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If you were sent back to the roman era and could only bring a backpack of goods. What would you bring?

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[-] starman2112@sh.itjust.works 59 points 5 months ago

A book with pictures detailing all the processes required to make paper, and the schematics for a printing press. I know better than to presume my knowledge of electricity will be of any use, I know better than to think that I understand math better than ancient mathematicians, and I know better than to try to convince them that tiny little creatures are what cause illness. What I can do is jump-start humanity's ascent to modern technology by improving literacy a few centuries early

[-] emptyother@programming.dev 28 points 5 months ago

Dont forget ink recipe. A new type of ink had to be invented for the printing press. Soot, turpentine, and walnut oil should do it.

[-] AnAngryAlpaca@feddit.de 35 points 5 months ago

And you give away the press for free, but the ink will cost a fortune!

[-] DdCno1@kbin.social 22 points 5 months ago

And you shall be known as Lexmarkius.

Epsonius son of Heuletio Paquardius.

[-] Hadriscus@lemm.ee 12 points 5 months ago

Seize the means of printing, Epsonius! educate the masses!

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[-] j4k3@lemmy.world 43 points 5 months ago

Current geological mineral distribution map. A dozen ball screws, some linear rods, bearings, grease. A dozen staters of various sizes, and a few hundred thousand diodes, maybe millions. Then as much enameled copper wire and magnet steel as I could carry. Then a e-paper tablet with a long list of patent documents, along with text books from Primary school clear to graduate level physics, chemistry, and math.

Then I would lug a vintage mini lathe over my shoulder for the few steps I have to take because you didn't specify how far I have to walk.

I should be able to make the industrial revolution from there.

...welcome to 1500 years in the future...now!

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[-] _Sprite@lemmy.world 39 points 5 months ago

I'm either gonna bring a bunch of 'For Dummies' books to speed up development and get executed or make a fortune selling meth and get executed

[-] ininewcrow@lemmy.ca 31 points 5 months ago

Lol .... Roman Empire collapses 300 years before it's time because of a meth crisis.

[-] ivanafterall@kbin.social 15 points 5 months ago

Why not sell psychedelics and change history?

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[-] lvxferre@mander.xyz 35 points 5 months ago

If I'm going to be transported to the European peninsula too, besides time travelling, I'd want at least:

  • my laptop. Download everything from multiple Wikipedias, including the Italian one for good measure. (Why Italian? Largest Wikipedia in a Romance language that I'm proficient with.)
  • some charger for the above. I don't even mind if manual.
  • Latin vocabulary printed book. I can speak some but I'm not proficient in the language.
  • Some silver and gold. Money back in Roman times was still based on the value of the coins. And money never hurts.
  • Clothes carefully prepared to not look Roman, but typical enough from the times. The idea is to pass as a cultured barbarian from a tribe that is too far away from Rome to bother.
[-] jaschen@lemm.ee 17 points 5 months ago

You're going to need medicine. Penicillin for sure.

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[-] Blackout@kbin.social 33 points 5 months ago

Gray's Sports Almanac 1950-2000.

[-] bionicjoey@lemmy.ca 21 points 5 months ago

Just wait 1950 years and you'll be rich

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[-] ArbitraryValue@sh.itjust.works 32 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago)

There's a legend that the Roman Emperor Tiberius executed the inventor of flexible glass.

After the inventor swore that he was the only man alive who knew the manufacturing technique, Tiberius had the man beheaded. He feared that the glass would devalue gold and silver, since the material might be more valuable.

So y'all better watch out with any plastic...

[-] nxdefiant@startrek.website 19 points 5 months ago

That guy was definitely a time traveler.

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[-] VirtualOdour@sh.itjust.works 29 points 5 months ago

Old Roman artifacts so I can confuse them with how rusted and dirty they are, great conversation starter.

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[-] Sir_Fridge@lemmy.world 28 points 5 months ago

A (tape) camera to document how I obliterate the roman empire by spreading pathogens that have yet to evolve but I have developed immunity for.

And something like a time capsule to burry the camera in.

[-] mnemonicmonkeys@sh.itjust.works 17 points 5 months ago

Keep in mind that there were of plenty of pathogens back then that you aren't immune to now. A good example is smallpox

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[-] AnAngryAlpaca@feddit.de 13 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago)

Dont want to be that guy, but the platic softeners inside the tape will most likely evalporate, causing the tape to break up und cruble to dust as soon as you try to play it. The magnetic orientation of the bits will also degarde. Manufacturers give an expected shelf life of 30 years for any magnetic storage medium.

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[-] bizzle@lemmy.world 27 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago)

Modern cannabis seeds, because if I'm going to be in Ancient Times I still don't want to smoke schwag.

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[-] nokturne213@sopuli.xyz 23 points 5 months ago

A towel. Maybe some peanuts.

[-] Nemo@midwest.social 17 points 5 months ago

A hoopy frood right here.

[-] Hadriscus@lemm.ee 23 points 5 months ago

Remember that old reddit post where someone asked "what if a battalion of marines were suddenly zapped back to the roman era with all their gear and stuff, what would happen?" and somebody answered with a full on novel they titled "Rome, Sweet Rome" and some time later some Hollywood dude bought the rights to it?

[-] rob_t_firefly@lemmy.world 13 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago)
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[-] Psiczar@aussie.zone 20 points 5 months ago

The recipe for making soap A general practitioner’s medical book A dummies guide to Latin A compass Water bottle with filter A taser Instructions on how to make a battery Instructions on how to make gun powder The rise and fall of the Roman Empire books

[-] semperverus@lemmy.world 14 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago)

I would take a smartphone with all of wikipedia stored locally on it, and a USB solar panel or two.

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[-] Lenny@lemmy.zip 19 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago)

Portable power supply

Portable dvd player

Portable display

Bluetooth speakers

A copy of Morbius on dvd

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[-] conciselyverbose@sh.itjust.works 19 points 5 months ago

20 identical ereaders packed with every book I can fit, solar panels, and batteries.

And the rest of the volume with gold.

[-] Corkyskog@sh.itjust.works 16 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago)

I would do the same, except instead of gold I would pack as much Fentanyl as possible. (Not like the cops will find you after you time hop anyway).

I could then, heavily dilute the Fentanyl and sell it and earn way more gold. You could also poison your enemies with pure Fentanyl and no one would understand what sort of poison it is.

With all that money you could probably buy a small castle, a loyal guard, hire the smartest people around and have them start creating weapons, medicines and mechanization from the 21st century before you even die.

The other reason Fentanyl is superior than gold is that if people see gold they will just steal it. If they see bricks of Fentanyl, they probably won't steal it. They might try and see what it is... and likely kill themselves in the process... which would likely dissuade any other thieves associated with them.

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[-] Dagwood222@lemm.ee 17 points 5 months ago

Without doing any research, the answer is "watchmaking tools." Equipment to make small things like watches, and revolvers and what ever you'd need to start a factory. A few things like microscope, binoculars.

They had good craftspeople on hand, just need a little push to start an Industrial Revolution.

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[-] BilboBargains@lemmy.world 16 points 5 months ago

A bag of dildos to hand out at parties so I can be dildo guy

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[-] Sir_Simon_Spamalot@lemmy.world 14 points 5 months ago

A laptop with the essential human knowledge, big enough abtteries to power it, and a portable solar generator to charge its batteries.

Oh, and probably a bunch of gold to hire mercenaries and engineers.

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[-] hperrin@lemmy.world 14 points 5 months ago

Probably mostly medical supplies. I don’t want to die of a stubbed toe.

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[-] profdc9@lemmy.world 13 points 5 months ago

An English-Latin phrasebook, a survival manual explaining how to recognize plants, grow food, handle livestock, set traps, and make simple shelter, e-reader loaded with modern books and a usb solar panel, a multitool, sewing kit, a small dagger, cerium/magnesium flint, first-aid kit, antibiotics, water treatment (Sodium Dichloro-S-Triazinetrione), preservative and neutralizer (sodium metabisulfite), salt, potassium chloride, peanut butter.

But I'd probably be quickly ambushed and killed nonetheless, or hauled off to the slave markets.

[-] solidgrue@lemmy.world 12 points 5 months ago

Cipromax, isoproyl alcohol, neosporin, and and as many Band-Aids as I could stuff. I'll make room for an English-latin dictionary.

Maybe one of those "facts about everything" almanacs in the outside pocket, because I'm too stupid to remember my sines and cosines or the difference between sodium carbonate and sodium bicarbonate. I can figure out the rest from there.

[-] dutchkimble@lemy.lol 12 points 5 months ago

A sports almanac would be all I need

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[-] Plibbert@lemmy.ml 12 points 5 months ago

Either 1, a bunch of textbooks and encyclopedias. Or 2, a tablet/computer with said texts downloaded, a battery pack for said tablet/computer, and a few fold out solar panels or maybe one of those hand crank things. If I still have space I'd bring a soldering iron, a bunch of tips for it, flux and a bunch of different solders. Maybe a few spare parts for the laptop.

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[-] partial_accumen@lemmy.world 11 points 5 months ago

I'd fill the entire backpack with antibiotics, and vaccines for TB, Polio, and Smallpox.

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this post was submitted on 23 Feb 2024
150 points (95.7% liked)

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