It wasn’t the Swiss who invented the Swiss Army Knife.
What did a Roman soldier do when confronted with a tricky oyster? He pulled out an ancient version of the Swiss Army Knife, pried open the shell with its prong, and scooped out the toothsome fellow with its spoon.
The silver handle of this third-century A.D. folding knife, now in the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge, England, is a little over 3 inches long. Folding spoons, attached to bone handles, were very common in Roman times. But only two other folding knives have been found—and only one other equally complicated gadget with multiple attachments.
Some ingenious Roman artisan riveted six separate elements onto this lyre-shaped handle: a large spoon connected to a trident fork, an iron knife blade (corroded, above), a silver prong, a tiny silver spoon (perhaps used as a ladle for spices) and a leaf-shaped blade (which may have served as a toothpick). Our Roman Swiss Army Knife is also distinguished by the trident shape of its fork, as most Roman knives have only two prongs.
A similar folding knife, from a grave in Italy, contains the same six elements—plus a seventh, a small circular sieve, whose purpose remains a mystery. Only one other example has been discovered: A much simpler folding knife, without attachments, was found in an early third-century A.D. grave of a wealthy Thracian, who lived in what is today Bulgaria. The Thracian device was probably used as a physician’s tool for cleaning and stitching wounds.
What did a Roman soldier do when confronted with a tricky oyster? He pulled out an ancient version of the Swiss Army Knife, pried open the shell with its prong, and scooped out the toothsome fellow with its spoon.
You have already read your free article for this month. Please join the BAS Library or become an All Access member of BAS to gain full access to this article and so much more.
