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(This question is quite similar to How do you prove you're from the future?)

I am an average person in the year 2016, living in, say, the USA. However I suddenly get transported back in time to 300 BC, to Persia. I did not prepare to this time-travel in advance. To be more precise:

  • I'm aware that I've just undergone time-travel.
  • Only me and my clothes have undergone time-travel - nothing else (no time machine).
  • I know approximately what year it is (say, within an error of century), and I know approximately where I am (mid-west Asia).

When I land in Persia, I'm near a populated city, and two Persian "policemen" approach me, with their spears. I seem very alien to them, it frightens them, so they want to kill me. My goal is to stay alive. I don't speak their language so it's hard to communicate with them. I need to act fast. My only chance is to show them something amazing, that I learned in the future.

What can I do?

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Lior
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    You can't speak the language, and they're already frightened and aggressive? Showing amazing somethings can probably wait until it doesn't startle them enough to strike first. Prove you don't mean harm - show empty hands, kneel, cower, even purr or whine to show no threat... and you might live long enough to learn the language and make your case. (it's fun to imagine what you can prove, but it won't keep you alive, sorry). – Megha Jul 02 '16 at 06:09
  • Welcome to Worldbuilding, however your question is a little confusing. You don't know their language, they're already hostile and you were transported suddenly (so no fancy objects on you). Its hard to find what you can do – King of Snakes Jul 02 '16 at 06:16
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    They will probably take you to their King, who might keep you :) – King of Snakes Jul 02 '16 at 06:21
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    If they don't have any concept of time travel, I don't think it would be possible. – JDługosz Jul 02 '16 at 06:37
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    I'm curious as to why it would be important to explain to people that you're from the future? What do you gain from it? Also, would you yourself be aware that this had happened? Would you not be more likely to assume you're on a film set or something to begin with? – Martine Votvik Jul 02 '16 at 08:52
  • @Martine Votvik The real reason why I'm asking this question is that I'm wondering whether, without any accessories (such as a laptop or a fan), I can immediately show to someone from the past that I am not just another person, but that I'm something special. – Lior Jul 02 '16 at 09:17
  • Are you something special besides being from the future? If not you might be out of luck. The novelty would die down pretty quickly. – Martine Votvik Jul 02 '16 at 10:32
  • @Martine Votvik I'm special just because I'm from the future (although the Persians may not understand that, they may equally think that I am a god an angel or a wizard or whatever). But, the question is whether coming from the future gives me any abilities or things that I can demonstrate that would be somewhat amazing to the Persians – Lior Jul 02 '16 at 12:07
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    Being from the future does not give you special abilities. Unless you are above average interested in mathematics, physics or geometry. Most modern age skills would not be of much use in ancient times. Chances are you would appear slow to them because you have lived most of your life depending on computers and google to help you figure things out. – Martine Votvik Jul 02 '16 at 13:50
  • Next you'll be telling us you had to travel naked because that's just how the time displacement equipment works, apparently. :) – Deepak Jul 02 '16 at 14:30
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    Not sure it it's a dupe but the other question wasn't closed. Why should this question be treated differently folks? – Vincent Jul 02 '16 at 17:18
  • you yourself have notions of science fiction and would have a very hard time accepting that someone is from the future, no matter how many stories they tell, or how many marvels they show. I would imagine it would be easier to appear a god than a person from the future. – njzk2 Jul 03 '16 at 01:44
  • @JDlugosz Yes, yes. They wouldn't have a concept of the future being different from their present let alone an awareness of time travel. Both concepts are reasonably recent, circa 19th century. Awareness of a historical past being different is circa 18th century. You might be considered a foreigner and treated like an outlandish freak. – a4android Jul 03 '16 at 12:28
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    @Lior be careful. Gods & angels don't bleed or have bowel movements. Though wizards might. Think what you're standing up in. Modern clothes. A watch with an unreadable screen. Better if it's got a LED digits. You can't speak the language. Are dressed in very wealthy duds. You're perfect robbery fodder. Time travelers should always travel equipped for their destination. Otherwise it's a short life & not a merry one. Gloomy Gus, aren't I? :) – a4android Jul 03 '16 at 12:35

3 Answers3

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First of all, if you go back to the 300BC you will find yourself in the Seleucid empire which controlled the area at the time following the division of the Macedonian empire as expanded under by Alexander the Great.

If any officials approach you they will most probably be either the city guard or posted soldiers in the service of Seleucus.

Unless you've gone out of your way to look extraordinary by wearing blinky lights or the such there is no reason why these guards or soldiers would be afraid of you. They are serving in one of the most cosmopolitan areas of the time and are used to seeing people with exotic features or dress.

Depending on the mandate of the officials they might not feel inclined to deal with you unless you try to enter the city or if you are harassing people. They are keeping watch over an area that might or might not be under threat of revolt due to the presence of occupying forces. They are busy. They don't care unless you make them care.

The first thing that will annoy them about you when they do care is that you are unable to make account for who you are and what you are doing there. You might be showing them some amazing things, but you don't respond when they ask you if you intend to sell the objects in the marked and you don't seem to understand that you need to pay the tax to enter the city with merchandise. You might also be an entertainer, but your show is more confusing than compelling.

The officials are struggling to understand why you won't leave them alone. Maybe you need assistance with something, but after a while chances are that they will begin to wonder if you are a bit crazy. Maybe they will attempt to drive you off or give you a beating to make you leave them alone.

You would have had a lot better chance if you had bothered to learn a bit of one of the ancient languages spoken in the area of the time or if you had brought precious metals or gems to bribe the guards to let you into the city. Once in the city you might or might not be able to find men of science and show them enough mathematics to convince them that you were worth listening to. Then after learning and perfecting their spoken language you might after some years be able to explain the concept of moving through time. Upon which you might be deemed insane, or possibly divine depending on whether they actually believe you. Either way you would have to prepare yourself for your life being changed in unpredictable ways.

You would probably fare better in the past if you never try to explain that you're from the future at all.

Brythan
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Martine Votvik
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    "there is no reason why these guards or soldiers would be afraid of you." - not so sure about that. you'd likely be a foot taller or more than they are. – Denis de Bernardy Jul 02 '16 at 18:18
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    @DenisdeBernardy are you easily frightened by the appearance of somebody who is a foot taller than you? As stated in my answer the people of the then Seleucid empire would be used to seeing people of various physicalities. Especially if they were posted soldiers left over by the Macedonian expansion of Alexander the Great. Some lonesome random dude of unusual height might not appear as much more than a novelty to them. Keep in mind that even though the mean height of the time was shorter than today, there would be occational taller people. – Martine Votvik Jul 02 '16 at 19:21
  • Not the slightest, but a person who is a foot taller than average tends to get attention. Even nowadays, if anything - would you seriously argue you wouldn't notice a 6.5, 7, or 7.5 foot person (depending on where you live) coming around the corner? It's... like... huge.... Average population size in the Roman Empire was likely ~168cm. Someone of average height or slightly above that today would have passed as a massive warrior back then, hence my disagreeing that someone from the future would attract no attention even if clothed like locals. – Denis de Bernardy Jul 02 '16 at 22:24
  • @DenisdeBernardy attracting attention and inciting fear are two very different things. And also, being of tall stature does not equal being taken for a warrior. Guards or posted soldiers alike would have a lot of experience in sizing up potential threats. An average joe of our time might be tall to them, but by demeanor he would seem childlike and soft. And as stated, the guards are working, they are not at liberty to investigate things at length based on their own personal curiosities. So they might try to ask some questions, but why would they do more. – Martine Votvik Jul 02 '16 at 22:47
  • Simple: because in contrast to you, they weren't wedded to the idea that freedom of movement is normal. – Denis de Bernardy Jul 02 '16 at 22:59
  • That wiki article doesn't say anything about the area or time in question. This is the middle east during times of big conquests and expanding empires. It is an area that has already been a trade hub between the silk road in the east and the mediterranean in the west for centuries. New and novel things pass through it all the time. Like in the year before, in 301bc when Seleucus just brought 300 war Elephants through the area from India to fight in the battle of Ipsus. Like stated in the answer they would probably care less until our joe tried to enter the city. – Martine Votvik Jul 02 '16 at 23:11
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  1. The minute detail of the weaving of your clothes.
  2. The futuristic diseases that your body carries that they are not immune to.
  3. Sand down some glass, "invent" telescope and revolutionize their world.
  4. "Invent" Windmill.
  5. "Invent" other things.

Don't try with predicting history. Telling what happens could rewrite it and make them suspicious when it doesn't come true.

lilHar
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  • I didn't remeber about diseases in my answer, but still, if any area would be able to stand up to diseases from the future it would be the middle east. Even at the time of 300bc they had been a long standing junction of trade and would have been routinely exposed to exotic diseases as was. – Martine Votvik Jul 02 '16 at 07:26
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    They may be highly exposed, but most of our diseases today are highly resistant in ways that they could only imagine back then due to modern medicine's constant arms race against bacteria's capacity for evolution. Honestly a person from now going back to 300bc could potentially wipe out the populace. – lilHar Jul 02 '16 at 07:36
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    I agree that it is a possibility. But regarding resistance. Our main concern today is that the diseases are resistant to our modern treatments, like antibiotics. This might or might not make a difference to a population that didn't depend on antibiotics or other modern treatments. When it came to common illnesses like the cold or the flu they would similary to today be exposed to new strains every year. It would depend on chance or luck whether a strain from the future would be devestating or hardly noticable. – Martine Votvik Jul 02 '16 at 07:55
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    @liljoshu I don't have time to invent anything (let alone that as an average person, I don't know in enough detail how these things really work). If I had with me, say, my smartphone, I could show it to ancient people and that would probably be amazing enough, but I don't have a smartphone or anything electronic with me. – Lior Jul 02 '16 at 08:54
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    More to the point, I'm wondering how an "exotic" future disease would be impressive to a civilisation that didn't even have a germ theory of disease. – Deepak Jul 02 '16 at 14:34
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    @Deepak they would probably think you brought the plague with you. They would make them more suspicious/angry/scared rather than belief you're from the future. – Aarthew III Jul 02 '16 at 16:23
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    @Aarthew Ill more like you'll be called a demon. But if you tell them you're from the future, since they already think you're a demon, they'd probably buy it. They believed stranger things back then, so it probably wouldn't be too much of a stretch. (May result in weird understandings of it, but hey, not aiming for accuracy.) – lilHar Jul 02 '16 at 18:47
  • @Lior Some inventions wouldn't take that long because they're more concept and knowledge than anything else. The telescope is just a few hours. Just take two pieces of glass, sand them down so they're convex, and stick them in a tube. It wouldn't be high quality, but more than enough to impress for that era. And probably no matter what your field of knowledge, probably more than enough to impress. Heck, long division that most kids nowadays know would be huge. – lilHar Jul 02 '16 at 18:51
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    @liljoshu I was thinking about the idea of being branded a plague bringer. How would the persians make the connection when the timetraveler doesn't display the same symptoms? – Martine Votvik Jul 03 '16 at 18:53
  • One example, often the time traveller in small towns, if the plague that hitched a ride was bad enough, would be the only survivor. Also, being the one person different in a small community. – lilHar Jul 04 '16 at 21:10
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I wouldn't/you can't. Unless you know something specific that will happen (or be heard about) in that exact part of the world in a fairly short amount of time ahead, all you can prove is that you have strange knowledge. You can't prove that this is from the future though (as opposed to say, from magical powers).

Stilez
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    Ah yes, this is essentially the "A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court" solution. Which - despite my love for the story - I found terribly convenient, a complete deus ex machina. Apart from the amazing coincidence of a solar eclipse synchronising with the time of his death sentence, even the fact of his remembering that date is unbelievable. I doubt very much that modern astronomy buffs (the non-savants, at least) are able to rattle off historical eclipse dates from memory. Anyway, while this sort of thing would be convincing, it's hard to see how it's at all likely. – Deepak Jul 02 '16 at 14:50
  • And I like your last line - any such prediction would likely simply be considered magical by such a civilisation anyway. – Deepak Jul 02 '16 at 14:52
  • Yes, exactly......... – Stilez Jul 02 '16 at 19:21
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    knowing about a solar eclipse wouldn't be deemed magical by the persians, it would be considered science. At least as early as 750 b.c. Babylonian astronomers began to take an active interest in the accurate observation of many celestial phenomena, including solar and lunar eclipses. – Martine Votvik Jul 03 '16 at 03:10