So your stuck in the year 100... how do you conquer the world?

[KrazyHorse]

Originally posted by Az
@ KH


I already know the language spoken at this time at 100 AD.

You know aramaic?

[Az]

Judea didn't speak aramaic - it was a diplo language - but actually aramaic is pretty easy to learn from hebrew. Some letters are replaced by others, a small group of differing verbs - that's about it. I read aramaic texts rather fluently as a kid.

[KrazyHorse]

Knowledge of Hebrew among the Jews was actually rather limited at that point in time.

Likely only rabbis would understand you...

[KrazyHorse]

It wasn't just a diplomatic language. The people of Judea spoke Aramaic in day-to-day conversation at the time...

[Az]

Knowledge of Hebrew among the Jews was actually rather limited at that point in time.

That's vastly contested - besides, as I've said, they're very similar. VERY similar.

[KrazyHorse]

I agree, but even if they spoke Hebrew you probably would have a great deal of difficulty in making yourself understood. The accent was likely very different.

A lot of things change in 2000 years...

[KrazyHorse]

This is bringing back memories of high school religion classes.

Goddamn, those Jesuits knew how to drive something into your skull so you could never forget it.

I think I can still trace Paul's voyages on a map...

[Az]

I agree, but even if they spoke Hebrew you probably would have a great deal of difficulty in making yourself understood. The accent was likely very different.

Now this is definetly true! Esp. in hebrew where vowels are seldom marked. But I think that written texts show that language structure hasn't changed that much.


In any case, I am very much ****ed being in judea, and all.

[chequita guevara]

Re: So your stuck in the year 100... how do you conquer the world?

Who says I want to?

[RGBVideo]

Charcoal is easy to make. Burn wood in an earthen mound

Sulphur can be found in deposits along riversides, and was well known to the ancients

Potassium nitrate can be made from nitre-bearing earth (any fertile soil will do). Pour boiling water through the dirt, strained through a charcoal/cloth filter. Let cool, then decant the liquid, reboil, then add alcohol. The white crystals which form are potassium nitrate. Scoop them out and dry them. They're ready for use.

Mix the above ingredients in 10:15:75 ratio. Grind with a mortar and pestle (best to add water or alcohol then mix the sludge, then dry for safety's sake).

Bronze is a decent material to use for early cannons. Bronze-working techniques were well-known in much of the ancient world. The centre-bore technique driven by either animal or waterwheel would probably be a useful innovation.

I'm impressed.

Oh, and nice try from others, but I doubt any of you would've ever figured out what to do when you wouldn't have found proper saltpeter anywhere. Unlike in Civ3, IRL you can't find explosive saltpeter by simply mining random places.

Edit: added the whole quote.

[chequita guevara]

Well, let's see. I'd suddenly be in a swamp in Southern Florida with no access to anything useful. I expect I'd die fairly quickly from malaria or be killed by Indians.

[molly bloom]

Originally posted by chegitz guevara
Well, let's see. I'd suddenly be in a swamp in Southern Florida with no access to anything useful. I expect I'd die fairly quickly from malaria or be killed by Indians.

Not malaria, if current theories are tenable.

Had to wait for large scale Spanish/African immigration in the south, and European immigration in the north.

[chequita guevara]

So I just have to wait for an indian attack or a hurricane. Losing the electricity would be a bumer with summer coming up. Not having any potable water would be uncool. Guess the wife would have to learn to eat fish.

[General Ludd]

Re: Re: Re: Re: Challenge:

Originally posted by Vesayen


No it isnt, it substitutes out the charchaol for some chemical compound I don't know how to make.





Unless you confine it to a small space and it ignites, then you get the effect of an explosion .



Really for the temperatures needed to make bronze, you don't need anything fancy.... a really low level clay or even easier, sand forge will work.

Make clay bricks. Make a base of clay bricks and 4 walls a ceiling. Have a small circular opening on the top to let out the smoke and let in oxygen, but keep the heat inside. There are several different designs you can use for the inside of it. Use that to make the tools. You can use the forge to melt the bronze and channel it into the mold.

Really, if you build a bronze cannon it would proboably be best to do it in ONE solid piece, since it is destined to explode anyway.

Dig out a hole in the sand in the shape of the cannon barrel and line it with clay. Use that as a mold.

For fuel, produce charchaol which involves taking wood and spreading it. Light the wood on fire then carefully tend the ashes as they smoke to get the desired effect. You can just use wood, but smelting works better with higher temperatures, which means higher quality fuel.

You should try doing this. It would be interesting to see how far you can get into the process before realizing you don't know what the **** you're doing.

[molly bloom]

Originally posted by chegitz guevara
So I just have to wait for an indian attack or a hurricane. Losing the electricity would be a bumer with summer coming up. Not having any potable water would be uncool. Guess the wife would have to learn to eat fish.

You can heat fresh water in a shell if you're desperate.

C'mon Comrade Che, you're sounding like a decadent bourgeois quitter. Where would the citizens of Stalingrad and Leningrad have been with that defeatist attitude ?