In the first century BCE, glass making also came into its own as the Romans made innovations in traditional glass production. To find out about this, we ask an expert glass blower to tell us what the Romans did to change the way glass was produced and appreciated. Watch. In the late Republic, the Romans also made strides in the area of glass making. To find out about this, we tracked down one of America's master glass makers and historians. The way that we work with glass is very similar to the way the Italians worked in the Renaissance. When they started back 2000 years ago, they had a very limited palette of color. Lots of turquoise cuz it was readily available. Because of our modern technology, we have available to us over 300 different colors. Both in transparents and opaque colors. The main difference between then and now is the sophistication in terms of the types of materials and tools we have. They had to bundle reeds and different types of wood in order to get certain temperatures. There's a guy in all the glass houses who was known as the bundler or the fireman. And they would know where to go in the forest to get the right kind of wood. Some green, some old, and they would bundle it together and then that's how they kept their temperature. Because that guy knew just the right amount of wood and the right type of wood to put in there. Along with our furnace that holds the glass right in the middle there, we have these blast furnaces we call glory holes. They didn't have that capability back then. They had to do everything in and out of the furnace. And they probably had somebody hitting bellows. You know, it was a real team effort. [SOUND] Forty or fifty years BC is when they figured out how to make clay pipes that they could actually gather glass on the end and then inflate. So that was huge development. And then with the spread of the Roman Empire, in Roman times, the Romans were not allowed to work in the trades. They were special, so they farmed out all the glass blowing to Palestine, Lebanon, Israel, Cypress, like that. All the glass blowing was done in Mesopotamia or in Palestine. And around 50 years AD is when they figured out how to blow into bowls. Then they were able to pick up the pace, then glass became like a utilitarian object in most people's homes. [MUSIC] So the first century BCE was a time of dynamic developments in art and politics in Rome. It ended with Octavian, now Augustus, firmly in control. And to look at the Rome that he made, you'll have to join us for the next lecture.