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

Hallie G. Meredith turns attention from celebrated late Roman artists to the largely anonymous people who made objects in glass, ivory, marble and related materials. Concentrating on the fourth to sixth centuries, she asks what architectural, artefactual and epigraphic evidence can reveal about the organisation and status of craftworkers whose names have usually disappeared from the historical record.

A finished object might carry no maker's name, but it still offers clues about skill and working conditions. Meredith pieces those together from surviving objects, buildings and inscriptions, treating production as a social activity rather than an isolated act of artistic genius. The people who shaped glass and carved stone belong in the history of late Roman society, even when the record tells us far more about what they made than who they were.