Roman "Swiss Army Knife"

June 13, 2015 8:04 AM

Eating implement, folding, with three-pronged fork, spatula, pick, spike and knife. A.D. 201 — A.D. 300
posted by signal (19 comments total)

Amazing. Most of the questions that formed the rest of my comment are answered either here or there.
posted by hat_eater at 8:22 AM on June 13, 2015 [3 favorites]

"By using this site, you agree to the terms of our cookie policy" [takes forever to load, installing god knows what]
um no thanks.
posted by sexyrobot at 8:39 AM on June 13, 2015 [1 favorite]

hat_eater, thanks. Yeah I had some questions, too. But your first link set me straight on at least one... "Its culinary capabilities ranged from dissecting lobsters and crabs to crunching snails and walnuts."

So cool, a Roman "Swiss Army Knife"... even if it is most likely a Roman one percenter's bit of bling.

Also, the OP's link loaded for me just fine.

Furthermore, every reputable site I visit in the UK and Europe carries a notification about cookies. It's an EU regulation.

Furthermore, Ghostery found just one tracker: Google Analytics.
posted by Mister Bijou at 8:56 AM on June 13, 2015 [2 favorites]

Perhaps they should be called "Swiss Roman Army Knives" from now on.

That is a really elegant design. I bought a pocket knife last year with the exact same blade shape and almost the same size, interestingly.
posted by Dip Flash at 9:04 AM on June 13, 2015 [4 favorites]

Archaeologists do love to categorize artifacts, and are ready for this find.
posted by Rumple at 9:13 AM on June 13, 2015 [3 favorites]

I own a nice replica of that implement. It works pretty well.
posted by jedicus at 9:55 AM on June 13, 2015 [2 favorites]

I own a nice replica of that implement. It works pretty well.
posted by jedicus at 9:55 AM on June 13
[1 favorite −] Favorite added! [!]

Jedicus, where did you get it?
posted by Katjusa Roquette at 11:17 AM on June 13, 2015 [1 favorite]

I want one, so much. Would be a pretty ideal kitchen implement--tasting spoon, knife for boxes, etc.
posted by feckless fecal fear mongering at 11:21 AM on June 13, 2015

Looks like they lost the toothpick.
posted by leotrotsky at 11:38 AM on June 13, 2015 [13 favorites]

[takes forever to load, installing god knows what]
um no thanks.

It's not installing anything, and that cookie alert has to be on most European sites now. The lack of speed is probably because of site load.
posted by slater at 12:24 PM on June 13, 2015 [1 favorite]

Jedicus, where did you get it?

Armillum. I bought two, one as a gift. It took a few months to get it and shipping was more complicated than I'd've liked. But it's a pretty good replica. The only aspect I don't like is that the blade is a very mild steel and so doesn't take a very sharp edge. Think "butter knife".
posted by jedicus at 1:03 PM on June 13, 2015 [6 favorites]

Considering that it appears to fold with the knife edge on the outside, you probably wouldn't want it very sharp anyway.
posted by rifflesby at 2:38 PM on June 13, 2015

Pfft. No corkscrew, tweezers, scissors, or phillips bit? Worthless!
posted by Fnarf at 3:51 PM on June 13, 2015 [1 favorite]

So much for the idea that forks were not used for eating until the Middle Ages. If you had this thing in your pocket, what else would the fork portion be for?
posted by beagle at 5:12 PM on June 13, 2015

Forks weren't commonly used in England for eating until the 16-17th centuries - but apparently earlier elsewhere.
posted by jb at 5:50 PM on June 13, 2015

Interesting. You can tell it's an evolved product because of the way the decoration is incorporated into the structure; and the presence of little amenities, like knobs to flip the tools out. It has at least decades of design behind it, but it's part of life that we're basically oblivious to. Did you know that the Romans had watermills - not just little rustic affairs, but huge grain-processing factories? Or that the ancient Greeks had analog computers? If you're like me, you probably find it hard to keep these things in your head when imagining the ancient world: it's all spears and togas and using dung for poultices. I don't know why this should be: technology was clearly a major part of their lives, but we just ignore it.

Incidentally and additionally: you hear stories about how shocking forks were, because people used to think you should eat with your hands. Well, this tool incorporates a fork; it's too small to be used for cooking; it was clearly as basic an eating implement as you could imagine. So that story is nonsense, too.
posted by Joe in Australia at 6:23 PM on June 13, 2015 [3 favorites]

The Fitzwilliam is just a wonderful museum. It's the only place I've seen a decimal-based clock, for one (with "Half decimal second pendulum" no less).
posted by anadem at 9:15 PM on June 13, 2015

Parati estote!
posted by BWA at 8:35 AM on June 14, 2015

It's a marvellous thing - it was on TV in the UK recently as a 'guess the object' in a (rather arch but fun) academic quiz game called The Quizeum, in an episode hosted at the Fitz.

There's probably a cache of these utensils waiting to be discovered at Hadrian's Wall, where they were confiscated by Patriam Securitatem.

And yes, there are huge swathes of ancient technology either lost to us or just ignored in our perceptions of how uninventive people used to be. The Antikythera Mechanism must have come from a knowledge base encompassing a whole range of skills. It's a practical use of primes; how long before that happened again?

There's a fascinating compendium of references to ancient Greek inventions, mythical and actual, here.
posted by Devonian at 10:06 AM on June 14, 2015 [1 favorite]