Roman swiss army knife

[M to the A]

We've heard of retro, but this must surely take the cake. An interesting implement used by Romans in 200AD was discovered 20 years ago and it looks like the ancient equivalent of today's Swiss Army Knife.

Consisting of a spoon, blade, fork, spatula, spike and toothpick, the various components can be stored into the handle for storage. Considering the amount of work required to make this device, and the fact that the first industrial factories weren't available until the 18th century, chances are this was a luxury item owned by a wealthy traveler.



We're still awaiting word if they've also found his wife's prehistoric version of the iPad.

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http://asia.cnet.com/crave/2010/02/0...s-army-knife-/

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:p Thought this was pretty cool, might come in handy when they flee the battlefield into the dark unknown German forests.

[Cute Wolf]

How could they done that? Spring leverage and safety pin aren't invented yet......

If that was truly genuine Roman invention..... I want that to be added into my knive collections!!!

[Subotan]

That's pretty neat, but I thought the fork was invented by Renaissance Italians.

[bobbin]

Forks have been around for ages they just weren't that popular in Europe for a long time.
Here's a link to the item page from the website of the museum that displays it

[Fluvius Camillus]

Wow! What a discovery, where was it found?

~Fluvius

[anubis88]

This really looks incredible... I just hope it's not a scam, since i find it a bit extraordinary

[Ibrahim]

@cutewolf: this implement set is actually feasable with 200 AD tech. but springs were not used; jusging from the picture, I'd say they used some sort of knob prtruding from the side of a sub-implement, as is clearly shownby that toothpick thingy.

but yes, this would have been a priceless item to own back in the day.

[Intranetusa]

How could they done that? Spring leverage and safety pin aren't invented yet......

If that was truly genuine Roman invention..... I want that to be added into my knive collections!!!

Yeh...from the looks of things, it looks very clumsy - like the creator just decided to weld it randomly together...
I would be surprised if using it was quite dangerous and you ended up stabbing yourself...

[Cute Wolf]

So, no spring safety-pin then?
Maybe (judging from the holes present in handle), they use balisong-type opening mechanism, with simple knobs as safety measure....

[Zradha Pahlavan]

Well obviously the knife was given to them by space aliens, since we all know that people in the ancient world couldn't make amazing things without intergalactic help.

[Weebeast]

The ankh like design pf the handle too points to that of the ancient Egyptians who were undoubtedly having ties with aliens.

[Pezlu]

And look closely at the holes in the handle: they clearly form the shape of an alien (the holes on the right, in particular, show an alien head).

[Cute Wolf]

Well obviously the knife was given to them by space aliens, since we all know that people in the ancient world couldn't make amazing things without intergalactic help.

The ankh like design pf the handle too points to that of the ancient Egyptians who were undoubtedly having ties with aliens.

And look closely at the holes in the handle: they clearly form the shape of an alien (the holes on the right, in particular, show an alien head).

Hey guys.... no, that wasn't Alien.... that was "Harp" shaped and "acorn" shaped.... and those "alien eyes" are actually stick slot for safety lock mechanism.... :)

[antisocialmunky]

Pretty neat ingenuity :)

[IMG]
We're still awaiting word if they've also found his wife's prehistoric version of the iPad.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0-ss...layer_embedded

[Ibrahim]

So, no spring safety-pin then?
Maybe (judging from the holes present in handle), they use balisong-type opening mechanism, with simple knobs as safety measure....

that was what I was saying earlier

but yes, that seems to be the only sensible option, wthout becoming impossibly expensive.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Pretty neat ingenuity :)


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0-ss...layer_embedded

well since you brought that up, I have to complete the cycle. here is a futuristic equivalent to the iPAD (warning: there is some profanity in this).

and while we all know that Graham Hancock/Richard Hoagland/Alien conspiracy people are full of it, please, I don't really think its worth jabbing at him. the mentally ill should be pitied, not ridiculed.