this post was submitted on 23 Feb 2024
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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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[–] [email protected] 10 points 8 months ago

Spices, all knowledge I can carry as microfiche tapes, magnifying glass, a domesticated strain of penicillin, and seeds of modern crops.

I will be able to talk to at least some of their merchants for, ahem, reasons. From then on I have at least some chance of survival.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 8 months ago

Almanacs and caffeine tablets.

[–] [email protected] 20 points 8 months ago (1 children)

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

[–] [email protected] 14 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (1 children)

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

[–] [email protected] 4 points 8 months ago

IIRC there are these really durable laptops with solar pannels built into the lid that are made specifically to bring internet to people in third world countries. They're naturally rather underpowered but you could still put a high capacity SSD in one and it'd be less likely to break than a smartphone.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (1 children)

Without reading other answers, that certainly makes more sense than mine, I would take a cake. Like the best cake i ever ate in my life and eat it all immediately after being sent in Roman era. Because if I'm getting fucked at least let's enjoy a last meal and nothing else i could take would matter. Guns, medicines,..? It would all run out anyway and it wouldn't make me king of something.

Edit: and also a bottle of good wine because Roman win tasted like vinegar.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 8 months ago

This guy really loves cake

[–] [email protected] 5 points 8 months ago

Antibiotics, and tea

[–] [email protected] 11 points 8 months ago

A ton of medicine and tampons, a Latin dictionary, my thermos bottle, some valuables to sell, etc.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Some vacuum packs to seal and save silphium from extinction.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (1 children)

I have heard that they have actually found silphium somewhere in Turkey (?) pretty recently! I'm not fully sure of this tho.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 8 months ago (1 children)

They made a guess that a plant native to Turkey was a good candidate, but it's too far from Cyrene (most major exporter) to establish anything. Archeologists would basically need to find samples to confirm it's identity.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago)

Yeah, as far as I have gathered from others, I work in the botany field, it is likely just another species in the genus.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 8 months ago

Analine purple will improve the colors of European flags (rather than sea-snail purple which is more expensive than gold.)

[–] [email protected] 19 points 8 months ago (1 children)

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

And the rest of the volume with gold.

[–] [email protected] 16 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (2 children)

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.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 8 months ago

Not too different from the British strategy in the Opium Wars. They got Hong Kong and lots of tea this way.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 8 months ago

That's incredibly big brain, although highly immoral. But thems are slavers you're going to swindle so it's all good I guess.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 8 months ago

Automatic crossbows, so Rome can become eternal

[–] [email protected] 8 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Tablets with a shitload of how to build books on it, several small solar chargers and USB cables.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 8 months ago

"Your device is not connected to the Internet so we can't confirm you aren't stealing something so we will just assume you are. Error code: SUCK DICK"

[–] [email protected] 1 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago)

Medicine, math books, literature, some small computers and devices

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