03-27-2009, 01:11 AM
A Roman ship crossing the Atlantic really isn't out of the question. We know ancient mariners were able to circumnavigate Africa (although they admittedly stayed close to the land), but perhaps more telling is the Roman trade with India across the Indian Ocean, entering via the Gulf of Aden. Now it's possible that they simply hugged the shore all the way around Arabia, etc., but it is a lot more likely that 'Roman ships' traveled straight across the open sea between Somalia and India, given that they were recorded as using the monsoon winds (in Strabo I believe...). So if they could go from the tip of Arabia to India, it doesn't take a huge leap to see them being able to go from Africa to Brazil...
That being said, i don't think they actually did it! At least not on purpose. The Romans were never much on the exploration front, and unless they knew for sure of some sort of trade potential in Brazil I don't think they would have set out to find it.
That being said, i don't think they actually did it! At least not on purpose. The Romans were never much on the exploration front, and unless they knew for sure of some sort of trade potential in Brazil I don't think they would have set out to find it.