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I just want to say this is the absolute best thread on the forums. I love the Antiquity period, especially Roman stuff, so bravo for this. Going back to the discussion from a few pages ago, I think if I were to go back in time and attempt to introduce modern ideas to people of ancient times, I'd be tossed into a pit or executed. They would think I was crazy, a foreign saboteur bringing ideas against the Empire, or simply making poo poo up. Modern maps wouldn't make a lick of sense. The common person, at least in the US, is dumber than gently caress and wouldn't bring anything of note to the Romans. You could certainly introduce modern IDEAS, but practical application of things like advanced chemistry and industrial processes would probably be near impossible due to material limitations or the common person simply not knowing how to execute concepts. I can't imagine what kind of utter havoc would be caused by the equivalent of Kenny Powers being transported back in time and having to explain to Caesar that his namesake would become a poo poo pizza chain. Or even what pizza is. Then again, introducing sports could probably go real well. Smacking a leather ball with a stick is very simple to understand. You could form the first Roman Baseball League. Then you could debate saber-metrics with Hypatia or the importance of smallball with Cicero. Someone get me a loving time machine.
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Jul 3, 2014 14:47
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sullat posted:Definitely. You shouldn't try and explain the advantages of representational democracy during the late republic period, or the importance of historical preservation during the Chin empire. And blaming the black death on invisible creatures that live on fleas? That seems like a good way to get in trouble.  : No Gods, no Kings, no Masters... gently caress you, got mine. Ha, slaves?! Check out this free market and what not. :  Really, though. I have to wonder how introducing new ideas to warfare would have changed things. Romans were already on the bleeding edge of warfare in Antiquity and masters of siege. Introducing forms of crude dynamite would probably have us speaking Latin to this day. Edit: I'm going to actually ask a question since this is what the thread is for. What's the farthest that Roman artifacts have been discovered? I'm curious as to the actual limitations of their influence. I know earlier in the thread someone mentioned Japan through trade. It boggles my mind that a civilization at its height during those times could have spanned so far. Were it not for rudimentary sailing technology and theory, just think what could have been. TheHoosier fucked around with this message at 15:53 on Jul 3, 2014 |
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Jul 3, 2014 15:43
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Ras Het posted:The Romans in China / Chinans in Roma thing keeps popping up here, but really, the Old World has been sort of unified for thousands of years. There's never been anything truly preventing trade on the axis extending from Portugal to Japan - nothing like the Sahara desert, for example. And if you look at a map with that in mind, it's no surprise that before the colonial era the balance of power in the Old World often hung on the Central Asian steppe tribes. They controlled the centre of the whole Eurasian continent and expanded from there in bursts, repeatedly radically altering what was happening in Europe, India and China. It wasn't really a Roman achievement that some of their trade goods or coins ended up in Japan or Korea or whatever, it's a consequence of geographical features. In my mind, it's hard to perceive distance the way people in ancient times would have. To me, the length of the United States takes a day to traverse with modern technology; Less through the air. Walking would take forever, but no one does that. Trying to put myself in the shoes of an ancient general or explorer having to reach another part of the world is difficult to imagine. I know Romans were aware of the Chinese dynasties and vice versa. Obviously trade happened, especially silk. I guess it's just hard for me to grasp the Romans physically being in the far corners of the world. Thinking about how far Hadrian's Wall is from the southern tip of the Empire paints an awe-inspiring mental picture.
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Jul 3, 2014 16:09
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WoodrowSkillson posted:There were Roman trade outposts in India, manned by legionaries and staffed with people who spoke Greek and Latin. What fires the imagination about Rome is knowing that people in India and Scotland were interacting with the same entity, in 150 AD. People could and almost certainly did spend January in India and May in Britian. This is what I mean. Absolutely fascinating. Imagine the story swapping that went on in ancient times. Tales of legions stomping through the forests of Gaul all the way to Britannia. Must have scared the piss out of people in India. Or not, I'm not too learned about antiquity Asia.
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Jul 3, 2014 16:24
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Imapanda posted:The Romans played a shitton of sports. I wouldn't be surprised if even one of the civil wars was started from one of the games they were obsessed with. Yeah I knew they had sports of their own. I misspoke; I meant "modern" sports like basketball or baseball. Soccer has been around in various forms for a long rear end time so I'm sure kicking a ball is something they've done already. I know the complexity of the tactics in soccer and the stats in baseball would be a real eye-opener, but the basics of the game would be easy to introduce. The chariot-racing faction stuff is interesting. Ancient hooliganism. Some things truly never change.
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Jul 3, 2014 21:13
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