The Satyricon of Petronius Arbiter/Chapter 51
CHAPTER THE FIFTY-FIRST. “But there was an artisan, once upon a time, who made a glass vial that couldn’t be broken. On that account he was admitted to Cæsar with his gift; then he dashed it upon the floor, when Cesar handed it back to him. The Emperor was greatly startled, but the artisan picked the vial up off the pavement, and it was dented, just like a brass bowl would have been! He took a little hammer out of his tunic and beat out the dent without any trouble. When he had done that, he thought he would soon be in Jupiter’s heaven, and more especially when Cæsar said to him, ‘Is there anyone else who knows how to make this malleable glass? Think now! And when he denied that anyone else knew the secret, Cæsar ordered his head chopped off, because if this should get out, we would think no more of gold than we would of dirt.