What if... The Roman Empire had short wave...
 

Forget radio, what if the Romans had thought of Semaphore? In the time of
Napoleon, semaphore towers could convey official messages from Paris to
Rome in 20 minutes. I imagine that a just-sent "The Huns are approching.
We are burning all records," would bring help faster than a guy riding a
horse as fast as possible. An elaborate system could even have had room
for a newswire type of service, where space was available, with slaves
copying down messages to be read to the masses.

"Frank Dresser" wrote in message
...

"Michael" wrote in message
...
What if the Roman Empire had short wave before the end of the first
century
???


[snip]

So why didn't the Romans develop shortwave?

The Romans were too busy accumulating wealth the old fashioned way. They
were stealing it. They were stealing the lives of the Maxwells and Teslas
of the day under slavery. The ancient EH Armstrong spend his life lugging
some damn standard in a Roman Legion.

Technology developed at a glaical pace until the people had a chance to
develop their own inventions and keep the rewards.

It's a fine thing the Roman Empire is gone.

Frank Dresser

Everywhere the Romans went, they took technology with them. Without any
question, the quality of life and the level of technology went up
tremendously in the areas that they added to their empire. Paris, London
and Cologne were all Roman cities that didn't have so much as a wading pool
much less advanced stone architecture, running water and a sanitary system
before the Romans got there.

As far as slavery goes... Yes.. Indeed... They had slavery. Was it a bad
thing ??? Yes, it was terrible. Though, from my own studies, it would seem
that the life of a Roman slave serving in a Roman house circa the first
century had a better life then the average American slave serving on a
plantation circa 1850. It is always good to remember that fact before
writing them off as just a bunch of brutal and abusive animals. The point I
was making was not to show how idea and desirable the Romans were, but to
explore how the world might have evolved if they had some sort of broadcast
technology. The way things went, slavery wasn't legally abolished in the US
until 1863. It is more then entirely possible that slavery would have been
abolished sooner had Rome not fell. All civilizations are open to change
and social growth. Not just the US.

Also... If you think that Romans were all that bad, may be we should think
about giving technology to the Huns, Vandals or even worse, some body of
ethnocentric religious fanatics that have it all figured out.

Michael

I would much prefer to own an Italian built Shortwave Radio or any
Italian built Radio than any slant eyed chink built Radio.
cuhulin

Italians invented some of the Greatest Inventions the World has ever
known.Great wimmins too :{)
cuhulin

And,Nero did not fiddle while Rome burned either.
cuhulin

U.S.fed govt (can y'all say? Follow The Money) has been selling/giving
www.softwar.net our American technology away for many,many years.
cuhulin

MICHAEL,

On Sun, 13 Feb 2005 18:33:13 GMT, "Honus"
wrote:


wrote in message
...
I would much prefer to own an Italian built Shortwave Radio or any
Italian built Radio than any slant eyed chink built Radio.

Not ten seconds ago I read this from you in another post:

"I do NOT believe in Slavery and I am NOT racist either."



You tell em Honey!

"GayinCanada" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 13 Feb 2005 18:33:13 GMT, "Honus"
wrote:


wrote in message
...
I would much prefer to own an Italian built Shortwave Radio or any
Italian built Radio than any slant eyed chink built Radio.

Not ten seconds ago I read this from you in another post:

"I do NOT believe in Slavery and I am NOT racist either."



You tell em Honey!

Cuhulin's a homophobe. I don't think he'd appreciate you calling him by his
pet names in public. In pubic, perhaps.

"Michael" wrote in message
...

So? My point was about the slow pace of technological development in
slave
societies. Neither the slave nor the slave owner has any strong
incentive
to create newer, better ways of doing things. The slave owner's surest
way
to get richer is to buy more slaves. The slave risks punishment for
failure, but will won't much benefit from success.

More than that, freedom allows far more creative minds to work on a
problem.
I suppose the small percentage of free Roman elites might have someday
devloped shortwave radio. Maybe by the year 3000 or something.

In order to accept that you would have to ignore the fact that the Romans
reigned supreme as the masters of architecture and building materials.


Yeah, but the Egyptians reigned supreme as the masters of ancient
electronics. They had batteries and were electroplating. Big deal. The
art was lost and not rediscovered 'till the after the Romans left the scene.

The Greeks and Mayans made some impressive stoneworks, as well. If
shortwave radios could be made from piles of stone, they would have done it
first.

Do you honestly believe the pace of innovation of a slave society can
compete with the pace of innovation of a free society? If so, how? Where
is the evidence?

Slave societies hardly innovate in a technological way. Nearly every
worthwhile invention has come in the years since the common man has had a
chance to profit from his own labors.



Although they get historic accolades for law and government, they were
also
the worlds master builders. Not of useless and hulking monuments, but of
practical and powerful architecture. The stuff that lasting cultures and
civilizations are built on. A simple example of their mastery: When new
St
Peters Basilica was built, the architects had to study the dome of the
Pantheon to get their bearings.

Modern architects HAD to study the dome? Does that really mean the new St.
Peter's Basilica couldn't be built if the Pantheon didn't exist?



Ancient Rome was far more then slavery. You have to admit that. Many
historians feel that the Roman Empire was so successful in transmuting its
positive components of law, government and civilization that it is
legitimate to say that it didn't really fall. It just morphed.
Fortunately, the components of slavery and blood sport didn't make it into
Rome Mark Two; post imperial western civilization.

Law and government isn't technological innovation. The greatest advance is
civilization was the concept that all men are created equal.




The ancient world could be brutal in general. What puts the Romans above
their contemporaries is that despite the institution of slavery (and the
US
had it too !!!), they were by far the most socially, racially and
religiously inclusive of any of the ancient civilizations. Not to
mention,
extremely well founded mechanisms of law and government. Add to that,
they
built buildings, public works and founded cites 2,000 years ago that are
still functioning today.

Of course, the Romans built things to last. They had to. They were
technologically ossified.

Frank Dresser