This lavishly illustrated book places glass in its social setting within the Roman household. The volume was written to accompany the traveling exhibition Roman Glass: Reflections on Cultural Change. Through a series of vignettes, the author tells the story of the development of the glass industry in the Roman Empire and the role of glass in the daily routines of the ancient Romans.

During the reign of Rome's first emperor, Augustus (27 B.C.-A.D. 14), as several well-established industries such as pottery- and textile-making were being expanded, the craft of glassmaking was adopted...