If you were sent back to the roman era and could only bring a backpack of goods. What would you bring?
A book with pictures detailing all the processes required to make paper, and the schematics for a printing press. I know better than to presume my knowledge of electricity will be of any use, I know better than to think that I understand math better than ancient mathematicians, and I know better than to try to convince them that tiny little creatures are what cause illness. What I can do is jump-start humanity’s ascent to modern technology by improving literacy a few centuries early
I want two books: How to Invent Everything and How to Rebuild Everything in the Aftermath of a Cataclysm. I’m good from there.
The reason I bring picture books is because I know that I’m gonna die within a week, and anyone more than a few hundred years old would never be able to read English after I’m gone. But if Ptolemy gets his hands on a printing press? Buddy we’re exploring the galaxy by Y2K
Current geological mineral distribution map. A dozen ball screws, some linear rods, bearings, grease. A dozen staters of various sizes, and a few hundred thousand diodes, maybe millions. Then as much enameled copper wire and magnet steel as I could carry. Then a e-paper tablet with a long list of patent documents, along with text books from Primary school clear to graduate level physics, chemistry, and math.
Then I would lug a vintage mini lathe over my shoulder for the few steps I have to take because you didn’t specify how far I have to walk.
I should be able to make the industrial revolution from there.
…welcome to 1500 years in the future…now!
I would also make room for some seed packets - potato, tomato, chili, etc.
I want some good food while I prestart the industrial revolution.
There’s a legend that the Roman Emperor Tiberius executed the inventor of flexible glass.
After the inventor swore that he was the only man alive who knew the manufacturing technique, Tiberius had the man beheaded. He feared that the glass would devalue gold and silver, since the material might be more valuable.
So y’all better watch out with any plastic…
That guy was definitely a time traveler.
If we lived in a world where plastic didnt exist, and some body brought it in. The closest approximation of articulating clear plastic would be flexible glass.
I’m either gonna bring a bunch of ‘For Dummies’ books to speed up development and get executed or make a fortune selling meth and get executed
The hilarious thing about the meth idea is that they’d run out and be centuries behind on having any clue as to how to get more.
Unless those “For Dummies” books have expanded their catalogue since I’ve last looked.
And a copy of the army improvised weapons manuals.
Jump start military tech by 1000 years or so right quick
Six weights of charcoal, one of brimstone, and one of saltpetre. Done, you already advanced military tech by 800 years.
If I’m going to be transported to the European peninsula too, besides time travelling, I’d want at least:
- my laptop. Download everything from multiple Wikipedias, including the Italian one for good measure. (Why Italian? Largest Wikipedia in a Romance language that I’m proficient with.)
- some charger for the above. I don’t even mind if manual.
- Latin vocabulary printed book. I can speak some but I’m not proficient in the language.
- Some silver and gold. Money back in Roman times was still based on the value of the coins. And money never hurts.
- Clothes carefully prepared to not look Roman, but typical enough from the times. The idea is to pass as a cultured barbarian from a tribe that is too far away from Rome to bother.
You’re going to need medicine. Penicillin for sure.
Penicillin might be a good idea, but once you set up some simple electricity production, you can generate bleach (electrolyse brine, then input the chlorine back into solution; discard the hydrogen). Being able to bleach your water is huge.
Unless you accidentally get wood splinter and die of gangrene.
Power has yet to be invented. Once your laptop dies it becomes uselesss. Batteries deteriorate over time and without the latest security patches you’ll definitely get infected sooner rather than later.
Power has yet to be invented. Once your laptop dies it becomes uselesss.
That’s why I mentioned a charger in the following line.
Batteries deteriorate over time
Sure, that is a concern. For a few years later; the idea is to at least have at hand some knowledge to translate into Latin and put into useful applications.
Also, remember that electricity can be produced with a bar of copper, a bar of iron, and some acid. Such as vinegar or even citrus.
and without the latest security patches you’ll definitely get infected sooner rather than later.
Yeah, because Mark Anthony will totally send me files like cleopatrahotpix.jpg.exe [/sarcasm]
Take a solar charger, problem solved
No need to worry, those security patches would be millennia ahead of any contemporaneous trojans.
Old Roman artifacts so I can confuse them with how rusted and dirty they are, great conversation starter.
Remember that old reddit post where someone asked “what if a battalion of marines were suddenly zapped back to the roman era with all their gear and stuff, what would happen?” and somebody answered with a full on novel they titled “Rome, Sweet Rome” and some time later some Hollywood dude bought the rights to it?
It was a short story, and the film adaptation has been in development hell for over a decade.
Well that’s disappointing
Modern cannabis seeds, because if I’m going to be in Ancient Times I still don’t want to smoke schwag.
Holy shit man!
— Julius Caesar
Not a bad idea, but also, you could definitely still make hash out of schwag.
Bringing the seeds would be easier though.
And since you mentioned seeds, let’s go ahead and also bring seeds of modern potatoes, tomatoes, definitely chilis like proper habaneros. Salads, perhaps. Definitely modern brewing yeasts! Bananas, maybe? Tobacco, definitely.
There’s even yeast strains which produce opiates instead of alcohol (purposefully made with gmo ofc), but I wouldn’t be able to get my hands on those.
Also, medication. Lots of modern medication.
But a backpack full is a lot. So, seeds, electronics (full Wikipedia and other such information), solar charger, tons of meds. A few good blades, a gun, and several reliable methods of making fire. Several good modern bowstrings. Gunpowder, if there’s room. (Making bullets isn’t too hard and modern smokeless powder would be preferable to basic black powder.)
Can you imagine what kind of work Carl Sagan could have done if he had access to modern one hit shit?
A (tape) camera to document how I obliterate the roman empire by spreading pathogens that have yet to evolve but I have developed immunity for.
And something like a time capsule to burry the camera in.
Keep in mind that there were of plenty of pathogens back then that you aren’t immune to now. A good example is smallpox
Well I didn’t expect to survive anyways
Managing expectations 👌🏼
Sorry, what’s a “tape camera”? A film camera?
Say hello to my little friend!*
^(*COVID-19)
20 identical ereaders packed with every book I can fit, solar panels, and batteries.
And the rest of the volume with gold.
I would do the same, except instead of gold I would pack as much Fentanyl as possible. (Not like the cops will find you after you time hop anyway).
I could then, heavily dilute the Fentanyl and sell it and earn way more gold. You could also poison your enemies with pure Fentanyl and no one would understand what sort of poison it is.
With all that money you could probably buy a small castle, a loyal guard, hire the smartest people around and have them start creating weapons, medicines and mechanization from the 21st century before you even die.
The other reason Fentanyl is superior than gold is that if people see gold they will just steal it. If they see bricks of Fentanyl, they probably won’t steal it. They might try and see what it is… and likely kill themselves in the process… which would likely dissuade any other thieves associated with them.
Without doing any research, the answer is “watchmaking tools.” Equipment to make small things like watches, and revolvers and what ever you’d need to start a factory. A few things like microscope, binoculars.
They had good craftspeople on hand, just need a little push to start an Industrial Revolution.
You need good quality metal to make precise clockwork. You need to be able to make those metals.
Romans made decent steel, especially in terms of hardness which is what you need to make tooling.
It wouldn’t be the biggest problem you would face in trying to industrialise Rome
Look up the antikythera mechanism.
The Romans could make enough quality metals for a clock.
You could bring plans for a high quality forge
Damn, now I’m wondering if my decision to bring plans for a printing press is actually less useful than accurate timekeeping
Accurate timekeeping means you can navigate the deep ocean without hugging the coast.
The idea of a printing press was revolutionary but it’s just an engraved plate, ink, later and a weight on a lever.
I’m confident I could make a printing press without plans having seen one. I’m not confident I could design an accurate watch.
I might manage a pendulum clock. Just. But that’s far less useful.
A bag of dildos to hand out at parties so I can be dildo guy
Probably mostly medical supplies. I don’t want to die of a stubbed toe.
You and everyone you interact with will probably get very sick. Neither of you will be resistant to each others germs. Maybe you will set off another plague. Probably. I’m not an expert.
Hence the medical supplies. Antibiotics, painkillers, antiseptic, bleach, etc.
Either 1, a bunch of textbooks and encyclopedias. Or 2, a tablet/computer with said texts downloaded, a battery pack for said tablet/computer, and a few fold out solar panels or maybe one of those hand crank things. If I still have space I’d bring a soldering iron, a bunch of tips for it, flux and a bunch of different solders. Maybe a few spare parts for the laptop.
Spices, all knowledge I can carry as microfiche tapes, magnifying glass, a domesticated strain of penicillin, and seeds of modern crops.
I will be able to talk to at least some of their merchants for, ahem, reasons. From then on I have at least some chance of survival.
