The Roman Army (swiss) pocket knife 200 AD

[Ichingcarpenter]

The world's first Swiss Army knife' has been discovered and it was made by the ancient Romans around 200 AD. The Roman Army knife is made of silver and has an iron blade. It also has a spoon, fork as well as a retractable spike, spatula and small tooth-pick. Experts believe that the knife was stored in a grave for over a thousand years.

[xchrom]

1. Awesome. Nt

[dipsydoodle]

2. Clever sods the Romans

:thumbsup:

[pokerfan]

17. What have the Romans ever done for us?

Apart from the sanitation, medicine, education, wine, public order, irrigation, roads, the fresh water system and public health, what have the Romans ever done for us?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ExWfh6sGyso

[Tesha]

22. I can't even think of III things! (NT)

[X_Digger]

3. Cool! n/t

[TheCowsCameHome]

4. John McCain uses his in the Senate cafeteria.

Seriously though, very intersting piece.

[CurtEastPoint]

7. OMFG that made me HOWL out loud! Thanks! n/t

[Salviati]

5. Wow, all those years and it hasn't lost the toothpick!

[asjr]

6. Probably they didn't have

that many teeth left to pick.

[Tumbulu]

8. so beautiful!

Now that would be worth trying to reproduce. I'd buy one.

I made the mistake of forgetting my last really good portable knife in my purse when I went to fly--they took it at security and I have yet to replace it....

[Warpy]

9. I'm always astonished by the things the Romans managed to do

two thousand years ago. While they were brutal in every aspect of social organization and their entertainments would put a fly on a garbage truck off his feed, they were incredible engineers and designers whose basic ideas we still use today.

That they invented the Swiss Army Knife comes as absolutely no surprise to me.

[Coastal Skies]

10. Pocket knife

Cool!

[myrna minx]

11. Way cool! K&R n/t

[Odin2005]

12. That is cool!

[PatSeg]

13. Thanks for posting this

Very cool indeed.

[Leafy Greens]

14. Did the Romans even HAVE pockets?

I still want one, though! Where can I order my 'Roman Army Knife'?

With a limited-edition Armani version for the upscale market?

Why do the Swiss need an Army, anyway? They never fight anybody. :7

[Tesha]

15. But where's the Phillips-head screw driver? (NT)

[sofa king]

19. Back in those days, they were probably using British Standard Whitworth.

[Tesha]

21. ;-). (NT)

[Scurrilous]

16. That's pretty wild.

K & R :thumbsup:

[chillspike]

18. Holy Roman Crap!

[Nihil]

20. Is there a link to further information on this please?

Thanks for posting this - I just wondered about where it was found, etc..

:hi:

[frogmarch]

23. I don't know where the OP

obtained the info and pics, but I found info on the knife here:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1247230/The-Roman-Army-Knife-Or-ingenuity-Swiss-beaten-1-800-years.html

Snip:

The 3in x 6in (8cm x 15cm) knife was excavated from the Mediterranean area more than 20 years ago and was obtained by the museum in 1991.

The unique item is among dozens of artefacts exhibited in a newly refurbished Greek and Roman antiquities gallery at the Fitzwilliam Museum, in Cambridge.

~~

Fascinating! Thanks for posting about it, OP.

[Nihil]

24. Thanks (albeit belatedly) for the info! (n/t)

:hi:

[Ichingcarpenter]

27. I lost the link but the story is that it at one time

belonged to a wealthy traveler and a Roman soldier got it some how.

The wealthy traveler is speculation so I don't know but it was found in the soldiers's grave.

[Vehl]

25. wow!

This is pure awesomeness!

[MilesColtrane]

26. "I am Sporkacus!"