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Without doing any research, the answer is "watchmaking tools." Equipment to make small things like watches, and revolvers and what ever you'd need to start a factory. A few things like microscope, binoculars.
They had good craftspeople on hand, just need a little push to start an Industrial Revolution.
You need good quality metal to make precise clockwork. You need to be able to make those metals.
Romans made decent steel, especially in terms of hardness which is what you need to make tooling.
It wouldn’t be the biggest problem you would face in trying to industrialise Rome
You could bring plans for a high quality forge
The fuel it takes to run a forge wasn't common so you are still stuck.
Charcoal???
That is what they used, but so much is needed that despite being easy to make it wasn't available in large enough quantity. You get it by the basket, what you need is train loads.
This guy is 100% correct. There's no way you will ever be able to start the "industrial revolution". There's not enough people mining coal or metal ores. There's not enough organization to do any of that.
These are the technical dreams of children. The world wasn't organized enough to even support feudalism. The average person was a subsistence farmer who made a little extra grain to turn into alcohol. They lived in family groups and barely knew what the emperor looked like.
You may already know more important ideas that you use in your everyday life. You probably: wash your hands, wash your clothes, bathe regularly in fresh water with soap and wash your hair, filter or boil water to clean it, use the restroom away from where you eat, know that alcohol kills germs, and most importantly know that you should stay away from someone who's sick. These things make you as knowledgeable as the best doctors in Rome.
If you payed attention in elementary school, you may have a better understanding of astronomy than the best Roman minds. You may know enough mathematics to chat with Archimedes himself. You already know a superior numbering system to what the Romans used. Literally anything you remember from school would be priceless.
If you bring anything, just make it a telescope and a book of Roman history. Give the telescope to the emperor.Tell everyone you're a messenger of Minerva or something. They'll put you in a temple where you can invent a sandwich one year and a toasted sandwich the next. Use the book to stay out of trouble.
You don't have to change a million peasants, just one aristocrat. Remember, they would import a boat load of wild animals from Africa for one show at the Circus. That kind of money could buy a lot of top workmen.
You don't need an entire railroad, just a few hundred Napoleonic rifles.
One watchmaker can train fifty more in a lifetime.
Take your example of the telescope. Imagine what one telescope would mean to an army of the time. You could send out scouts with signal flags that could be spotted a day's ride away.
Look up the antikythera mechanism.
The Romans could make enough quality metals for a clock.
Damn, now I'm wondering if my decision to bring plans for a printing press is actually less useful than accurate timekeeping
The idea of a printing press was revolutionary but it's just an engraved plate, ink, later and a weight on a lever.
I'm confident I could make a printing press without plans having seen one. I'm not confident I could design an accurate watch.
I might manage a pendulum clock. Just. But that's far less useful.
Accurate timekeeping means you can navigate the deep ocean without hugging the coast.
People were doing that long before there were clocks that worked on ships.
Nice!
Also seeds for modern veggies. Easier to grow and more nutritious.
Just nothing from Monsanto, as many of their seeds are sterile.
Best to get some modern old stock. Hell just some beef steak tomatoes and corn would be invaluable.
Most seeds are not steril. Farmers wish they were as hybrids never breed true.