Stranded without Edison

[The Yosemite Bear]

everyones talking about becoming Napoleon, how about Moriaity?

[PeZook]

It all comes down to resources. If you have some resources and standing in Roman society, getting murdered for challenging established philosophers becomes less likely.

GETTING those resources and standing is the tricky part, which is why the Thanas Plan of joining the army is so attractive.

It also pays to remember the ancients weren't a bunch of idiots: a lot of inventions didn't happen or were not implemented for very good economic and technological reasons. It's easy to say "LOL build a steam engine!", but with the metallurgy and economics of the time, it might not be feasible at all.

[Simon_Jester]

On the other hand, we are often surprised by what the ancients were capable of at the high end. I seem to recall, for example, references by one of the Hellenistic Era writers to a pneumatic catapult, something approaching a steam engine in complexity- although obviously that didn't catch on, nor did the cylinder-piston technology show up in steam pumps.

So basic point granted, with a caution not to underestimate the adaptability of ancient technology given the right stimulus.

[PeZook]

Yes, but it's much like buying plate armor in the XIth century: you could do it, but you had to be INCREDIBLY wealthy, whereas in the XVIth century every mercenary could afford a plate cuirass at least.

So you might be able to build a one-off invention, but the problem is that steam engines won't cause an industrial revolution unless you can make and deploy them en masse.