Poll: Which invention would have benefited the Roman Empire (until 395 AD) most?
- Thread starter Jan Gronvik
- Start date
Winnabago
Banned
Gunpowder would be great for the Barbarian Hordes, too poor for armor but able to butcher Romans wearing it with bombs and cannons on their regimented lines.
I'd suggest the printing press: bad information has probably caused a lot of Roman civil wars, considering people were often just expelled from Italy and left to plot their returns.
I'd suggest the printing press: bad information has probably caused a lot of Roman civil wars, considering people were often just expelled from Italy and left to plot their returns.
Depends when it's invented. Bicycles in 395 aren't going to do a lot. Then again, bicycles in -50 aren't going to conquer the Parthians either, I suppose.
Gunpowder and the printing press are probably the two greatest. I think the latter would be more important, though.
Personally, I would have put the stirrup on the poll instead of gunpowder, making it a more debatable choice.
Gunpowder and the printing press are probably the two greatest. I think the latter would be more important, though.
Personally, I would have put the stirrup on the poll instead of gunpowder, making it a more debatable choice.
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Well...
They had windmills already, IIRC, so I can leave that out. EDIT: Apparently they didn't aside from a prototype by Hero of Alexandria. I don't know how much windmills could do for the Romans that waterwheels couldn't, though.
A bicycle would be nice, but unless we're giving them the tech to make a modern bicycle, there's a reason nobody used them in Roman times and it wasn't that they were too dumb to make one: it's just a worse wheelbarrow until you get some pretty good precision work. It needs quality roads too, but the Romans had those.
Gunpowder is a good idea, and would be my second choice: it's certainly doable by Romans too (heck, it could've predated the wheel if folks had gotten lucky mixing random chemicals).
The microscope isn't all that useful without a system of scientific inquiry around it, IMO: there'd be a lot of neat engravings/drawings of close-ups of various things, but it wouldn't lead to germ theory or similar things in time to save the (Western) Roman Empire.
So I'm going to go with the printing press, which will increase administrative efficiency and cultural propaganda, and is harder for the "barbarians" to duplicate than gunpowder weapons, which every German tribe and Persian army will have in a century or so if the Romans get them.
They had windmills already, IIRC, so I can leave that out. EDIT: Apparently they didn't aside from a prototype by Hero of Alexandria. I don't know how much windmills could do for the Romans that waterwheels couldn't, though.
A bicycle would be nice, but unless we're giving them the tech to make a modern bicycle, there's a reason nobody used them in Roman times and it wasn't that they were too dumb to make one: it's just a worse wheelbarrow until you get some pretty good precision work. It needs quality roads too, but the Romans had those.
Gunpowder is a good idea, and would be my second choice: it's certainly doable by Romans too (heck, it could've predated the wheel if folks had gotten lucky mixing random chemicals).
The microscope isn't all that useful without a system of scientific inquiry around it, IMO: there'd be a lot of neat engravings/drawings of close-ups of various things, but it wouldn't lead to germ theory or similar things in time to save the (Western) Roman Empire.
So I'm going to go with the printing press, which will increase administrative efficiency and cultural propaganda, and is harder for the "barbarians" to duplicate than gunpowder weapons, which every German tribe and Persian army will have in a century or so if the Romans get them.
Probably the printing press. The Roman Empire was (for the times) a highly literate civilization whose bureaucracy and communications would have beneffited greatly by the ease of machine printing books and documents. The printing press is also something that would have been well within the reach of existing iron age technology to produce in quantity (something that does not apply to the bicycle or microscope).
Gunpowder probably comes next, but given the Chinese example, I wonder if Roman metallurgical technology could really have led to the mass production of truly accurate and deadly cannon/firearms any more effective than existing projectile weapons.
Here's an invention that would beat all the ones you suggested: The concept of zero and place numertion in arithmatic.
Gunpowder probably comes next, but given the Chinese example, I wonder if Roman metallurgical technology could really have led to the mass production of truly accurate and deadly cannon/firearms any more effective than existing projectile weapons.
Here's an invention that would beat all the ones you suggested: The concept of zero and place numertion in arithmatic.
Microscopes invented in Alexandria around 30 BCE, i.e. when Egypt became a Roman province, would be an interesting opportunity though for scientists/nature philosophers in the Empire.
Seraphiel
Banned
I just might be wrong but Im pretty certain they had the iron plow.
As to the thread question, the printing press all the way, easier communication AND for me most importantly we would probably have way more Roman literature.
I'm pretty sure they didn't have the iron plough, they didnt come about in Europe until the eighth century, IIRC.
When they did come about, they vastly improved the agricultural yields in areas with thicker soil, like Germania and Britannia. Said plough existing in the first century would have had amazing effects in the population of the entire empire.
I thought they had the iron plough, but the technology was lost again in the west when the Western Empire fell?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plough
Place them where there wasn't a convenient river nearby, for one thing.
Zoomar makes a good case for the printing press, but I'm still going to go with the windmill. It increases farming efficiency, which increases population density, which increases, well, everything.
THIS! Well, the moldboard plow, actually; they already had iron plows.
i'd go with the printing press. gunpowder would only cause that the romans would overreach themselves even more, and the roman legions were the best at that time. The windmill could change things, but it is only 1 invention.
I chose the printing press because it stimulates the spreading of knowledge, and would mean that information and knowledge is easier to multiply and thus will not get lost. The printing is a multiplier of all other factors, while the other choices only add a single thing.
and for the bicycle and the microscope you would need other inventions too.
The printing press is the invention which could be derived from existing roman technology (the wine press)
I chose the printing press because it stimulates the spreading of knowledge, and would mean that information and knowledge is easier to multiply and thus will not get lost. The printing is a multiplier of all other factors, while the other choices only add a single thing.
and for the bicycle and the microscope you would need other inventions too.
The printing press is the invention which could be derived from existing roman technology (the wine press)
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From what's on the list I would go with Gunpowder, but ideally I would want the Romans to independently invent the Chinese blast furnace or at least invent the Catalan forge.
I suspect the development of gunpowder weapons might actually be bad for the Romans, as it's more of a destabilizing force than anything else. Its discovery would probably upset the status quo of an empire, allowing warlords to form breakaway nations and conquer large swaths. Then again, that sort of thing happened in actual history.
Going with the printing press.
Going with the printing press.
I still don't see how the printing press is viable without, you know, paper.