Abstract
Circa 20 CE the practice of glassblowing, which likely originated in either Syria or Judea, had begun to spread across the Roman Empire. Glassblowing was significantly faster than older methods of shaping glass and therefore resulted in less costly wares, affordable for even lower class Romans. Glassblowing remained in use from the first century CE through the fall of the Roman Empire in the fifth century CE during which time the Romans established glassblowing workshops in far-reaching locations such as Lyons, Putoeli, and Sardis. Despite the long life and prominence of Roman glass, limited information remains about the glass industry itself or the glassworkers. \r To provide background information necessary for understanding why the invention of glassblowing this paper begins with an overview of Hellenistic and Roman glass shaping techniques, the duration of their usage, their advantages, and the benefits glass provided to the Romans. In the second chapter, examines a passage on glass in the Price Edict of Diocletian in order to study glass production in the Roman Empire. Specifically, the second chapter uses evidence of Roman trade routes, passages from Pliny’s Natural History, evidence from the excavation at Jalame, and other scholarly research to suggest that the terms Judean glass and Alexandrian Glass refer to glass made in Judea and Alexandria rather than glass made in the style of Judea and Alexandria. The third chapter analyzes surviving glass wares, stylistic trends of glass during the Roman era (from the first century CE to the fifth century CE), and the Theodosian Codex to determine the social economic status and welfare of Western glassblowers and how that status changed over time. The third chapter also suggests that the centers of raw glass production in the Eastern Mediterranean were owned by wealthy Roman senators and equites based on comparisons to contemporary industries owned by senators. Ultimately, this paper reveals how glassblowing is a great case study for researching the immense impact that new technologies, such as glassblowing, could have on economics and social structure in the ancient Mediterranean.