Everyday modern things that might impress an ancient Roman

[Trethiwr]

I'm wondering if there is anything from the present day that is not considered especially valuable to us but might impress the average ancient Roman.

 

I'm not thinking about stuff like radio's or MP3 players which wouldn't work anyway but more simple stuff.

I had an idea that something as simple as a marble with a little coloured swirl inside might seem pretty amazing but then I was looking at some actual Roman glass and they had all the bases covered there really.

 

I'm really thinking of the sort of things that kids (usually boys) have in their pockets or in a tin under the bed.

And specifically would be more valuable in real terms 2000 years ago compared to now.

 

Polished semi precious stones

Drill bits

modern money

Pogs

3D picture cards

magnets

etc etc.

[Kosmo]

Razors for shaving, medicine and various drugs, alcohol, teflon pan, glasses. An ancient spaniard might like toothpaste

[Trethiwr]

An ancient spaniard might like toothpaste

I just read that thread the other day.

And then yesterday on the radio they were discussing a book that some woman has written about urine and all its many uses.

 

They obviously did stuff to it first though.

In a book I'm reading about prehistoric Britain the author makes the point that roundhouses could not have been freezing cold, leaky waterlogged hovels as earlier archaeologists had implied because simply, 'People aren't stupid'

Nobody, not even an ancient Spaniard is going to have a wee mouthwash!

[GhostOfClayton]

Electrical stuff (and possibly also the internal combustion engine) would be the magic of the Gods, so I think they would be especially impressed by anything that had an immediate use for them, something it would be obvious would make their lives easier:

 

To expand on the magnets theme, a compass.

The legionaries had to wade across the Abus Fluvius, so the Humber Bridge would be extremely impressive (it still impresses me, and I see it every day from OfClayton Towers).

Pneumatic tyres.

A game of darts or snooker in the local tavern.

A box of Matches.

 

I'm sure there would also be some things that would make a Roman (especially one from a Patrician family) think that a backward step had been taken.

 

If one were to visit OfClayton Towers, the lack of slaves would be a concern to them. I do my own ironing, cut my own lawn, etc.

Also, sorry to put an unwelcome image in your heads, but the use of paper to wipe your derri

Edited November 4, 2010 by GhostOfClayton

[Trethiwr]

MATCHES, of COURSE!

They would be worth a kings ransom to anyone who had to use flint and steel. Also of course a time traveller with a box of swan vestas would not cause more than an infintessimal ripple in the fabric of space time. Thank you thank you.

 

Does anybody think there is a danger of the matches being taken as some form of dangerous magic?

 

A compass is good as well.

 

I'm not sure about the sponge on a stick thing. I can see how keeping everything at arms length is handy but the disposability of paper is a HUGE advantage.

Slaves would be nice but only if EVERYBODY had them! LOL

[Northern Neil]

A small telescope or pair of binoculars would have been a precious thing.

[DecimusCaesar]

How about things like -

 

Door knobs (first invented in the 19th century).

Plastic bottles.

Tinned food.

Zips on clothes.

Tin whistles.

Glass lanterns.

Corrugated roofing sheets.

Barbed Wire fences.

Wallets.

[Trethiwr]

Door knobs?? Really?

I presume you mean specifically ones which turned the latch as well as acting as a handle.

I mean there have to have been handles on doors since doors were invented.

 

Interesting fact.

The front door of Ten Downing Street, in London has NO handle or anything on the outside. If everybody went out and shut the door it would be impossible to get back in.

(Although I presume they would have a difficult job shutting it in the first place.)

[GhostOfClayton]

If everybody went out and shut the door it would be impossible to get back in.

 

I bet there are plenty of 'geezers' down there in "that London" who would have the door open faster than you could say "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious"!

 

and by the way . . . reinforced concrete! It's only the smallest of steps from your bog-standard run-of-the-mill concrete, to concrete with lumps of ironwork stuck in it. Why didn't they think of it? Maybe they did.

Edited November 4, 2010 by GhostOfClayton

[Kosmo]

Iron was really expensive.

 

Firecrackers would make a strong impression.

Would have an impact: high heels, push-up bras, hair bleach and colorants, depilatory cream, make-up and the best thing, a true mirror.

For soldiers along the Northern frontiers boots and modern materials like goretex and polar fleece would be handy in the cold season. For night guards cofee or Red Bull and for long marches and battles crystal meth.

[GhostOfClayton]

Polished semi precious stones

Drill bits

modern money

Pogs

3D picture cards

magnets

 

Just a minute, Trethiwr . . . I didn't spot it on the first reading, but "Pogs!"

 

Really?

[Trethiwr]

 

Just a minute, Trethiwr . . . I didn't spot it on the first reading, but "Pogs!"

 

Really?

 

Well quite possibly not.

But to explain where I am coming from.

I was thinking specifically about low value things that a kid might have in his pockets, just by chance.

 

Although of course the discussion of wider things is quite interesting, with some insightful suggestions coming in.

 

Also my list was more intended as a query rather than an assertion.

The bigger pogs are made of thick plastic and the pictures are quite detailed. They would surely arouse some curiosity at least.

 

I think if you showed a Roman a photograph of yourself they would be pretty impressed. But if you took a photograph of them it would seem like some sort of witchcraft?

 

I ended up using a box of Swan Vesta matches in the story.

[GhostOfClayton]

 

The bigger pogs are made of thick plastic and the pictures are quite detailed. They would surely arouse some curiosity at least.

 

 

I take it back. I thought they were just little bits of cardboard.

 

Mind you, the ability of modern marketing organisations to create a MASSIVE demand amongst children for small, easy-to-produce tat that sells in hundreds of millions for many times the manufacturing cost - now that would be the envy of many a Roman-era cult religion.

 

Does that make me sound like a grumpy old man who's dreading Christmas?

Edited November 5, 2010 by GhostOfClayton

[Trethiwr]

Well I'm a grumpy old man who is dreading Christmas as well.

Every advert that comes on my kids are screaming "I want that I want that."

The Paterfamilias doesn't have nearly enough power in the modern world.

[Artimi]

what are pogs??