He did not want this to be taken as an ASB from the context of this is as realistic as possible, if in a hypothetical case the Roman Empire will come into contact with America. It happens during the Antonine dynasty of the emperor Trajan, in this case Rome has more resistant ships and capable of making longer trips. Although a colonization I do not see possible but there may still be some trade, on some island in the Caribbean.
Well here I come with another question, what if the Roman Empire discovered America?
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SwampTiger
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Getting to the Americas is much easier than getting back. So, are you postulating contact as in a series of ships reaching the Americas sporadically, or do you want a regular contact across the Atlantic?
Even if they had 15th century shipbuilding technology, there aren't a lot of valuable things on the East coast to justify sailing from Italy. Cod? Beaver pelts? That salt island in the Bahamas?
They wouldn't care- trade with china was easy enough for the empire. But when rome did fall, european nobility will likely invest in colonial funstuff earlier since while it's no china, they would presume there are some resources, maybe even a way to asia for trade
SwampTiger
Banned
Okay, for sporadic, not necessarily round trip contact. I could see a series of landings after storms drove ships off course. First you need a reason for the Romans to sail south of the Canaries on a regular basis. Such regular passages, say to Senegalor possibly Sierra Leone requires knowledge of the Volta do Mar around Cape Bojador. Thus, you need regular sailing/trading voyages at least a few years prior to Trajan.
This would NOT be by a galley, which may possibly survive the passage, but not an Atlantic storm. A decent sized merchant ship, say 60 to 120 tons, could survive the passage. However, without additional knowledge of Atlantic currents and wind patterns, it 's crew is stuck in the Americas. Now what?
This would NOT be by a galley, which may possibly survive the passage, but not an Atlantic storm. A decent sized merchant ship, say 60 to 120 tons, could survive the passage. However, without additional knowledge of Atlantic currents and wind patterns, it 's crew is stuck in the Americas. Now what?
Indeed. For cod they can use the necessary boats to fish in the North Atlantic unstead (Roman Iceland?). For salt they can trade with sub-Saharan Africa or just increase coastal salt production. For fur/pelts they can trade more with Northern Europe.