The Roman Craftworkers of Late Antiquity: A Social History Glass Production and Related Industries

Craftworkers throughout history have nearly always worked anonymously, often as valuable assistants in the service of famed artisans but typically without proper credit or recognition. However, an unsigned piece can nevertheless reveal a world. While these craftworkers' names may be lost to history, their contributions can be properly acknowledged and their working realities in large part reconstructed through fresh methodological approaches to architectural, artefactual and epigraphic evidence and other sources. In this book, which will interest scholars in a wide range of fields, Hallie Meredith sheds new light on the crucially important but largely neglected work of fourth- to sixth-century Roman artists in traditional craft materials and processes, such as glass, ivory and marble carving. She uses these case studies to provide insights not just into the past but also into the continuing realities of uncredited creative labourers today.