the Romans. The convivial dedications found on several examples are paralleled on the bases on many Roman gold glass cups found mostly in Rome. The Lycurgus Cup has no out-turned rim, but may have been altered, or fitted with a metal rim like the modern one it has now. Like the Constable-Maxwell cup, the Corning cup is much wider than the other well-known examples, shaped more as a bowl than a cup, though apart from the lack of lettering, otherwise very similar in form to the narrower cups. The cups therefore probably form two groups: a bowl-shaped lamp group with no lettering, and a beaker-shaped group for drinking from, with lettering. Cups for drinking with rounded bottoms, which encourage faster consumption as they must either be held or placed rim down (and empty) on a surface such as a table, are known from various cultures, with for example the modern yard glass, and other types of "shot" glass. Origin Decorative Roman glass of the highest quality tends to be assigned to Rome or Alexandria, the latter mentioned as the source of over-elaborate glass by the 1st century satirist Martial and other sources. However the majority of finds of diatreta are from Roman sites along the Rhine, or near it, suggesting that they were produced in the area. Perhaps at Augusta Treverorum, modern Trier, the largest city of Roman Germany and the main residence of Constantine I for many years, coinciding with the period when the cups seem to have been made. Colonia Claudia Ara Agrippinensium, modern Cologne, is another possibility. Several more recent discoveries, including reputedly both the Corning and Constable-Maxwell cups, have been from the Eastern Empire, so there may have been two centres of production. Examples These represent most of the best-preserved examples to survive. Beaker-shaped: The Cologne cage cup at the Romano-Germanic Museum in Cologne. Its Greek letters read: ΠΙΕ ΖΗCΑΙC ΚΑΛѠC ΑΕΙ = ΠΙΕ ΖΗΣΑΙΣ ΚΑΛΩΣ ΑΕΙ = pie zesais kalos aei = Drink, live well forever. This is somewhat puzzling to archaeologists, as the rest of the grave goods found in the same grave were very mundane. The Coppa diatreta Trivulzio at the Museo archeologico Milan, the only example with no damage at all. This has the inscription: BIBE VIVAS MVLTIS ANNIS: "Drink and you will live for many years". It is 4th century, found in the 17th century in a sarcophagus in between the