Hand Mirror
Many Episodes
Have you seen Tiberius use this mirror? He's so vain!
We expected that mirrors in the First Century AD would have been made of polished bronze, but at around the time our story takes place there would have been silvered glass too. Sometimes this type of design was mounted on a pedestal and the handle might have been decorated with a carved figure. Mirrors have been found wherever the Greeks and Romans went.
Pliny, a famous Roman historian, speaks of glass mirrors on several occasions. In one instance he writes:
"Silver mirrors have come to be preferred [to bronze ones]; they were first made by Pasiteles in the period of Pompey the Great [106-48 B.C.]. But it has recently come to be believed that a more reliable reflection is given by applying a layer of gold to the back of glass."
Click the picture to see a larger version - you might want to save it or print it too!