The army’s Swiss knife - not really.

As so often, our modern inventions are not exactly new and a mere “re-invention” of something that existed centuries before and was lost in the mists of time.

[Picture from © The Fitzwilliam Museum , Cambridge]

That is exactly what happened with the Swiss knife. The news made headlines in an article written by Carly Silver and published in Ancient Origins last June. The pictures immediately speak to our imagination and it is hard to believe that we are looking at an ancient Roman multi-function tool from the 3^rd century AD having a small knife, a spatula, a fork (oh, yes!), a toothpick and a spike.

It seems that several such “Swiss” knives do exist, the most elaborated one being at the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge. It is made of iron and silver, and as such it is rather expensive and not exactly a possession for the common soldier. Not knowing where the knife was found except that it comes from the Mediterranean may imply that the owner would not necessarily be a Roman and that he may have acquired it anywhere in the Empire of those days.

The backpack of the Roman soldier (and the Macedonian soldier before him) could easily weigh some 30 kilos. Carrying this kind of gadget knife would make some difference in the load, just like today’s backpacker will break off most of the handle of his toothbrush to save weight.

It seems that a similar multi-function tool from the same period was recovered in the Greek province of Thraiae but this one had specific utensils used by a physician like lancets and other items for treating wounds.

Said article also quotes Aristotle saying that “nature makes nothing in an economizing spirit, as smiths make the Delphic knife, but one thing with a view to one thing.” meaning that Nature designs everything for a singular purpose, in contrast to those who make “Delphic knives,” which combines lots of singular-purpose items into one multi-function masterpiece.