Glass was often the preferred material for storing expensive oils, perfumes, and medicines in antiquity because it was not porous. Glass vessels are found frequently at Hellenistic and Roman sites, especially in cemeteries, and the liquids that filled them would have been gathered from all corners of the expansive Roman Empire. By the 1st century AD, the technique of glass-blowing had revolutionised the art of glass-making. The new technique allowed craftsmen to use smaller amounts of glass for each vessel and obtain much thinner walls, so enabling the creation of small medicine, incense, and perfume containers in new forms. Along with the unique shapes, different components were added to the hot glass to create a variety of colours. Translucent, pale blue and green were common and popular colours during the early Roman era.
To learn more about Roman glass, visit our relevant post: How It Was Made: Roman Glass.