• Rhaedas@fedia.io
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      3 days ago

      A tank pre-steam power. The force of steam was known about long before, but not utilized. Maybe because the metals weren’t good enough yet to hold pressure? Imagine a steampunk Rome.

      • hector@lemmy.today
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        3 days ago

        Hero (a dude) of Alexandria made some steam powered stuff around the dawn of the 1st millenia, and some roman dude put steam powered doors in his house, I think some temples had steam powered doors to.

        The emporer, I think Augustus the first one, had it presented to him to develop it further and he decided he didn’t want to take jobs from the plebs or whatever, had to keep the beggars busy with something. So they dropped it.

        Hundreds of years prior, a couple of hundred maybe, Archimedes theorized a steam cannon.

      • GraniteM@lemmy.world
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        2 days ago

        When railroading time comes you can railroad—but not before.

        –Robert A. Heinlein, The Door Into Summer