Living Romans in the Americas Plausible*?

[Zardnaar]

Acting

 

[Paul Farquhar]

evidence of Basques fishing the waters off Newfoundland is pretty weak

It’s not the Basques in particular, by the 15th Century the rich North Atlantic fisheries were within reach of the fishing vessels of many European countries. It’s impossible to prove there was any coordinated effect to keep them secret, but fisherfolk were commoners, so the nobility would have paid little attention to what they knew. And, of course, fisherfolk were only interested in the fish, not colonising the land beyond.

If you look at the records for the Cabot expedition, it appears they knew were they were going, how far it was, and what to expect when they got there.

 

[Zardnaar]

It’s not the Basques in particular, by the 15th Century the rich North Atlantic fisheries were within reach of the fishing vessels of many European countries. It’s impossible to prove there was any coordinated effect to keep them secret, but fisherfolk were commoners, so the nobility would have paid little attention to what they knew. And, of course, fisherfolk were only interested in the fish, not colonising the land beyond.

If you look at the records for the Cabot expedition, it appears they knew were they were going, how far it was, and what to expect when they got there.

Did they report sighting land?

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Did they report sighting land?

They didn’t “report” anything - they are fisherfolk, remember.

 

[Zardnaar]

They didn’t “report” anything - they are fisherfolk, remember.

Records of Cabot expedition then or that came later?

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Records of Cabot expedition then or that came later?

The Cabot expedition is “officially” credited with “discovering” Newfoundland. 1497 I think. But they almost certainly knew it was there, from word of mouth, not records.

 

[Dioltach]

So now we've established the possibility, the question is this: what have the Romans ever done for the Americas?

 

[Dioltach]

Also, about fishing grounds: rich fishing grounds were a source of vast wealth, and heavily disputed. A fisher fleet stumbling across the Newfoundland coast isn't going to boast about it while various cod wars are going on.

(As I recall, one of the facts supporting the idea of English fishermen off the North American coast is that they were banned from their usual grounds off Iceland, but somehow their production still went up. So they must have been fishing somewhere.)

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Also, about fishing grounds: rich fishing grounds were a source of vast wealth, and heavily disputed. A fisher fleet stumbling across the Newfoundland coast isn't going to boast about it while various cod wars are going on.

(As I recall, one of the facts supporting the idea of English fishermen off the North American coast is that they were banned from their usual grounds off Iceland, but somehow their production still went up. So they must have been fishing somewhere.)

To a fisherman, land is just something to avoid crashing into whilst chasing the fish.

It wasn't until Columbus drew the attention of the nobility and mercantile classes to the idea of land to the west that the dollar signs rang up and people started taking an interest in fisherman's tales.

 

[Dioltach]

To a fisherman, land is just something to avoid crashing into whilst chasing the fish.

It wasn't until Columbus drew the attention of the nobility and mercantile classes to the idea of land to the west that the dollar signs rang up and people started taking an interest in fisherman's tales.

Also, after Europe's population levels peaked in the early- to mid-1300s, they plummeted for the next fifty years or so and took a long time to recover. If the overpopulation had continued, people would have been more inclined to look for new lands to settle. As it was, no-one needed new lands to populate, in particular after wealth levels began to rise again.