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by mike_hearn 740 days ago
> There weren't any physical barriers between the Romans and a 21st century living standard

ACOUP disagrees:

https://acoup.blog/2022/08/26/collections-why-no-roman-indus...

1 comments

Devereaux & I probably agree on this one. In that article he identifies pursuing mechanisation and cheap energy as vital. He also stresses the importance of understanding the principles of the process which I'd class under research.

It is unlikely that the Romans could have had an industrial revolution, given that they were limited by being human and the conditions that caused the revolution in the Europe weren't present in Rome. But there was nothing actually stopping the Romans.