The Lycurgus Cup

An astonishing technological artifact from the Ancient Romans whose properties couldn't be replicated until the 20th century, the Lycurgus Cup is an excellent example of just how completely we can lose complex technology from past civilizations.

Samo Burja is a sociologist and the founder of Bismarck Analysis, a firm that analyzes institutions, from governments to companies. His research work focuses on the causes of societal decay and flourishing. He writes on history, epistemology and strategy.

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Original talk here:

[BlaBla-pfmf]

Expensive objects are more likely to be preserved than ordinary ones. We have many surviving examples of fancy renaissance armor from kings and lords while we have almost no armor from simple soldiers because those were melted or discarded long ago.

[ОлегОленев-яо]

Now, this is the type of advertisement I like to see. Something actually interesting.

[aivingast]

The Lycurgus on this cup is a mythological king from Thrace, not the Spartan lawgiver.

[LukeGeoDude]

Hello! These bite-sized videos spark interest, but why not release the whole thing? Or at least link to it, I see that it's on YouTube already.

[z-O_O-z]

I love this stuff! You got one new subscriber ❤

[pauljohnson]

They say it has the capability to change color depending on what liquids are poured into it. Could it have been used to detect poisons by reacting with the nano particles?

[rolfingerbier]

Ist a piece of Art. Nothing else. One of a kind.

[justinfinityiii]

I found a shard of Dichroic glass in Worcestershire, England. about 510 meters away from Bays Meadow Roman Villa. It is is dark midnight blue opaque, and clear yellow when light is passed through.. it is also core formed, and gold glass of a figurine side profile of a head..

[WarPigstheHun]

We tend to preserve things that are valuable to us, and breakdown the common and mundane start use. It's difficult to determine what was commonplace or extraordinary for the time. Ex: people debate the Roman standard of armors, when a lorica segmenta was still in use and when it was completely replaced by other cheaper easy to produce armor.

[LegendaryBrandon]

Hmmm that sounds a lot like the USA at the end.

[JapaneseModernist]

thanks but I do not agree on the mass produced argument. the bulk of archeological finds are indeed mass produced junk but the very precious treasures are also preserved intentionally

[flashjosh]

Why would they mass produce that cup of it's hard ass hell to make? Just one of many things that sounds wrong about this

[mannyhoolin]

I've been doing this as a glassblower for decades. Anyone involved in experimentation with glass using precious metals for coloring would discover this eventually.

[andyorfanakos]

The Lycurgus cup
Lycurgus was a Greek
He designed the cup
So giving the Romans credit is extremely hypocritical and very wrong

[reddcube]

Suggest switching the 'AD' with 'CE' for your chart