"Rome was close to an industrial revolution. The empire housed massive economies of scale, continent-wide trade networks, and sophisticated financial markets. It also had a healthy flow of scientific and applied innovations. If Rome had combined all of this with a cheap way to preserve and spread these ideas, it would have begun the feedback loop of economic growth and saved us all a thousand years of history."
https://www.maximum-progress.com/p/kyle-harper-on-the-roman-industrial