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Glass cups bearing labeled images of charioteers and gladiators were popular between ad 50 and 80 and have been found throughout the empire's northwestern quadrant, including Italy. Fashioned in the recently invented technique of mold-blowing, their words and images were doubly legible on the translucent support: the names and contestants appear on both sides of the glass wall. A phenomenological approach to the cups reveals an overlooked phase in the representation of the empire's leading sports, as well as new ways of reading and watching the games in glass. The cups' sensory allure complicates their traditional categorization as souvenirs and vehicles of imperial propaganda.

Destinations in Mind explores how objects depicting distant places helped Romans understand their vast empire. At a time when many sites were written about but only a few were represented in art, four distinct sets of artifacts circulated new information. Engraved silver cups list all the stops from Spanish Gades to Rome, while resembling the milestones that helped travelers track their progress. Vivid glass cups represent famous charioteers and gladiators competing in circuses and amphitheaters, and offered virtual experiences of spectacles that were new to many regions. Bronze bowls commemorate forts along Hadrian’s Wall with colorful enameling typical of Celtic craftsmanship. Glass bottles display labeled cityscapes of Baiae, a notorious resort, and Puteoli, a busy port, both in the Bay of Naples. These artifacts and their journeys reveal an empire divided not into center and periphery, but connected by roads that did not all lead to Rome. They bear witness to a shared visual culture that was not divided into high and low art, but united by extraordinary craftsmanship. New aspects of globalization are apparent in the multilingual place names that the vessels bear, in the transformed places that they visualize, and in the enriched understanding of the empire’s landmarks that they impart. With in-depth case studies, the book argues that the best way to comprehend the Roman empire is to look closely at objects depicting its fascinating places.