The ancient Greeks and Romans made lamps from bronze or pottery. Early Greek lamps looked like saucers and burned olive oil or the oil of other plants. The wick simply floated on the oil. Later Greek lamps had a groove at the edge of the saucer to hold the wick. Some Roman lamps resembled a teakettle.
Candles are a type of fat lamp.
The earliest candles were made by coating a wick with wax and pitch. Later, candlemakers used tallow, a waxy substance obtained from animal fat. The best candles consisted of beeswax or paraffin, a wax obtained from petroleum. Most candles cost more than other types of lamps. Inexpensive lamps called rushlights burned like candles.