alternatehistory.com

Hi!

I'm curious if this is too crazy to be true, but I'm wondering: could the Romans have known enough to actually build railroads and benefit from them?

Consider what technology they needed.

1. The steam engine. Hero's toy had demonstrated this in principle, though a long time would have to go by before anything commercial came out of it. But it's possible.
2. Metallurgy to create the locomotive (you can build the other cars out of wood because you don't need high temperature constraints there). They've got metal weapons, so that's possible.
3. Lots of wood for cars and possibly rails. Forests.
4. Lots of labor to lay the tracks. Slaves.
5. Crew to man the locomotive and feed the furnace. Slaves.

The benefits of a locomotive:

1. Ability to haul cargo long distances. Sounds like a good thing given the size of the empire.
2. Troop transport without tiring out your army before an engagement.
3. The ability to travel at night, in principle -- the slaves work while your soldiers sleep.
4. Improved transportation and communication infrastructure in general.
5. A wonder of the world which would give the Roman Empire great prestige.

I can imagine the first line being made between Rome and Ostia and if that works then the technology spreads.

Yes, I know that Hero's steam engine never took on because slaves could do the work of the engine. The catch is that slaves need to be fed and can get tired and sick. And a machine would likely be less likely to run away than slave labor. Finally, the locomotive project would still keep a lot of slaves busy -- perhaps it could only be completed in the classical world with a lot of slave labor.

I'm thinking of trains traveling between 6-10 mph in general (about the speed of a fast horse or something like that). I doubt you could get technology better than that in this era.

Is this crazy or what?

Thanks in advance,

ACG
Top