The amazing ancient Roman army knife, page 1

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...

reply to post by silent thunder

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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.

reply to post by silent thunder

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S & F


So much for the Swiss Army knife patent!

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]

Originally posted by SLAYER69
reply to post by silent thunder

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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.

reply to post by silent thunder

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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

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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.

reply to post by LiteraryOneTwo

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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.

reply to post by silent thunder

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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]

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