Fluorite chalice (kantharos) known as the Crawford cup, 50-100 AD. According to the Roman author Pliny, the emperor Nero once paid a million sesterces to acquire such a cup. This cup was found in Cilicia, modern Turkey in a Roman tomb along with the Barber cup. Now in the British Museum [1000×710]

Fluorite was extracted in the region of present-day Iran. It is extremely fragile and the pieces are rarely large enough to be make it into a goblet. Wealthy Romans were fond of these expensive objects. In a goblet like this, the wine had a particular taste because the fragile fluorite was clogged with hot resin, perhaps myrrh, to prevent shattering. It gave the wine a smell and a taste reminiscent of resin.