WI the Romans discovered the Americas?

Thats an interesting point. I know you usually have some great sources, do you have anything on the expansion of salt production?
On NW European salt production and trade

Basically, salt bricketing was important but regionally dispersed in Gaul and Britain even before the conquest, and expanded in Channel and Atlantic salted swamps, but Seille and Saale basins as well, trough salted springs exploitation.
Their commercialisation was local and regionally-focused, altough finds do point that it could go as far as Lower Danube. It's possible the production/commerce rivalty prevented a renew of salt exploitation north of Alps after the troubles of the end of First Iron Age, and they really were reused in Middle-Ages. The author gives the exemple of Reichnall's salt North of Danube compared to Salzburg's due to the limes construction and the market being cut for Noricans.

Now, for the maritime trade of salt and salt-ships, while they are big enough, they are flat-bottomed ships fit for coastal and lagunar navigation, with the author making a comparison, without saying it existed up to the IVth century (records and finds tend to disappear until the XIIth on this regard), with medieval trade of English salt in North Sea.

Let's remember that salt in Romania was often replaced by salty fish sauces, notably garum and that salt trade was under state supervision.
 
On NW European salt production and trade

Basically, salt bricketing was important but regionally dispersed in Gaul and Britain even before the conquest, and expanded in Channel and Atlantic salted swamps, but Seille and Saale basins as well, trough salted springs exploitation.
Their commercialisation was local and regionally-focused, altough finds do point that it could go as far as Lower Danube. It's possible the production/commerce rivalty prevented a renew of salt exploitation north of Alps after the troubles of the end of First Iron Age, and they really were reused in Middle-Ages. The author gives the exemple of Reichnall's salt North of Danube compared to Salzburg's due to the limes construction and the market being cut for Noricans.

Now, for the maritime trade of salt and salt-ships, while they are big enough, they are flat-bottomed ships fit for coastal and lagunar navigation, with the author making a comparison, without saying it existed up to the IVth century (records and finds tend to disappear until the XIIth on this regard), with medieval trade of English salt in North Sea.

Let's remember that salt in Romania was often replaced by salty fish sauces, notably garum and that salt trade was under state supervision.

That document doesn’t want to load. Just to make sure, is it in English?
 

Lusitania

Donor
Salt production is limited to North Sea and not Baltic due to its lower salt content (freezes in winter). This was the reason that Baltic countries like Sweden imported tons of salt from countries like Portugal iOTL. So salt production may need to be based elsewhere and transported to these cod rich regions.

I believe Portuguese and basque fishermen sailed with salt fromhome to the Grand Banks.
 

TruthfulPanda

Gone Fishin'
Salt production is limited to North Sea and not Baltic due to its lower salt content (freezes in winter). This was the reason that Baltic countries like Sweden imported tons of salt from countries like Portugal iOTL. So salt production may need to be based elsewhere and transported to these cod rich regions.
Being acustumed to the brackish Baltic I was astonished in Portugal when drying in the sun at the beach left a residue of salt on my skin ...
 
The main problem there is that Roman ships that sailed the Atlantic weren't reallt fit for transoceanic crossing : they tended to be lighter and sometimes smaller.

Note that Atlantic sea trade was generally focused on Aquitaine-Channel-North Sea, while circumnavigation of Spain was rather limited).
Meaning that a transoceaning crossing would have fewer chances to begin from Betica or Lusitania, and more from either Gaul or Britain, thus making it more difficult.

So going for a crossing that would take more than one month on limited logistics (keeping in mind Colombus' sailors were on the verge of rebellion)...I wonder if anyone would make it alive when the ship reaches either Canada or Brazil.
Imagine a collection of supply ships is blown off course and follows the path of Columbus to the New World. It is possible a few Roman ships did make it, but were assimilated or killed. In any case, they could not make it back so the knowledge of America would not make it back to Europe. Now, imagine the group (fleet?) of ships is large enough to establish a colony. If the supplies were agricultural, they could share technology with the natives. Without getting ASB, could they have made settlements that could have reached North America? The closest technology to a return trip would be with the Vikings, centuries later. Could their Roman identity survive that long? Maybe not.
 

Lusitania

Donor
Imagine a collection of supply ships is blown off course and follows the path of Columbus to the New World. It is possible a few Roman ships did make it, but were assimilated or killed. In any case, they could not make it back so the knowledge of America would not make it back to Europe. Now, imagine the group (fleet?) of ships is large enough to establish a colony. If the supplies were agricultural, they could share technology with the natives. Without getting ASB, could they have made settlements that could have reached North America? The closest technology to a return trip would be with the Vikings, centuries later. Could their Roman identity survive that long? Maybe not.
I have indicated before this scenario is already been done and illustrated as Roman America that can be downloaded on iTunes or other places.
 
Imagine a collection of supply ships is blown off course and follows the path of Columbus to the New World.
At best, very few of these could make it : vessels (Romano-Celtic boats) of this periods sailing in the Atlantic were really fit for large coastal sailing (lightly made, flat-bottomed, not too many rows if any), but would poorly make it for transoceanic crossing especially giving navigation in Roman Atlantic tended to avoid western Spain, meaning an even longer crossing from Britain or Aremorica at best.

Asterix-Dorey.jpg

Reconstitution of a Romano-Celtic Boat.

It is possible a few Roman ships did make it, but were assimilated or killed.
As you said, it's not literally ASB (being just very, very, very, very,...,very implausible to happen more than an handful of times) but even full of supplies (which mean full of food and water, which weren't really traded in the Atlantic marine roads) it would be more than limited for 2 months of navigation before hoping finding a land. And this is considering the best situations, such as sailing from Spain and going trough the right winds and stream.
Even if the boat and the crew (it's not a given that the latter might survive if the boat manages to float up to American coast) manages to survive, we're not talking about a viable potential colony, but isolated castaways without much tools or supply. Apart from navigation and ship-building techniques, they wouldn't have much to share, and (while it would depend when and where the ship does manages to land, it's true) I don't see which native societies would be particularly interested in these.

I essentially agree that if it happens, they would be integrated within native societies (or killed, or dying in isolation) leaving no traces behind.
 
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