Cylindrical glass bottle 200 - 300

Editor: Here we have a Roman glass bottle dating from 200 to 300 AD, a surprisingly delicate thing all things considered. What strikes me most is how ghostly it appears; as though time itself is clinging to its surface. It makes me wonder, what stories does something like this silently hold? What can you tell me about it? Curator: Ghostly is the perfect word! I see it shimmering like a memory. For me, these humble objects are intensely evocative. I often imagine someone carefully crafting this, maybe near a sun-drenched window in a Roman workshop, the Mediterranean breeze whispering through. It's easy to overlook its simplicity, but glassblowing was relatively new then. The clarity, the thin walls… this bottle wasn't just functional, it was beautiful, almost daring. What might it have held? Perfume? Precious oils? Or just everyday things like water or wine? Editor: It's amazing to think that something so fragile could survive so long. Were these types of bottles common? Curator: Surprisingly so! Mass production of glass was definitely a thing. They've found countless examples all over the Roman Empire. It's that everyday quality, I think, that gives them their power. They’re these tiny, shimmering portals straight to the past. Imagine how it felt to drink from that glass on a hot summer day... Or maybe use some nice-smelling oils! It feels like an open invitation to join that world. Don't you agree? Editor: Definitely, looking at it makes me consider the things we create today. Will people feel this same connection to objects from our own time, two thousand years from now? Curator: Ah, that’s the magic, isn’t it? To be transported and to ponder. It seems our ghostly bottle has stirred something in both of us.