AHC: Romans reach Svalbard island

In OTL Svalbard island is a possession of Norway far into the Arctic circle.

With a POD of 100 BC have the Roman Empire reach and claim this far northern island.

How long will it take? Will they need to advance their shipbuilding technology? And so on and so forth?
 
I can't think of anything that would make them do such a crazy thing. We may overuse the Words ASB and outlandish, but they're appropriate here, i fear.

Or, let me correct myself, maybe it is feasible, but then we're no longer speaking of the Romans we know.
 
To make it more possible can the Romans take Scandinavia first?
Which Romans are we talking about?
The ones I know wouldn`t give an as about Scandinavia. To them, even the Jutland Peninsula wasn`t worth trying. And they had good reasons for that. If anything, the Roman Empire was already really overstretched. Expanding into utterly uninteresting, cold, barren, sparsely populated, uncivilised, remote, resource-free lands really wasn`t what they did, nor what they should or could have done, if what you want is some kind of success of the empire.
I wonder, what made you think of the Svalbard Islands in the first place?
Only way I see is a super-Roman-wank where the Empire never falls apart, or is reunited China-style, and many, many centuries after OTL´s fall of the WRE, this Northward expansion might take place.
 
How bout a wank? They annex most of Germania and head of the tin and furs up north? Not to mention to suppress raids coming from the Nordic shores.
 
During the Napoleonic Wars ol' Nappy decides to preserve the HRE as a vassal state and takes the title of Holy Roman Emperor for himself. During the eventual *Congress of Vienna the HRE becomes the *German Confederation. Butterflies prevent Prussia from creating Germany as quickly as in OTL, and during the New Imperialism period where everyone was claiming colonies Hamburg decides it wants a piece of the pie, and buys the currently worthless island of Svalbard (only gained modern value from coal mining in the 20th century) from Sweden-Norway.

:winkytongue::winkytongue::winkytongue::winkytongue::winkytongue:
 
Non joking response.

So Agricola conquers the entirety of Caledonia. After having conquered that, he is ordered to raise a third permanent fleet, the Classis Britannia to try and invade Ireland.
Doesn't matter if he does it or another general the next generation, the British Isles are pacified. Classis Brittania has to guard the entirety of Atlantic and north sea, protecting the trade routes between Britannia and Galiia/Hispania, and the routes between the baltic and Gallia.

The immense cost of having a fleet of oar pulled ships is too great, so a new ship is designed, the Monoreme (think longship).
During one of their anti piracy patrols, the Romans are blown off course on the north sea, and discover the Faeröer. They overnight on the isles. Trying to get back to the continent, they row in the direction of Norway. Blow off course once again, they land on Svalbard.

They plant a flag, claim the barren rock in the name of Rome, and get back home. On the maps its gets the name Hyperborea.

This all needs to happen in the span of about a hunderd years, before the next civil war kicks off. I say its possible. edit: checked the distance between the Faeroer and svalbard. Way too far, maybe in a wank
 
I guess if you use a POD that gives antiquity an industrial revolution the romans could go there but probably not see any value in it for a while at least until whaling and such becomes economical that far north or easily accsesable coal runs out in germany and Britain though that would be a loooong ways off.
 
A Roman Empire surviving past 1000 will stumble upon it eventually... I mean when you cross the ocean enough times you find everything. :)
 
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