Details

COLEM:1981.1.G3102

Colchester Collections

cup, gladiator cup, inscription

This is a fragment of a glass ‘sports cups’, decorated with scenes of gladiators. They were popular in the western Roman empire in the first century AD. This fragment is decorated with part of a torso, extended left arm, extended right leg and bent left leg, wearing a shin guard, of a gladiator wearing loin cloth. He holds a large shield on the left arm. To the right of the figure is an inscription with the letters ..TAR... This name is not recorded on any other known gladiator sports cups.Colchester Museums curate one of the best collections of Roman glass in the country, especially of the first century AD thanks to Boudica’s rebellion and destruction of the town. The Romans used glass to manufacture a huge range of objects, from bottles, bowls and bath flasks, to hairpins, gaming counters and even windowpanes. In the early period glass vessels were imported into Britain but, from the second half of the first century AD, glass was also made here. The development of glass blowing techniques meant that certain items could be produced cheaply and in large quantities. Glass is often thought to be rare from the Roman world, because it is so fragile, but the main reason for its rarity is because it was recycled throughout the Roman period.

0065 - 0180

Roman

TAR[---]

height: 4.10 cm
width: 4.50 cm

In Store