was thought to be Emperor Nero’s favourite colour due to his love of leeks. Green within art was typically used for garden scenes within the Roman home, it was also used for architecture and sculpture.
For more information about Roman glass, please see our blog post: Ancient Roman Glass