Ca. 50-100 AD A beautiful bronze oil lamp with a sizeable central filling hole in the discus, a long nozzle and a low concave foot with concentric circles.During the Roman Empire, a lamp was originally called a ?lychnus? (from the Greek ????????) with the oldest Roman lamps dating back to the third century BC. It is thought that the Romans took the idea for lamps from the Greek colonies of Southern Italy. During the Roman Empire, it became commonplace to use lamps in funeral ceremonies and for public purposes. Over time, the manufacture of lamps increased, and so did the variation in decoration, which depended mainly on the shape and size of the lamp. Common decorative themes depicted on the discus were entertainment scenes (such as gladiators in combat), common myths, and animals.For a comparison piece, see item number 18, p. 18 in Mele, N. M. (1984). Catalogo delle lucerne in bronzo del Museo archeologico nazionale di Napoli. Roma: Ist. Poligrafico dello Stato. Size: L:200mm / W:76mm; 518g Provenance: From the Estate of Robert Flourance VA USA.