The amazing ancient Roman army knife

Very cool and well-preserved Roman army knife, similar to Swiss army kinife with various folding implements, etc. Nice picture at source.

The world's first Swiss Army knife' has been revealed - made 1,800 years before its modern counterpart.
An intricately designed Roman implement, which dates back to 200AD, it is made from silver but has an iron blade.
It features a spoon, fork as well as a retractable spike, spatula and small tooth-pick.
Experts believe the spike may have been used by the Romans to extract meat from snails.

More at source:

www.dailymail.co.uk...

Hey, cool! Do you think that thing they call a spatula, for scraping sauce out of bottles, could be a can opener. Maybe I've uncovered a conspiracy. The Romans had cans! lol

That is so cool. I would love to be able to have a chat, and a gallery viewing with the top metal smith from back then. I'm sure their talents would amaze us. This really does show precision, craftsmanship, innovation that was remarkable for that time. I wonder what other neat inventions they had that would amaze us.

reply to post by silent thunder


What a great find silent thunder. Im giving you a star for this because its one of the things I love about ATS. People who share interesting things. Good Job.

Bloody Romans! What did the Romans ever do for us?

Romanes eunt domus!



[edit on 30/1/1010 by Rob37n]

reply to post by silent thunder


S & F


So much for the Swiss Army knife patent!

Very interesting! sothe swiss arent so ingenious after all. Hephaestus beat them to it!

S+F

Thanks for the enthusiastic responses.

Here's another link for those interested, although not strictlty weaponry: Roman surgical tools. You can see by the level of craftsmanship how skilled they were at making sharp, delicate objects, and how much was lost after the fall of empire. I don't care how much academics these days try to play down the "darkness" of dark ages...as unpleasant as some of those look in comparison with modern medicine, I'd still take my chances with a Roman surgeon over some grubby-handed 14th-century bloodletter.



[edit on 1/30/10 by silent thunder]

Cool! Maybe it should be called the Roman Army Knife.

interesting one ! very strange.. Swiss didn't invent their knife...
but in the sugirical tools "speculum" looks like more like my corkscrew !
+1

Originally posted by SuperSlovak
Cool! Maybe it should be called the Roman Army Knife.

Experts believe it may have been carried by a wealthy traveller, who will have had the item custom made.

Roman Wealthy Knife

The spokesman added: 'While many less elaborate folding knives survive in bronze, this one's complexity and the fact that it is made of silver suggest it is a luxury item.

'Perhaps a useful gadget for a wealthy traveller.'

Originally posted by SLAYER69
reply to post by silent thunder

 

S & F

So much for the Swiss Army knife patent!

No kidding, this is nice. This does show the ingenuity of that time of metal smiths and artists. What gets me is did the owner want it this way and if so what made him think up foldaway utensil devices and/or if it was the smith what gave him the idea to design it this way. Was it a normal device for rich people or just a one time burst of ingenuity. The more we dig the more we find and the more we find the more we will find out how much of our history is true and how much is just fabricated.

I've been mostly concerned with Ancient crafts and artifacts from the Stone age
and Bronze age to early Iron that had the beginnings of the Roman cultures' empire,
but have been amazed many times at that period 'Roman way' being so0 ingenious!

No wonder it was the time when "JESUS" chose to come into the Creation!

On one dig there in that time level I found a perfectly preserved full set of Roman Tableware (Plates Bowls Cups a large serving Platter and a Pitcher!) that looked identical to Tupperware!
Remember the 'Römertopf' Roman Clay Roaster Ovens? There were several of those also -all fitting (along with inserted textiles) to carry together!

reply to post by silent thunder


Any idea of what they used for anaesthetics? No matter how precise, did the patients have to know what was happening to them? Just wondering?

some of those instruments look very painful to me.

Originally posted by LiteraryOneTwo
reply to post by silent thunder

 

Any idea of what they used for anaesthetics? No matter how precise, did the patients have to know what was happening to them? Just wondering?

some of those instruments look very painful to me.

No clue, although opium, alcohol, and Egyptian blue lotus were well known to the Romans. Still, none of that would would truly take away the pain of serious surgery.

William T.G. Morton is generally credited with inventing full-body anaesthesia in the mid-1800s. Before that, I think in most times and places they'd just give you a swill of the local rotgut alcohol, strap you down, and stick a belt between your teeth. Good times.

Originally posted by pigwithoutawig
Hey, cool! Do you think that thing they call a spatula, for scraping sauce out of bottles, could be a can opener. Maybe I've uncovered a conspiracy. The Romans had cans! lol

a CANspiracy??

oO

Sundays....

reply to post by LiteraryOneTwo


In addition to what the OP mentioned above, I have read that the Romans also bled out their patients into unconsciousness before serious medical procedures.

Not sure of the validity to that.

Next thing you know they'll dig up an ancient Greek IPhone.

We learn something new every day.

reply to post by silent thunder


Cool Roman Army knife. Star and flag for the thread. I wasn't aware that it was invented by the Romans.

The article says it was probably custom made by a wealthy traveller, but I don't think it was the only one made because like it is used now by a lot of people, the Swiss Army Knife, back then there were many wealthy travelers and whoever came up with this idea back then probably had it made...

The fact that the spoon, and fork were made from silver, and the blade made out of iron tells me that there were probably at least some other Roman Army Knives made before this one.

There could possibly be some that were made just out of iron and they could have rusted so much to be unrecognizable.

[edit on 31-1-2010 by ElectricUniverse]

Thats no spike to extract snail meat... cmon its clearly a allen key LoL must of been used to tighten up their armors