Ca. 100-300 AD. A beautiful terracotta oil lamp featuring a large, rounded concave body, a round nozzle, and a filling hole slightly off the centre of the discus. The discus is decorated with a depiction of Bacchus in relief supporting another human figure while the lamp's shoulders display two concentric bands of geometric motifs. Excellent condition. Bacchus, also known as 'Liber Pater', in Greco-Roman religion, was the god of wine and ecstasy but he was also the nature god of fruitfulness and vegetation. The occurrence of his name on a Linear B tablet (13th century BC) shows that he was already worshipped in the Mycenaean period, although it is not known where his cult originated. In all the legends of his cult, he is depicted as having foreign origins. During the Roman Empire, an oil lamp was originally called a 'lychnus' (from the Greek ‘λυχνος’) 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), stories drawn from mythology, and animals. To find out more about light equipment across the Classical world, see Zhuravlev, D. (2002). Fire, light and light equipment in the Graeco-Roman world. Oxford: Archaeopress. Size: L:45mm / W:95mm ; 77g. Provenance: Property of a North London gentleman C. M.; formerly in Arnos Jumperz collection, Leverkusen (Germany), acquired pre-1994.