Tallow and wax candle with wick
Vela de sebo y de cera con mecha
- Date
- c. 500 BCE · confidence low
- Place
- Rome, Lazio, Italy
- Credited to
- Romans (with parallel traditions in China)
- Field
- Tools
⚠️ Disputed: the sources disagree.
What it is
A cylinder of tallow or beeswax with a fibre wick that burns without a container and can be carried. The Romans used it for light at home, in temples and in the streets.
Rush lights dipped in fat date to Egypt c. 3000 BC and wax candles to China from the Qin or Han period (3rd century BC); the origin of the wicked candle is multiple and the Roman date is an approximation.
What it led to
- cheap, portable domestic lighting across Europe
- chandlers' guilds and wax candles in Christian worship
- candle clocks and stearin and paraffin candles