Designed with elegant simplicity, this drinking cup was first used when the Roman Empire was at its height. What drink might it have contained and whose lips might it have refreshed in that vanished age? Perhaps it held Gallic wine downed by a thirsty centurion. A Judean lady might have sipped cool well water while gossiping with her friends. An actor might have cleansed his voice with juice between acts of a play. From an object like this, used in an everyday context, we can reconstruct an entire world in our imaginations.