so you find yourself in 272 bc....

[grendelfreak]

Well i've found this thread sufficiently interesting that i have decided to de-lurk and have a crack at it.


I figure the hardest step on the road to doing anything long-term will be actually getting a patron/ job where you could get noticed. I'm betting the major trade hubs would be the best spots to start looking, probably more Carthage than Rome as Carthage seems more open to new ideas than a people who considered higher thinking a corrupting foreign influence . Although the language barrier would be a fair bit smaller in Rome


And my first great re-inventions to greatness? The steam engine of course, with trains and steamships in mind. I figure Carthaginians would love a way to get stuff from A to B much faster, especially against the wind and to avoid those long walks across the desert to take back Cyrene from the Ptolemies.

There is a problem though in the task of re-inventing all the modern conveniences, in that although I know they exist and have a basic idea of how they operate or even how to make them, for the most I don't really have a real understanding of how to make a train or a steam engine or steel for that matter. You would need a team of experts, or as close as you could get to make the first working prototype on any one item. I suspect it would be rather like scientists in some developing country today trying to make a nuke without outside expertise or resources.


Once I have the funding of course I suspect it would be somewhat easy to hire some ancient geniuses or at least kidnap them (Anyone feel like a trip to Syracuse, heard there was a Greek good at math there).

However my real impact would probably be felt more in the social changes I would probably enact as my training has been heavy on Sociology, Social work, Anthropology, History (not a shock on this forum), and Politics. For example I predict Printing press leads to increased education leads to greater literacy leads to increasing middle class leads to moves for greater representation as well as further changes which if not careful leads to increased violence and if very unlucky the Shopet and his family end up being shot in a basement.

But more likely i'll i'll end up asking "What is best in life" and go hang out up north with the sweboz.

[Dewirix]

Well i've found this thread sufficiently interesting that i have decided to de-lurk and have a crack at it.

Same here. I've always found these "What if..." threads fascinating, even if I generally end up arguing against people's ability to effect major changes quickly.

I figure the hardest step on the road to doing anything long-term will be actually getting a patron/ job where you could get noticed. I'm betting the major trade hubs would be the best spots to start looking, probably more Carthage than Rome as Carthage seems more open to new ideas than a people who considered higher thinking a corrupting foreign influence . Although the language barrier would be a fair bit smaller in Rome

I completely agree on this being the most difficult part. Even now, institutional inertia can present very high barriers to innovation, and I can't begin to imagine how difficult it would have been in 272 BC. At least in the present we have a concept of innovation being beneficial.

I shudder to think how many social and religious taboos you'd come up against trying to push through major changes in a timeframe that would allow you to enjoy the fruits of your labours.

And my first great re-inventions to greatness? The steam engine of course, with trains and steamships in mind. I figure Carthaginians would love a way to get stuff from A to B much faster, especially against the wind and to avoid those long walks across the desert to take back Cyrene from the Ptolemies.

Steam trains and ships would need high-pressure boilers and I'm pretty sure the metallurgy of the times just isn't up to building these. Rails also presuppose the availability of large quantities of steel, and you'd probably want that for your ships too ("Hey Sophet, I've got a great idea. Let's build a new kind of ship that relies on having a massive fire continually burning inside it!").

I'm still trying to think up quick-win ideas that wouldn't require too much infrastructure to roll out. So far I have:

• Stirrups
• Compass
• Crop rotation
• Germ theory of disease

I'm sure the Org can come up with others.

Does anyone else think this kind of thing would make a good AAR?