Roman Atlantic Crossing

I'm still surprised that there is no clear evidence of a Roman attempt to cross the Atlantic. Even if the average Roman was'nt interested there might have been a few adventurers who would have given it a try.

Besides, I still can't figure out how they steered those really big ships if there was only one helmsman.
Some kind of early whipstaff?
http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O225-whipstaff.html
 
Even if we assume that a roman fleet makes it to a suitable place in the Americas, where there is enough deer to hunt and rich fishing grounds so that they don't starve in the first few month and that there are enough local women so that they can intermarry and reproduce, they most likely will simply blend into the existing local population within no more than 2 to 3 generations. Some heavily changed latin loanwords might survive together with the adoration of syncretistic roman-mayan deities, but both would be completely unrecogizable for european explorers when they arrive in the late 15th and 16th century. The language of their descendants would be no more Latin than the language of medieval Normandy was Norse. But even if they somehow manage to retain their Latin (as a superstrate language), it would be pretty unintelligible to any european explorer, not only because it would be heavily influenced by the original local substrate tongue, but also because it wouldn't be based on Classical Latin, but on the Vulgar Latin vernacular of the sailors. Ad at least 12 centuries of independent development and the result is at best as intelligible as romanian to portuguese or danish to english.

The main idea is to get the technological advances across, the culture either way. Even if the Romans were assimilated the effects of a dramatically changed lifestyle due to a virtual jump in technology, organization, and agriculture package is guaranteed to change American culture dramatically.

Even if the first Romans dies out their livestock and crops will still go on, this will allow for more intensive and expansive amounts of food production. It'll only be a matter of time until the intensive agriculture was developed for the Roman food package, there's also the inevitable diseases that come from livestock. No matter how you look at it the Americas would be changed forever.

The New Romans could be just native inheritors of the technology with no ties to the Old World at all, no problem. Although I would prefer them to be more European and hence more "alien" to the natives. Just a thematic taste, that's all.

Assume they can build up their population faster than the natives can recover, invade, and reconquer them, they could get a stable microculture going. Trinidad?

Well its not about the natives invading and reconquering them. Even with a modest growth rate of 4% annually the Romans can achieve a stable state within a century. It'll be the usual method of pre-industrial assimilation, the men who survived the diseases are either killed or enslaved , the women wives, and the children raised as their own (brutal but only in retrospect). It's the lack of native men passing on the native culture in addition to the cultural advantages one enjoys as the conquer. But in the end pure numbers will prevail and the Romans assimilated, the New Romans would be predominately native with some Roman characteristics.

And the beauty of an island start is that the Romans can out grow the natives ,wipe out their culture , and replace with their own due to the small numbers and limited neighborly influences. This process can be repeated island by island whereas any large land will always have more native culture further inland. Provided an average growth rate of 4% per yeah the Romans can reach 7 million within 200 years.

And once again for the motivations: It could simple be the fancy of some rich and powerful men. The naval expeditions of Ming China from 1405-1433 did not occur for some economic reason but purely for the fancy of rich and powerful men, so a Roman fleet in the Americas is not impossible and considering how it just has to get the technology and agriculture across the Roman settlement doesn't even have to be permanent.
 
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So, to sum things up:

The Romans had ships which technically could have crossed the Atlantic and back.
Their navigation skills may or may not have been adequate.
We have no evidence of such a crossing.
If a whole fleet of Roman ships had reached the Americas,
the crew could have colonized parts of the area but after a few generations
neither their descendants nor their language would have been recognizable.
But there would have been Roman cultural traces among the natives.
 
There are sizeable deposits of iron ore in northeastern Cuba amounting to 2 billion tons of ore; look up the Mayari and Diaquiri deposits. These are accessible for surface mining.
 
So, to sum things up:

The Romans had ships which technically could have crossed the Atlantic and back.
Their navigation skills may or may not have been adequate.
We have no evidence of such a crossing.
If a whole fleet of Roman ships had reached the Americas,
the crew could have colonized parts of the area but after a few generations
neither their descendants nor their language would have been recognizable.
But there would have been Roman cultural traces among the natives.
Umm, not sure where you're getting some of this. Their navigation skills weren't good enough to cross the open ocean for one thing. Columbus had a lot of trouble over a thousand years later in way better ships with better technology and seamanship. Going up the coast from Rome to Britain is one thing, crossing an entire ocean is something else entirely. Nor is there any reason whatsoever for them to have crossed at all. They don't know anything is out there, they have no evidence to believe there is land out there, anyone who does believe would be considered a lunatic (Columbus was considered stupid in his time, and really was a bit stupid), and they would probably not be the kind of person who can get a hold of multiple sea-worthy ships to make a crossing to a land nobody has so much as thought of, with skills not good enough to cross an ocean, and no reason to do this at all. An explorer looking for Atlantis is not a good excuse, they'd still be considered wacky, and even if they all did believe in Atlantis they also remember that Atlantis sank beneath the waves. And even if the Romans did miraculously get there, they are not coming back. They are in a land where they are seriously outnumbered and unprepared for. If they land in Mexico, Teotihuacan call wipe them out with ease. If they land further to the north or south of Mexico, either the winter or the jungle will get rid of them in time, or they assimilate with locals and become part of them, the only difference being the color of their skin. It happened OTL, whites who joined the tribes and stuff didn't change the tribes at all.
 
Right. Look at what happened to Vinland.
And the vikings were more well-prepared than the Romans were! At least the vikings were good sailors and fighters and used to wintery conditions. But in the end, the only legacy of Vinland was some interesting archaeological remains and a cool story.
 
Would they, though? Smallpox and chickenpox would probably be burnt out on long oceanic voyage, wouldn't they? You probably need repeated contacts for the diseases to make the jump. And in the 'blown off course' scenario, your goats and seeds are probably all eaten. Dunno why you'd have bees onboard either.

If they bring smallpox, chickenpox, goats, bees, and a selection of seeds, they can conquer a reasonably large island. Assume they can build up their population faster than the natives can recover, invade, and reconquer them, they could get a stable microculture going. Trinidad?
Crappy, phosphorus contaminated iron is still better than whatever the natives are using.
 
Umm, not sure where you're getting some of this. Their navigation skills weren't good enough to cross the open ocean for one thing. Columbus had a lot of trouble over a thousand years later in way better ships with better technology and seamanship. Going up the coast from Rome to Britain is one thing, crossing an entire ocean is something else entirely. Nor is there any reason whatsoever for them to have crossed at all. They don't know anything is out there, they have no evidence to believe there is land out there, anyone who does believe would be considered a lunatic (Columbus was considered stupid in his time, and really was a bit stupid), and they would probably not be the kind of person who can get a hold of multiple sea-worthy ships to make a crossing to a land nobody has so much as thought of, with skills not good enough to cross an ocean, and no reason to do this at all. An explorer looking for Atlantis is not a good excuse, they'd still be considered wacky, and even if they all did believe in Atlantis they also remember that Atlantis sank beneath the waves. And even if the Romans did miraculously get there, they are not coming back. They are in a land where they are seriously outnumbered and unprepared for. If they land in Mexico, Teotihuacan call wipe them out with ease. If they land further to the north or south of Mexico, either the winter or the jungle will get rid of them in time, or they assimilate with locals and become part of them, the only difference being the color of their skin. It happened OTL, whites who joined the tribes and stuff didn't change the tribes at all.

I'm not an expert navigator myself, but I do know that knowledge of using the stars to navigate by was well known in the time of the Greeks and thus known by the Romans. I would argue that they definitley could have made it, they just didn't have a reason. The Vikings navigated through far more treacherous waters with even less knowledge of what was across the Atlantic. Having knowledge of a potential lost continent might be just the impetus that a particularly crazy roman (or actually given the nationalities on the Atlantic coast of the Roman empire and those involved in seafaring) or greek, or Numidian captain would need to go exploring. Why they didn't is a question, is akin to why the Chinese didn't head out into the Pacific. The knowledge and tech basis is barely there but it is there. Making it economically viable is an entirely different question.
 
Would they, though? Smallpox and chickenpox would probably be burnt out on long oceanic voyage, wouldn't they? You probably need repeated contacts for the diseases to make the jump. And in the 'blown off course' scenario, your goats and seeds are probably all eaten. Dunno why you'd have bees onboard either.

Well we can simply have the Romans over-prepared for a journey, say if they were expecting delays or a longer journey. There just isn't enough background yet, do we start with a Roman POD that gets the Azores? or just mainland Spain? What is the breakdown of the crew? What is the ships carrying on board?

But I agree, why bees?

And your right the chances of a really deadly disease crossing is low, but so is the chance of tropical diseases like yellow fever that traditionally hindered tropical European conquests, in fact I think the chances of yellow fever crossing is nil as in OTL it came to NA on one of the hundreds of slave ships from Africa. Furthermore you'd have Roman descendants with some genetic resistance to some of the Old World diseases as opposed to OTL natives which had none. In addition, 1000-1500 years of intensive farming with animals will no doubt generate new infectious diseases.

If they survive, they are still going to be wiped out by the whites from 1492 onwards.

And probably not King Thomas, the Iron age Xhosa in Africa took 175 years of conquest in 9 wars to achieve and this was done with the cape as a staging ground. An Iron age North America would have a greater population due to a larger area for farming, it would have it's own infectious diseases adopted to Northern climates transferable back to Europe, and there will be the logistical problem of getting things across the Atlantic.

And I would like to point out that the Pacific was settled with watercraft and navigation much much more primitive than what the Romans had available to them.
 
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In the 3rd century Postumus broke away from Rome and formed the so called Gallic Empire (Roman Britain & Gaul). This revolt was crushed by Aurelian, but what if decided to have a pincer attack sending troops to land in north of Britain catching the rebels unware while they were fighting in Gaul. This would require a large fleet and supplies to be at sea. Bad weather pushes them out to sea as the cross the bay of Biscay and in the Gulf Stream which after several weeks brings them ashore in North America some where near south Carolina. Thanks to the supplies most of the soldiers and crew are live to build, plant crops, fight the natives take wives and slowly take over.
 
And I would like to point out that the Pacific was settled with watercraft and navigation much much more primitive than what the Romans had available to them.

ship building, perhaps, but they actually had better navigational skills than you give them credit for. they actually used currents/waves to find islands, not just stars. remember the Pacific islanders did find and colonize the Hawaiian islands in the middle of the Pacific.

Also, constellations and stars change depending on which side of the equator you are on.
 
Smallpox and chickenpox would probably be burnt out on long oceanic voyage, wouldn't they? You probably need repeated contacts for the diseases to make the jump.
Quite. Disease is not going to be an issue here.
And in the 'blown off course' scenario, your goats and seeds are probably all eaten. Dunno why you'd have bees onboard either.
Ummm... Much of their food is likely seeds. Wheat, barley, oats, whatever. Sure, some might be in flour form (unlikely) or baked into biscuit-oids, but IIRC the diet of the roman soldier involved a lot of porridge made each day from grain...

Having enough grain/peas to plant a crop should be relatively likely. Arriving in spring in time to plant said crop, maybe not so much.

Again, animals. How many survived the trip? Maybe an officer has a stallion, and there are a couple of mares, but there wouldn't likely be any male goats, pigs or sheep, even if there were some female ones.
 
To somehow reach the Azores would be a good beginning.

Perhaps if Quintus Sertorius (c. 126-73 BC), the Roman (of Sabine origin) rebel in Hispania ever achieves his dreams of exploring the Atlantic Ocean. See his biography by Plutarch: http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Sertorius*.html

During his stay in Baetica (modern Andalucia), Serorius reportedly heard tales of islands to the West of the Iberian Peninsula:

"Here he fell in with some sailors who had recently come back from the Atlantic Islands. These are two in number, separated by a very narrow strait; they are ten thousand furlongs [2,000 kilometers/1,250 miles] distant from Africa, and are called the Islands of the Blest.

They enjoy moderate rains at long intervals, and winds which for the most part are soft and precipitate dews, so that the islands not only have a rich soil which is excellent for plowing and planting, but also produce a natural fruit that is plentiful and wholesome enough to feed, without toil or trouble, a leisured folk.

Moreover, an air that is salubrious, owing to the climate and the moderate changes in the seasons, prevails on the islands. For the north and east winds which blow out from our part of the world plunge into fathomless space, and, owing to the distance, dissipate themselves and lose their power before they reach the islands; while the south and west winds that envelope the islands sometimes bring in their train soft and intermittent showers, but for the most part cool them with moist breezes and gently nourish the soil. Therefore a firm belief has made its way, even to the Barbarians, that here is the Elysian Field and the abode of the blessed, of which Homer sang.

When Sertorius heard this tale, he was seized with an amazing desire to dwell in the islands and live in quiet, freed from tyranny and wars that would never end."

It is believed that the description is based on the Canary Islands, but the co-ordinates given to him would actually have Sertorius sail way too far to the West in pursuit of them.
 
But suppose a fleet by some fluke ends up lost in the Caribbean. First of all a fleet probably has the numbers to maintain long-term genetic diversity , especially as sailors tend to be predominately male so we can effectively double the number accounting for native wives, more if they settle for more than one women. So it should be sustainable as it gets above the 500 pop. min. needed for long term genetic diversity.

You assume that the Caribbean Islands sustained a native population at Roman times. This might not be the case as some of the "natives" Columbus encountered were relatively recent arrivals themselves. For example the Carib people, from which the name of the region originates. They seem to have originated in the area of the Orinoco river (currently divided between Venezuela and Colombia). Evidence so far suggests that they migrated to he islands in the 12th century or the early 13th century.

The Saladoid culture from Venezuela seems to have expanded to part of the Caribbean Isles between the 5th century BC and the 3rd century BC. Lasting all the way to the 6th century AD. But their settlements were limited to the Lesser Antilles, Puerto Rico, and (later) Hispaniola. Several other areas may not have had a permanent population at all during this era.

Agriculture:

But we can take a few stabs at it, very likely that there are people who farmed on the fleet, while perhaps not all of the crops from Europe were stored we can effectively assume a good ratio for something like an entire fleet. Let's say no perishables, perhaps some dried fruit seeds but that would be a fluke and unintentional . We can almost be assured of hardy staple foods like grains, millet, barley and hemp. Perhaps some pulses like peas, chickpea and lentil. For this case let's say peas and chickpeas made it across.

The cornerstone of Roman agriculture was wheat production. Barley was mostly used to produce certain drinks and to a lesser extent to create bread. Eating barley was unusual enough for people doing so, such as gladiators, to be nicknamed "hordearii" (barley-eaters). Peas, chickpeas (Latin: Cicer), fava beans, lupin beans, were a staple of Roman cuisine in ancient times and lentils were popular with the high classes.

Millet was mostly domesticated in Eastern Asia and was a relatively late arrival in Europe and Western Asia. Starting from Eastern Europe and slowly spreading West during the 1st millennium BC. I am not certain if the Romans were interested in cultivating it. Hemp production in Europe seems to have started in earnest iduring the Late Middle Ages, when the plant was both used in certain cooked dishes (particularly in Germany and Italy) and as a fiber in creating ropes and certain clothes. In ancient Europe, Hemp was probably used by the Germanic, Celtic, and Dacian cultures in their religious ceremonies but it is unclear if they actually cultivated it.

The main problem is the climate, which as opposed to the Mediterranean's hot & dry summers are equilateral and dry in the winter instead. While Mediterranean crops will still grow they won't grow to their at most extent, though the Caribbean is in no shortage of rain. Considering the cooler state of the world then we can argue that there will be less hurricanes.

Husbandry:

Now having pigs ,chickens , and goats on ships is a common sight, perhaps horses and oxen but its less likely to occur and to occur in large numbers. For this case let's say that horses made it across but in low numbers and any descendants had a fair chance of genetic disorders limiting their worth.

Goats and pigs would certainly be needed to establish any proper Roman farm. Chicken farming might have been less important. In Greece it was introduced around the 8th century BC and was still relatively uncommon by the 5th century BC. With the Greeks viewing chickens, particularly roosters, as an exotic "Persian" or "Median" animal according to references in classical literature. The Romans probably got the chickens through contact with the Greeks. But there are arguably more references to use of chickens for divination purposes than actual use for food. Lucius Junius Moderatus Collumela (4 c. 70 AD) devotes many of his writings on how to run a farm on how to properly breed chickens. Which point to a shift in attitude around the 1st century AD. Not certain if earlier Romans were familiar with the subject.

But to keep these animals alive, you would probably need large storage spaces both as a temporary habitat for them and a place to store the food they would need. Removing the possibility of a single ship accomplishing all this.
 
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Writing:

Rather unlikely, given how sailors tend to be illiterate we can only hope that some of the few higher-class professions know it. But given the lack of immediate general use the most we can expect is a small guild of administrators.

It is estimated that only 20% of the Roman population, at any time during the Republic and Empire, was actually fully literate. But it is thought that basic reading skills and elementary-level writing might have spread wider as part of the skills needed for certain professions.

But what makes you think that literacy was a privilege of the higher-classes? Just as often, the Romans relied on educated slaves to do the job needed. Such slaves were used as teachers, secretaries, accountants, and doctors. These kind of professions are thought to have allowed for greater opportunities when a slave became a freedman.

Take for example Marcus Tullius Tiro (1st century BC), the slave and freedman of Marcus Tullius Cicero. He served as the private secretary, housekeeper, financial administrator, and general right-hand-man to his master. He went on to become a famous scholar, responsible for recording the full biography and many speeches of Cicero.

Tiro is probably better known for creating the so-called Tironian notes, a system for shorthand writing primarily used for taking dictation. It turned out to become highly influential and was still in use in Western Europe until the 12th century.

Assuming a suitable population of educated slaves is part of the expedition, writing is unlikely to get lost.

First Contact:

The native population of North America is around the tens of millions, the carribean is around the thousands so no existential challenge for the Romans.

Take into account the difference in estimates of World population for the period.:

*Estimates for the World Population in AD 14, at the time of Augustus' death, vary. Between the low estimation point of 170 million people in total to high estimation point of 330 million.
*Estimates for the World Population in AD 1500, shortly after the original voyages of Columbus, still vary. But between the low estimation point of 425 million people in total to the high estimation point of 540 million.

The comparison between the estimates point to the World having a scarcer population at the time of the Roman Empire and the Americas might have a much smaller population that the one encountered by the Conquistadores.

Perhaps the Roman's greatest advantage: Smallpox, The Flu, Measles, Pertussis, Malaria are bound to ravage the Islands upon first contact, making it exceedingly simple for the Romans to attain control.

I would not count on the Romans being resistant to the effects of smallpox. It is unclear when smallpox first reached Europe but it is theorized that several "plagues" which ravaged the Roman Empire were actually smallpox epidemics. Notably including the Antonine Plague (c. 165-180) and the Plague of Cyprian (c. 250-270) which might have combined killed about 5 million people. The first definite description of smallpox symptoms in Europe comes from the writings of Gregory of Tours (c. 538-594), indicating that by the 6th century it had become an endemic disease.

Unlike smallpox, the history of influenza remains a mystery. The earliest description of the symptoms is that by Hippocrates of Cos (c. 460-370 BC) which would indicate this is an old disease. But there is no clear record of an influenza epidemic prior to AD 1580. Uncertain what caused a relatively rare disease to become that deadly. But the Romans would probably not have built a resistance to it.

Measles has a much shorter history than most diseases. The virus responsible is considered to have first evolved sometime between the 7th and the 12th century AD. the Romans could not have known about it. The earliest description of the symptoms was that by Muhammad ibn Zakariya al-Razi (c. 865-925).

Pertussis was first identified as a separate disease in 1906. It is unclear if the disease has a long history or if it a relatively recent development.

Malaria was indeed endemic in the Roman Empire. There is even a theory that it contributed to a population decline in Italy around the 5th century. Hastening the demise of the Western Roman Empire. Noye that Malaria survivors are apparently to spread genetic resistance to the disease among their descendants.
 
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ship building, perhaps, but they actually had better navigational skills than you give them credit for. they actually used currents/waves to find islands, not just stars. remember the Pacific islanders did find and colonize the Hawaiian islands in the middle of the Pacific.

Also, constellations and stars change depending on which side of the equator you are on.

True, though the prehistory eras are sketchy at best. We only have indirect proof. It seems to have implies the ancestral Austronesian settled the islands, then decayed technologically due to the population limits of the islands.


Take into account the difference in estimates of World population for the period.:

*Estimates for the World Population in AD 14, at the time of Augustus' death, vary. Between the low estimation point of 170 million people in total to high estimation point of 330 million.
*Estimates for the World Population in AD 1500, shortly after the original voyages of Columbus, still vary. But between the low estimation point of 425 million people in total to the high estimation point of 540 million.

True ,I have to admit I used estimates from the time of Columbus, considering how "virgin" the Americas were to humans compared to the Old World your probably right on a much lower number. I also wonder how accurate the estimates I used of native American nomads really were, considering the poor amount of evidence they leave and the disruptions of the European diseases.

It is estimated that only 20% of the Roman population, at any time during the Republic and Empire, was actually fully literate. But it is thought that basic reading skills and elementary-level writing might have spread wider as part of the skills needed for certain professions.

But what makes you think that literacy was a privilege of the higher-classes? Just as often, the Romans relied on educated slaves to do the job needed. Such slaves were used as teachers, secretaries, accountants, and doctors. These kind of professions are thought to have allowed for greater opportunities when a slave became a freedman.

Take for example Marcus Tullius Tiro (1st century BC), the slave and freedman of Marcus Tullius Cicero. He served as the private secretary, housekeeper, financial administrator, and general right-hand-man to his master. He went on to become a famous scholar, responsible for recording the full biography and many speeches of Cicero.

Tiro is probably better known for creating the so-called Tironian notes, a system for shorthand writing primarily used for taking dictation. It turned out to become highly influential and was still in use in Western Europe until the 12th century.

Assuming a suitable population of educated slaves is part of the expedition, writing is unlikely to get lost.

I admit that I only have sparing knowledge of the Roman world at best ,so your probably more knowledgeable than I am, I do know that they'd have educated slaves. But the main problem I saw was getting enough volunteers to go on something this risky, and in a place where loyalty is concerned slaves are considered undesirable. The composition/sailing date of the crew is undetermined, I just assumed worst case. Also the main problem would be the usage of writing, writing becomes generally less and less useful the smaller the population is. I don't know the cut-off threshold for technology such as writing, but various Polynesian societies whose ancestors had pottery , tools, and navigation degenerated into stone-age societies due to the population limits of their islands. So we could get a boatload of Roman scholars to the Americas, but it's no guarantee that they would write once they become farmers/fishermen. Also their kids would most likely to be only interested in the immediate practical applications of writing, things will get lost.

You assume that the Caribbean Islands sustained a native population at Roman times. This might not be the case as some of the "natives" Columbus encountered were relatively recent arrivals themselves. For example the Carib people, from which the name of the region originates. They seem to have originated in the area of the Orinoco river (currently divided between Venezuela and Colombia). Evidence so far suggests that they migrated to he islands in the 12th century or the early 13th century.

The Saladoid culture from Venezuela seems to have expanded to part of the Caribbean Isles between the 5th century BC and the 3rd century BC. Lasting all the way to the 6th century AD. But their settlements were limited to the Lesser Antilles, Puerto Rico, and (later) Hispaniola. Several other areas may not have had a permanent population at all during this era.

There are evidence of pre-Clovis humans in the Americas, although they appeared to be less advanced due to sparse evidence. But the more "primitive" a society gets and the less evidence they leave around. Although the Romans didn't need to find 500 wives right away in one location, it could be done over a much wider area over the course of a decade assuming they have some of their original fleet.


The cornerstone of Roman agriculture was wheat production. Barley was mostly used to produce certain drinks and to a lesser extent to create bread. Eating barley was unusual enough for people doing so, such as gladiators, to be nicknamed "hordearii" (barley-eaters). Peas, chickpeas (Latin: Cicer), fava beans, lupin beans, were a staple of Roman cuisine in ancient times and lentils were popular with the high classes.

Millet was mostly domesticated in Eastern Asia and was a relatively late arrival in Europe and Western Asia. Starting from Eastern Europe and slowly spreading West during the 1st millennium BC. I am not certain if the Romans were interested in cultivating it. Hemp production in Europe seems to have started in earnest iduring the Late Middle Ages, when the plant was both used in certain cooked dishes (particularly in Germany and Italy) and as a fiber in creating ropes and certain clothes. In ancient Europe, Hemp was probably used by the Germanic, Celtic, and Dacian cultures in their religious ceremonies but it is unclear if they actually cultivated it.

Goats and pigs would certainly be needed to establish any proper Roman farm. Chicken farming might have been less important. In Greece it was introduced around the 8th century BC and was still relatively uncommon by the 5th century BC. With the Greeks viewing chickens, particularly roosters, as an exotic "Persian" or "Median" animal according to references in classical literature. The Romans probably got the chickens through contact with the Greeks. But there are arguably more references to use of chickens for divination purposes than actual use for food. Lucius Junius Moderatus Collumela (4 c. 70 AD) devotes many of his writings on how to run a farm on how to properly breed chickens. Which point to a shift in attitude around the 1st century AD. Not certain if earlier Romans were familiar with the subject.

But to keep these animals alive, you would probably need large storage spaces both as a temporary habitat for them and a place to store the food they would need. Removing the possibility of a single ship accomplishing all this.

I have to admit that I have no idea how prevalent the marginal crops were during Roman times, I just knew that the Romans had access to them and assumed an expedition might carry them. And yes, I'm speculating under the assumption of a Roman fleet, a single ship simply doesn't have the numbers to accomplish something like this.
 
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For the north and east winds which blow out from our part of the world plunge into fathomless space, and, owing to the distance, dissipate themselves and lose their power before they reach the islands; while the south and west winds that envelope the islands sometimes bring in their train soft and intermittent showers, but for the most part cool them with moist breezes and gently nourish the soil.

I wonder how many sailors in the Roman Empire who knew of those winds.
 
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