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How much did a tunic cost in the Roman Empire? (2021)

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Re: How much did a tunic cost in the Roman Empire? (2021)

#41

Post by ch4s3 »

slowhand09 wrote: post #33
hprotagonist wrote: post #2

Something that continually just blows my mind is how new spinning wheels are. The most plausible range of time of arrival of the wheel in European contexts is between the mid-1200s to about 1340, which means that textiles produced previously to that were made with drop spindles: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spindle_(textiles)#Hand_spindl... That includes things like clothing, but it also includes more staggering ide…

A lifetime ago I worked in a textile mill in the US. After a several months I worked my way up to be a machine operator, a weaver. I had upwards of 50 weaving machines I kept operating thru my shift. Each of these produced probably 80meters * 6meters of fabric in an 8 hour shift. And at this rate, mills in southeast asia were able to undercut prices so much the US industry collapsed.

It's pretty amazing how much efficient you can build in if you're starting a process from scratch and know what the first mover did. This is precisely how the US pushed the UK out of the textile business. It's no wonder that it happened again after another series of innovations.

Re: How much did a tunic cost in the Roman Empire? (2021)

#42

Post by wing-_-nuts »

retrac wrote: post #19
lumost wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s curious, if you go back in time far enough with all knowledge from the present, you’d surely arrive at a point where you still need to work your entire life to bring one component of one innovation to life. Even then, the innovation would be unlikely to survive your death due to other missing parts of the supply chain. Try building a musket in Ancient Greece, you’d need to start with building the steel supply ch…

Yes, you wouldn't be building a steam engine with the tools of Greek artisans in antiquity, not even the ones who built the Antikythera mechanism. But we do know some things that would seem like crazy hacks to the ancients. For example, I know a simple trick. I can multiply numbers, of arbitrary size. And I can do it in a few seconds using just a stylus and tablet. This would have blown the minds of a learned Roman o…

I love this whole premise, is there a name for this genre of fiction?

Re: How much did a tunic cost in the Roman Empire? (2021)

#43

Post by tenuousemphasis »

bluGill wrote: post #32
retrac wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, you wouldn't be building a steam engine with the tools of Greek artisans in antiquity, not even the ones who built the Antikythera mechanism. But we do know some things that would seem like crazy hacks to the ancients. For example, I know a simple trick. I can multiply numbers, of arbitrary size. And I can do it in a few seconds using just a stylus and tablet. This would have blown the minds of a learned Roman o…

> Yes, you wouldn't be building a steam engine with the tools of Greek artisans in antiquity, not even the ones who built the Antikythera mechanism. Sure you could. The antikythera mechanism shows more than enough skill and precision to make a small one. It might only be a toy for the rich though. I'm not sure if you could afford enough metal to make one large enough to do useful work, and even if you could the fuel…

Windmills date back to the 9th century, water wheels to the 1st or earlier.

Re: How much did a tunic cost in the Roman Empire? (2021)

#44

Post by germinalphrase »

robbomacrae wrote: post #38
retrac wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, you wouldn't be building a steam engine with the tools of Greek artisans in antiquity, not even the ones who built the Antikythera mechanism. But we do know some things that would seem like crazy hacks to the ancients. For example, I know a simple trick. I can multiply numbers, of arbitrary size. And I can do it in a few seconds using just a stylus and tablet. This would have blown the minds of a learned Roman o…

Why not build a printing press? All you really need to do is carve some wood. As expensive as tunics were, books were much more so. Copying the bible would have taken several months (if not years) of labour. And the ability and control to spread such knowledge faster than others would not only be very lucrative but a source of great power.

There are political liabilities to the printing press.

Re: How much did a tunic cost in the Roman Empire? (2021)

#45

Post by samstave »

Ekaros wrote: post #26
duxup wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It doesn't strike me as surprising that the sail would take longer than the boat. The skill to make a boat is impressive but the mechanics of getting it done aren't enormous. Fabrics and sewing, gathering and prepping those materials and the tedious work seems enormous.

The sewing of sail fabric is something different. You need to use heavy duty needle and force it through the fabric. It is somewhat similar I would imagine as dealing with leather. Wood work deals with big pieces comparatively.

No post body was provided.

Re: How much did a tunic cost in the Roman Empire? (2021)

#46

Post by samstave »

wongarsu wrote: post #11

> So a linen weaver would need to work for (500 / 2×40 to 500 / 2×20) 6 to 12 days to earn the price of the simplest linen tunic So translating to modern wages (in US/Western Europe) somewhere between $500 and $1500 for the simplest tunic, or between $7000 and $21000 for the finest quality. That certainly puts the practice of robbers to take people's clothes into perspective.

What were the poor people wearing?

How did women earn these - were linen garments a form of payment to effective prostitution?

YES: Source; Kimono.

Re: How much did a tunic cost in the Roman Empire? (2021)

#47

Post by ghaff »

ch4s3 wrote: post #36
brianwawok wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

More like three. Went from $1500 to $1.50. At a minimum wage job in the US, you can buy multiple shirts per hour worked. It would literally blow the mind of ancient people (maybe even moreso than something like a Computer), as it's something they have and work with - but the price is so different.

The idea that someone on a laborers salary could afford the material standard of people in much of the world today would be astonishing. My own grandmother grew up wearing clothes made from repurposed flour sacks, and that was only 90 years ago. The last two centuries of human progress are staggering to think about.

There's a book called Why the West Rules--For now that basically explores the social development of the Western and Eastern cores since the dawn of civilization. One of the striking things in the book is that the author charts social development as measured by a formula with lots of variables. The kicker is that if you zoom out to look at the whole history, at that scale, the chart is basically flat-lined near zero until a couple hundred years ago.

Re: How much did a tunic cost in the Roman Empire? (2021)

#49

Post by missedthecue »

emaginniss wrote: post #39
Ensorceled wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> That certainly puts the practice of robbers to take people's clothes into perspective. Also probably the source of the "they'd take the shirt of his back" saying.

The phrase is usually "he'd give you the shirt off his back." That's much nicer

and it really has nothing to do with the price of clothing
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