Eureka!

[Hawkeye]

Stephanus was busy working alone in his shop as he usually was. But the Roman was nothing like his late teacher Archimedes, everybody knew who Archimedes was. He was a great master of science and the father of Rome’s greatest weapons Stephanus was an amateur who never finished an idea and it seems that he would also fail on this new invention that Archimedes would have easily solved the problem that Stephanus was facing in an instant but he was gone now and all he left behind to his pupil was a book of some of his unfinished ideas Stephanus planned to one day give the book to people capable of completing Archimedes unfinished ideas if he could not do it himself. But he had his own project to do first it was a device that for applying pressure to an inked surface and resting on a medium but something just didn’t fit and it was frustrating Stephanus. Why wont this work? He shouted, shouting at it didn’t make the machine work any better then it did before but Stephanus was to tired and frustrated to care. He leaned in his seat and thought about what Archimedes would do for some reason he began to remember the first time he and Archimedes meet at Syracuse. He was an old man even then but he was still courageous as any man Stephanus ever meet, he was about to kill him but instead he ended up helping him escape Syracuse and even becoming his pupil but that’s another story it was what Archimedes said to him that he remembered. I must work.

After a while Stephanus began to work on his invention again and by a stroke of luck he found his problem and quickly corrected it. After a silent moment Stephanus tested his invention and to his surprise it worked. With great excitement Stephanus went to the room of his own student Arcadius who was sleeping. Stephanus woke him up and said Eureka! I found it! and went off into the night to share the news with many annoyed, sleepy villagers who would rather get back to bed. Little did they know the importance Stephanus Printing Press would play for the future of the Roman Republic.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________

I hope you guys enjoyed that it’s a preview of a Timeline I’m trying to write of an early Industrial Revolution starting with the prevented death of Archimedes and an earlier creation of Mass Media. I’m sorry if it’s hard to read is there any comments?

 

[Hawkeye]

You just need some strategic commas and semi-colons, but its good so far!

I've never been known for my writing skills but I'll try my best to get it right and thanks for your complement.

P.S. If there is any thoughts you want to through out there then by all means feel free to do so.

 

[Broz]

in order for someone to think of a printing press, he would have to live in a culture where books are used in mass, or are at least important and complicated to produce

did the romans actually need a printing press?

 

[wkwillis]

L. Sprague de Camp, 'Lest Darkness Fall' or some such. Good book. Turns out the problem is where do you get all those sheep for the parchment.

 

[Talkie Toaster]

in order for someone to think of a printing press, he would have to live in a culture where books are used in mass, or are at least important and complicated to produce

did the romans actually need a printing press?

Well, to be fair, the protagonist here does seem a little eccentric, and it's perfectly possible that while one wasn't "needed" as such, it could catch on rapidly.

 

[carlton_bach]

L. Sprague de Camp, 'Lest Darkness Fall' or some such. Good book. Turns out the problem is where do you get all those sheep for the parchment.

No need for sheep - you use papyrus. Parchment was always the high-end writing material and Western Europe imported the more abundant and cheaper papyrus for most of its literate history until it was replaced by the yet more abundant and cheaper paper.

Roman publishers would love a printing press. Moses Finley notwithstanding, scribes were neither cheap nor disposable.

 

[Hawkeye]

in order for someone to think of a printing press, he would have to live in a culture where books are used in mass, or are at least important and complicated to produce

did the romans actually need a printing press?

We don't really need a lot of the junk we invent.

 

[Halcyon Dayz]

I can imagine the government being interested.

For law books and proclamations and such.

 

[robertp6165]

in order for someone to think of a printing press, he would have to live in a culture where books are used in mass, or are at least important and complicated to produce

did the romans actually need a printing press?

Well, to be fair, the protagonist here does seem a little eccentric, and it's perfectly possible that while one wasn't "needed" as such, it could catch on rapidly.

We don't really need a lot of the junk we invent.

I can imagine the government being interested.

For law books and proclamations and such.

Actually, there was a lot of interest among wealthy Romans in collecting books and amassing libraries. There have been a number of library rooms found in Roman villas, and at least one of them still had the charred remains of the books in it. So the inventor of a printing press would find a ready market for his wares among the Roman elite, at the very least..

 

[Fardell]

Sounds like a good idea. Go for it.

 

[fernerdave]

We don't really need a lot of the junk we invent.

salad spinners?

 

[carlton_bach]

A roman printing press could alter a few things, propoganda for one. Some more of Roman history might be lost- less need to carve things in stone with posters. Just a thought. Political and religious ideas could spread faster and deviate less...

I think it weould depend on the usage. The stone-carving mania ("epigraphic habit") was the Roman equivalent of garden art and BMWs, a way of showing you could afford it, so I doubt that would diminish significantly just because printing was available.

The idea about more homogeneity is brilliant. Can you imagine what Christianity would look like if every bishop could print his theological ideas several thousand times for distribution? Much fun.

 

[stevep]

Hawkeye

Interesting idea. Suspect that it is likely to be predominantly a tool used by the elite this late in the Roman republic but that could have a significant effect in itself and spread further later.Would depend to a degree on the mechanics of the mechanism and how much paper/papyrus it consumes when things get rolling.

Could mean a revival of mass participation in ideas and hence politics and government further down the line as far more people get a chance to read and think about things themselves.

Steve

 

[Hawkeye]

I think it weould depend on the usage. The stone-carving mania ("epigraphic habit") was the Roman equivalent of garden art and BMWs, a way of showing you could afford it, so I doubt that would diminish significantly just because printing was available.

The idea about more homogeneity is brilliant. Can you imagine what Christianity would look like if every bishop could print his theological ideas several thousand times for distribution? Much fun.

I don't see Christianity coming around in this TL but I'll keep this in mind.

Hawkeye

Interesting idea. Suspect that it is likely to be predominantly a tool used by the elite this late in the Roman republic but that could have a significant effect in itself and spread further later.Would depend to a degree on the mechanics of the mechanism and how much paper/papyrus it consumes when things get rolling.

Could mean a revival of mass participation in ideas and hence politics and government further down the line as far more people get a chance to read and think about things themselves.

Steve

Thank you I'm writing a list of events so this might take a while.

 

[Hawkeye]

Well sorry for the wait but it’s my first real Timeline and I don’t want to mess it up, but I’m back to finally start this thing now, I’m going to the Georgian calendar whenever I refer to dates so I can save us all from a headache. I’m going to start with OTL events that led to the POD, and please try to keep criticism to a minimal and as pointing out things I should work on. I hope you enjoy it.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Prelude
By the mid 3rd century B.C.E. the Old Roman Republic had secured its position as a major power on the Italian Peninsula by conquering its neighbors, this led to rivalry against another regional power Carthage, which was already established as a naval behemoth and as a center of trade in the Mediterranean Sea. This rivalry led to the First Punic War in 264 B.C.E. for the island of Sicily and ended in 241 B.C.E. with a Roman victory, but Carthage would rebuild itself and would go to war against the Old Republic again in 218 B.C.E. the Carthaginian General Hannibal had led an army over the Alps and invaded Rome and defeated them in the Battle Cannae. The success in Italy made Syracusans believe that they were on the losing side. But King Hiero II of Syracuse honored the alliance he had with the Old Republic, when he died in 215 B.C.E. he was succeeded by his grandson Hieronymos who was pro Carthaginian, he was assassinated while visiting a neighboring Greek city Leontini, his assassination would cause a brief civil war in Syracuse, after which saw a pro Carthaginian faction taking power.

The Capture of Syracuse
When the city rose against Roman rule in 214 B.C.E., General Marcellus Africanus (OTL’s Marcus Claudius Marcellus) who was in Sicily during that time, led an army to retake the city and the siege that would ultimately lead to the Old Republic’s victory against Carthage began, the Siege of Syracuse lasted for many months, the Roman besiegers had learned a lot about the importance of sieges from the Battle of Cannae and had deployed their own weapons but the Syracusans had defensive devices invented by Archimedes to counter them. The Old Republic’s blockade of the city was starting to grow weak after long fighting against the city, so the Carthaginians attempted to relieve Syracuse but they failed to provide aid to the city. In 212 B.C.E. the Syracusans held a ceremonial festival to the goddess Artemis, the Romans finally managed to scale the walls and took control of the outer city. The surviving inhabitants moved into the city Citadel and continued to hold out for another eight months of war, but the Roman army had easily managed to cut off supplies. At last, a Syracusan traitor opened the gates to the Citadel and let the Roman army inside and they massacred many citizens. But the Siege of Syracuse was finally over and not only would it unite the Old Republic province of Sicily, it also made sure that the Carthaginians wouldn’t be able to get a foothold on the island and that the Romans would have the strategic advantage from now on which was a big part of the Carthaginian Empire’s fall, the victory would also be the first step to General Marcellus rise to glory.

Archimedes
During the time when the Romans breached the city, Archimedes, who was probably 78 years old at the time, was working in his studies, Archimedes was the mastermind behind the Syracusan anti-siege weapons and Marcellus probably knew about this, yet Marcellus ordered his troops not to kill him, he was working on a mathematical diagram when he was interrupted and first meet his future student Stephanus who was a soldier for the Old Republic at the time. Stephanus commanded him to come see General Marcellus, but he declined saying he had to finish what he was working on, Stephanus was briefly enraged by this and was said to have considered killing him, rather if or if not the thought crossed his mind, Stephanus managed to regain his cool and decided to wait for the Archimedes to finish his work, Archimedes knew that eventually he would be done and would have to go with the Roman to meet Marcellus, but he feared on what Marcellus intended for him so he made a desperate offer to Stephanus, he offered to teach him and told him that he could become rich in exchange that Stephanus would help him escape from Syracuse. From all we know of him, Stephanus was always known as somewhat greedy and he was tantalized at the thought of wealth, after much internal consideration Stephanus surprisingly agreed to Archimedes offer and didn’t turn him in that night. They left Syracuse in the early morning of the next day and were off to the City of Alexandria ware they would remain there until the end of the Second Punic War.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Well that’s the end of the first part for now. I hoped you enjoyed it.

There’s only a little AH at the end now that I see it. But I tried to leave some hints on stuff in the future with some obvious and others not so obvious.

Now I’m going to have to find the time to start writing the second part and I promise I'll try to do better next time.

Any comments?

 

[Dathi THorfinnsson]

Stephanus is a somewhat odd name, I'd think.

IIRC, it gained massive popularity only with Christianity and St. Stephen the first martyr.

It certainly is a Greek name, which makes it a bit odd for a Roman soldier, one would think. Although if he were indeed Greek, it would make him much more likely to be interested in Archimedes' work.

If Archimedes stays alive, especially if he is respected, then his writings would survive (printing press or no), and that would induce some major butterflies.

As for printing on papyrus, while the supply is better than parchment, it's still not terribly cheap nor available (at least compared to how paper can be).

Still, I suppose that if printing gets an initial start with e.g. papyrus, that there will be a lot more incentive for Roman traders (or rather traders from the Roman Empire) to try to bring back paper technology if or when they see it in Asia.

On the third hand, looking up the history of paper, the traditional date for the invention of paper in China seems to be 105 AD, which is rather later than we would like.

Hmmm... The ROMANS invent paper??

Personally, I doubt that the industrial revolution stands a chance in Rome. Rome tended to think of thinking as slaves' work - if you wanted someone smart, you bought a Greek slave. This is not a culture conducive to innovation and advancement of ideas and technology.