Post by Catsmate on Jan 14, 2016 14:00:12 GMT
Hopefully the forum won't eat this post...
The story is an interesting one, probably just an urban legend, but possibly an interesting footnote in history. According to the Satyricon of Petronius a clever inventor in first century CE Rome developed a form of glass that was flexible and tough, but was killed by the Emperor Tiberius who thought the development would cause too much disruption. Now it's clear that Petronius doesn't believe the story, however there's also a reference to the story in Pliny the Elder's Natural History (~77CE) where he says that during the reign of Tiberius a new kind of flexible glass was produced, and that the Emperor did everything possible to outlaw it; even ordering the destruction of the inventor's workshop.
Probably the story is just an urban legend, a conflation of different incidents that have grown in the retelling. But maybe not.
Could some creative Roman have invented the material described? Well it's possible that some experimenting with glass might have created a form of flexible tempered glass by slowly heating and rapidly cooling a glass vessel. Such forms were developed in the 1930s (they lost out in the materials science field to plastics) and are somewhat flexible and quite tough enough to resist breakage. But why did Tiberius suppress the invention? Or did he, possibly that part of the story is wrong; he may have demonstrated his displeasure when the inventor proved unable to replicate the process.
Another alternative is aluminium. While according to standard history the metal wasn't extracted by humans until the nineteenth century, and then only in small quantities, perhaps history is in error. It wouldn't be the first time. With a clever furnace design it's just possible to extract aluminium using carbon.
Of course in the Whoniverse there are other possible sources for such a seemingly anachronistic item.
1. It was the work of a local genius, someone who stumbled over the technique to produce (probably) tempered glass and attempted to interest the Emperor. Why the idea failed, and there are no surviving pieces of the glass or definite references in contemporary records is a minor mystery; perhaps the inventor annoyed Tiberius, or died naturally before the process could become more common, and the secret died with him.
2. Alternatively the glass may have been the work of a Roman, but one who had access to anachronistic knowledge. Maybe he was enlisted by a crashed alien, or time traveller, to assist with repairs and picked up some useful knowledge about smelting, furnace design or chemistry. Again, the knowledge didn't spread for some reason, intervention by time travellers (the PCs for example) perhaps? Or an industrial accident.
3. Thirdly, perhaps the material wasn't local work at all. Our putative Roman inventor may have found a cache of glass, aluminium or other material and fashioned the goblet from it but been unable to replicate the material. A minor blip in the timestream but one that might around curiousity of PCs visiting the era.
4. Fourthly the Roman may have acquired more than just a little anachronistic knowledge. Consider an alien who's crashed in southern Europe in the period, à la Linx, and who needs to repair his space/time ship. He'll require certain materials and also need to fabricate parts. Aluminium alloys are common in aerospace applications, and there's Bauxite in Greece, so maybe he set up a small smelter to produce the metal. If he wasn't careful clearing up after his work then a local or two he recruited to help might have stolen/salvaged some equipment and set up for themselves.
Such a gadget could be a major threat to historical continuity, especially in the hands of someone who had the skill and imagination to use it.
5. Finally, what if the goblet wasn't a goblet at all? The Whoniverse has featured silicon based life on a few occasions, could the object actually have been a living creature, shapeshifted into the form of a drinking vessel (voluntarily or not) to gain access to Tiberius. What are it's powers? Can it influence minds? What are it's intentions? is it merely trying to escape Earth, or is it planning to incorporate the planet into the network of it's people. How do the squishy carbon-chain creatures fit into those plans?
There's a GURPS scenario (link) called Pawn Shop that features a mysterious glass goblet with mind influencing powers. It even has a villain with Imperial ambitions...
It's set in the modern day, and would suit a Torchwood/UNIT game, but could be adapted for another era.
Comments? Ideas? Suggestions?
However, there was an artificer once who made a glass goblet that would not break. So he was admitted to the Emperor’s presence to offer him his invention; then, on receiving the cup back from the Emperor’s hands, he dashed it down on the floor. Who so startled as the Emperor? But the man quietly picked up the goblet again, which was dinted as a vessel of bronze might be. Then taking a little hammer from his pocket, he easily and neatly knocked the goblet into shape again. This done, the fellow thought he was as good as in heaven already, especially when Emperor said to him, ‘Does anybody else besides yourself understand the manufacture of this glass?’ But, on his replying in the negative, Emperor ordered him to be beheaded, because if once the secret became known, we should think no more of gold than of so much dirt.
Petronius
Petronius
Probably the story is just an urban legend, a conflation of different incidents that have grown in the retelling. But maybe not.
Could some creative Roman have invented the material described? Well it's possible that some experimenting with glass might have created a form of flexible tempered glass by slowly heating and rapidly cooling a glass vessel. Such forms were developed in the 1930s (they lost out in the materials science field to plastics) and are somewhat flexible and quite tough enough to resist breakage. But why did Tiberius suppress the invention? Or did he, possibly that part of the story is wrong; he may have demonstrated his displeasure when the inventor proved unable to replicate the process.
Another alternative is aluminium. While according to standard history the metal wasn't extracted by humans until the nineteenth century, and then only in small quantities, perhaps history is in error. It wouldn't be the first time. With a clever furnace design it's just possible to extract aluminium using carbon.
- On the subject of anachronistic aluminium this is also the place to mention the Nanjing Belt. This artefact was discovered in China in 1952, in the tomb of one Zhou Chou, who died in 297CE during the Jin Dynasty. It consisted of the rotted remains of a leather belt and twenty pieces of metal, possibly decorations. Four of them were high purity aluminium, centuries before it should have been available. It’s discovery during the Cultural Revolution sparked controversy, though the aluminium is generally considered to have been a later addition.
Of course in the Whoniverse there are other possible sources for such a seemingly anachronistic item.
1. It was the work of a local genius, someone who stumbled over the technique to produce (probably) tempered glass and attempted to interest the Emperor. Why the idea failed, and there are no surviving pieces of the glass or definite references in contemporary records is a minor mystery; perhaps the inventor annoyed Tiberius, or died naturally before the process could become more common, and the secret died with him.
2. Alternatively the glass may have been the work of a Roman, but one who had access to anachronistic knowledge. Maybe he was enlisted by a crashed alien, or time traveller, to assist with repairs and picked up some useful knowledge about smelting, furnace design or chemistry. Again, the knowledge didn't spread for some reason, intervention by time travellers (the PCs for example) perhaps? Or an industrial accident.
3. Thirdly, perhaps the material wasn't local work at all. Our putative Roman inventor may have found a cache of glass, aluminium or other material and fashioned the goblet from it but been unable to replicate the material. A minor blip in the timestream but one that might around curiousity of PCs visiting the era.
4. Fourthly the Roman may have acquired more than just a little anachronistic knowledge. Consider an alien who's crashed in southern Europe in the period, à la Linx, and who needs to repair his space/time ship. He'll require certain materials and also need to fabricate parts. Aluminium alloys are common in aerospace applications, and there's Bauxite in Greece, so maybe he set up a small smelter to produce the metal. If he wasn't careful clearing up after his work then a local or two he recruited to help might have stolen/salvaged some equipment and set up for themselves.
- A very early Roswell...
Such a gadget could be a major threat to historical continuity, especially in the hands of someone who had the skill and imagination to use it.
5. Finally, what if the goblet wasn't a goblet at all? The Whoniverse has featured silicon based life on a few occasions, could the object actually have been a living creature, shapeshifted into the form of a drinking vessel (voluntarily or not) to gain access to Tiberius. What are it's powers? Can it influence minds? What are it's intentions? is it merely trying to escape Earth, or is it planning to incorporate the planet into the network of it's people. How do the squishy carbon-chain creatures fit into those plans?
- This might explain how the inventor gained access to the Emperor; the goblet/alien was able to influence lesser minds but was frustrated by the will of Tiberius.
- Which begs the question, what happened to the goblet? Is it in a museum somewhere, dormant for the moment?
There's a GURPS scenario (link) called Pawn Shop that features a mysterious glass goblet with mind influencing powers. It even has a villain with Imperial ambitions...
It's set in the modern day, and would suit a Torchwood/UNIT game, but could be adapted for another era.
Comments? Ideas? Suggestions?
