David Anthony Durham, in his afterword to Pride of Carthage, writes: This book is a work of fiction and should only be read
as a novel. It was inspired by real figures and events, but I have taken many
liberties to arrange the material into a workable narrative.
That is the fiction writer's privilege. But should that extend to anachronism?
Bingley found this passage:
The magistrate rose and fetched a jug of wine and a glass. It was early in the day, yes, but Silenus found himself thirsty as well. He motioned for the jug and drank directly from it, deeply enough to ensure that he would feel the effects. Diodorus took the jug from him and refilled his glass. A few moments passed like this, the two of them shuttling the jug back and forth, each captured by thoughts of his own.
And he wondered, did they have wine glasses in the 3rd century BCE? I did some checking, and it seems not quite yet: Wkipedia, Glassmaking in Antiquity, and The History of Glass Making all refer to the 1st century BCE as the point when glass blowing was invented.
In the empire, glassmaking was raised to a real art. Here are photos I took at various German museums.
The Romans also knew how to make sliding glass windows, as these photos show, from a villa rustica in Ahrweiler, Germany.
[In April, we talked about wine making]
