If you could live in any pre-industrial society...

!!!!!!!!!!!
Read the novel 1632 and it's sequels. Bringing modern gun technology to the 17th century. They realise the impossibility of making modern breech loading firearms, so introduce 18th/19th century flintlock rifles to the Swedish army whom they allied with.
They also make ironclad warships. ♥♥♥♥ing awesome book.

I would live at Hogwarts.

Originally Posted by Pheonixink

I would live at Hogwarts.

If this was meant to be a serious post, I really do worry.

Originally Posted by demmedillusive

King Arthur's court, 500 A.D.-ish.
Chivalry, knights, round tables- they had all the good stuff. It would be great if I could travel back in time with all my current knowledge and begin slipping Yankee ideas into their impressionable minds. Like soap and stove polish. Even better if they thought I was some all-powerful wizard like Merlin.

Or you could get burned for witchcraft.

Originally Posted by demmedillusive

Why? Only white people can be curious about past civilizations?

Unless you're going somewhere predominatly colored, you'd always be getting the short end of the stick.

Originally Posted by Trogdor the BURNiNATOR

Or you could get burned for witchcraft.

Bah, it was always chilly back in those days anyway.

Originally Posted by Trogdor the BURNiNATOR

Unless you're going somewhere predominatly colored, you'd always be getting the short end of the stick.

Some of us are talking about going back to live with the Aztecs. We are probably overlooking cultural/biological differences here (unless it is to our advantage, like starting the Industrial Revolution early ). Being a woman would probably suck for a person traveling back to these civilizations as well.
Or, if the person wanted to be BORN into a past society, then logically that person would be of the same race as the society.

Originally Posted by Googly Moose

They had Greek Fire during the crusades.
.

They did?? Well there was some era in the Medieval Times where there was no Greek Fire yet... I'm getting this from having read the novel Timeline XD

Greek Fire is a term that became a common name for incendiaries. I think the Byzantine Empire was the last nation to actually have Greek Fire.

It was also known as Naptha. I am no expert on that era, but it was used rather effectively by the Byzantine Empire, especially in naval battles. I think, however, the formula has been lost to history.

I bet it smelled like victory though.

Originally Posted by Solid Knight

Greek Fire is a term that became a common name for incendiaries. I think the Byzantine Empire was the last nation to actually have Greek Fire.

Thanks for the insight ^.^ To be honest, I sadly don't know much about the use of Greek Fire. Other than I THINK it was used during the battle of Troy, but I could be mistaken... I've done a lot of study on the Battle of Troy, but it's hard to know what weapons were actually used during it, without having been there.

Originally Posted by riomhaire

Hahahaha. Good one. To accomplish this you would need to:

• Find iron deposits
• Set up a mine
• Set up a refinery
• The refinery would require coal to power it so
• Find coal deposits
• Set up another mine
• Cast your iron into the correct shapes
• Produce black powder (do you even know the ingredients?)

Good luck with that.

Broski, it's called punching stuff. Like in Minecraft.

Anywhom.

I'd want to live in the Roman Empire, during the reign of Marcus Aurelius. Probably in what was Greece prior.

Or, in modern-day Chester. It was supposed to be the Roman Provincial Capital there, and there was a building there that has NEVER been discovered in any other Roman settlements before or since by archaeologists. So it'd be cool to see what that was.

Originally Posted by riomhaire

Hahahaha. Good one. To accomplish this you would need to:

• Find iron deposits
• Set up a mine
• Set up a refinery
• The refinery would require coal to power it so
• Find coal deposits
• Set up another mine
• Cast your iron into the correct shapes
• Produce black powder (do you even know the ingredients?)

Good luck with that.

I wouldn't need coal. Small amounts of iron (one of many metals I could use) aren't hard to find near the surface. I wouldn't need to make black powder specifically. Any fast burning chemical compound would do. However, black powder isn't terribly complicated. It's composed of sulphur, charcoal, and potassium nitrate. Sulphur isn't hard to find. Charcoal is easy to make. Potassium nitrate isn't too difficult to find but would be the hardest to extract--it can be found in human and animal waste.

Originally Posted by Pheonixink

I would live at Hogwarts.

With the risk of a Dementor's Kiss, I won't.

Originally Posted by Solid Knight

I wouldn't need coal. Small amounts of iron (one of many metals I could use) aren't hard to find near the surface

Wolfram Alpha informs me that the melting point of iron is about 1500 Celsius. How exactly are you going to generate this heat to mould the small amounts of iron into the correct shape?

Originally Posted by riomhaire

Wolfram Alpha informs me that the melting point of iron is about 1500 Celsius. How exactly are you going to generate this heat to mould the small amounts of iron into the correct shape?

You don't need coal to power the oven. Instead of looking at Wolfram Alpha, maybe you should look at what kinds of furnaces blacksmiths used and what powered them. Hint: some used charcoal.

Also, I don't have to use iron. I can use other metals.

Give up all modern day medicine and technology so I can live a short, lonely, miserable life where all of my knowledge is of an unthinkably alien culture to those I am around? Sign me up!

Originally Posted by Tabby

I would teach the Byzantines about guns, and bring them a few examples. Help them fight off the Turks.


And rebuild the Byzantine Empire! Then reclaim the Western Roman Empire! The mighty Second Roman Empire!

There's a few more issues than just guns to have to do with the reason Basileia ton Rhomanion eventually fell to the Moslem hordes.

Up until the 4th Crusade, there may have been a chance for revitalization, (had Alexios Komenus been born but a few decades earlier and things like Manzikert may have been avoided) but the destruction of the bureaucracy and mass amounts of treasures from literally a thousand years of accumulation took a severe toll, both economically and morally on the people.

Up until this point, the Theodosian walls had stood firm in the face of all invaders for a thousand years since it's founding. The people literally thought themselves to be the beloved people of the Virgin and protected by her. Losing that sense of divine protection caused such a moral shock to them, that many took a defeatist attitude towards things such as the city falling to the Turk. This would become worse as the Empire became more and more decrepit.

I mean, there are a few instances where the Empire could have been "saved" - Had the Komnenids not been ousted by the Angeloi; or the Empire of Nicea, for example, had it kept it's focus on Nicea and focused eastward rather than retrieving Constantinople from the Latins, may have been able to hold off or even beat the Turks; Had John Kantankouzenous taken the throne when offered it at the death of his friend Andronikos; a whole bunch of what-ifs. But if you expected to enter the city in late May of 1453 and hand them cannons and expect them to beat the Turks, you'd be sorely mistaken. And possibly murdered in the ensuing looting.



As a random note, a man by the name of Urban, if I recall correctly, offered his services to the Emperor at the time, but coffers were so bare that he had to send him away. In the end, the man went to the Turks and they used him to create the first of their great bombards which would in the near future be used to destroy the Theodosian walls.

I would like to live in Early 19th century Italy.

Originally Posted by Solid Knight

You don't need coal to power the oven. Instead of looking at Wolfram Alpha, maybe you should look at what kinds of furnaces blacksmiths used and what powered them. Hint: some used charcoal.

Also, I don't have to use iron. I can use other metals.

From what I understand, you want to live in a caveman society. I'll give you the benefit of the doubt and say they've invented fire by this point.

It is next to impossible for you to build a working gun of any style or form with "caveman" technology. In order to get all of the iron you would need and meld it into the proper form, you would need 1500C of heat for a long long time. Further, how you would go about containing this heat is beyond me as you would need a metal stronger than iron to make some sort of forge or furnace out of. Never mind your fuel source, if you don't have any oven, you'd just wind up creating a huge fire with some coal in the middle. Congratulations, you're pumping carbon emissions into the atmosphere and we haven't even invented the basics of math.

The old Norse of course. I think I'd be happy as a country dweller in a Norwegian village. Cultivate some fruit and greens (no grain), have livestock and gather berries and herbs. Fish as well, as I would live close to the western coast where the climate is milder. Norse sheep^^



That's pretty much as we plan on living now as well, by the way.

Other:
I think I'd do fine in a Celtic society as well. There are many old societies that would be interesting to live in.

Originally Posted by Pilaf

In order to get all of the iron you would need and meld it into the proper form, you would need 1500C of heat for a long long time.

Iron isn't the only viable metal for a gun.

Originally Posted by Pilaf

Further, how you would go about containing this heat is beyond me as you would need a metal stronger than iron to make some sort of forge or furnace out of.

I need clay. Clay molds. Clay furnaces. Charcoal fuel (or coke or coal).