Is there any truth that Flexible Glass (vitrum flexile) was really invented in 1st century CE, or was it just historical gossip we've come to accept over time?

by terpin

All I could find was a snippet on wikipedia here.

I've seen a few books refer to vitrum flexile/flexible glass as the world's first plastic, but what was it really? Do we know if it was, did it exist at all, is it just a bit of historical gossip used to smear Emperor Tiberius Caesar as was the custom in those days that's been circulating for the last 2000 years?

schrodingers_lolcat

Additional question: any chance that it could have been some sort of plastic? Would someone from the first century have potentially the tools to refine crude oil and make something like transparent plastic (does not have to be clear, tinted could be acceptable as long as it is transparent).