The Romans used gold, silver, tin, lead, copper, iron and other metals. They were adept at both mining and separating the metal from the mineral and smelting it into moulds. They also knew how to mix metals to obtain alloys, the best-known being bronze, made of a mixture of copper and tin.

Bronze was one of the materials most used by the Romans. It had many uses, including cutlery, furniture and a wide range of domestic objects. It was used to make tools and mechanical objects, to mint coins. Laws were inscribed on it as were depictions of gods, important persons, etc.

It was used abundantly in daily and official life and was an alternative to marble in buildings and public places. It may have been more expensive, but it was more versatile in construction. In a luxurious house, bronze was used in place of the less-costly pottery or terracotta decorations. Lamp holders, candelabra, stoves, even beds, were made of bronze, all with their corresponding decorations. It was especially popular among rich clients as a way of depicting a variety of divinities (such as domestic gods), who were always part of the household. It was commonly used for decorative items on clothing (broaches, rings, bracelets, amulets, pendants, pins, etc.), and for instruments used in medicine and beauty treatment (scalpels, spatulas, probes, flukes, pincers, boxes, etc.).

The bronzes were made in officinae or specialized workshops in which each craftsman had a specific task and there were experts in charge of manufacturing each different object. The most outstanding items must have been highly sought after and often brought from far afield. This seems evident from the discovery of some of the most famous pieces in sunken merchant ships. More common items, however, would have come from local workshops.

The large number of fragments, in addition to a few complete pieces, we have from Roman times, testify to the abundance and variety of objects that were made with this alloy. However, the majority of such items have been lost to us due to the ease with which the metal has been recycled and reused to make other things over the past two centuries.