Most major inventions need a lot of available precursor technology, so it's actually kinda hard to think of things the Romans could have done if they only knew.

I keep thinking of a primitive printing press, but the Romans didn't have paper, either. Paper didn't appear in Europe before 1000 AD.

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Ekaros 2 days ago | parent | next [-]

Actually it seems textile printing does have contemporary history. And maybe even older one. So jump from there to other materials might not be impossible.

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UncleSlacky 2 days ago | parent | prev [-]

They had papyrus, though.

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WalterBright 2 days ago | parent [-]

Not really. They imported it, and never figured out how to make it. The papyrus plant would only grow in Egypt.

Papyrus was also inferior to paper in that it tended to come apart when wet, or would just come apart.

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LtWorf 2 days ago | parent [-]

Papyrus grows fine in sicily (I have a lot in the garden, besides some water it doesn't really need any special care). Besides egypt was roman so…

	▲	wqaatwt 8 hours ago \| parent [-]
		Papyrus is also not a very good material for writing outside of arid areas compared to paper and especially parchment. Unless kept in very good condition scrolls might last only a few decades. As far as we can tell many ancient texts were lost well before the Roman Empire declined because they weren’t popular enough for anyone to bother copying them.