The Greek and Latin-speaking Mediterranean cultures of Classical antiquity were among the first societies that consumed prodigal amounts of natural commodities and manufactured items. ‘Luxury’ is a word of Latin origin and many concepts about luxuries and about the values we associate with exceptional quality are derived from these historical communities. This module explores how these societies thought about luxuries and commodities; how we can evaluate such consumption, from different kinds of material and literary evidence; and how far their ideas about luxuries resemble and differ from our own.