In regards to the Imperial Roman MIC

[Robert Vermaat]

Hi Dracko, and welcome to RAT.

I am curious as to the Roman MIC, in general. [..]I know of the fabricae that were in of the camps of the legionaries, but asides from the general purpose of the fabricae, I know not more of it. So, if possible, please expound on that specifically.

Please specify a bit more. Don't expect to launch a generalistic question and expect an essay in return. :wink:

As an aside, and not necessarily on-topic thought, how would of Rome sustained a hypothetical Industrial Age revolution? [..] it also became apparent, that the Romans too, had an early onset of advancements in agricultural technologies, and thus, if Rome had not fell, Europe may perhaps have a similar population to pre-1950's China [..]Without floffing about in my aforementioned bias, I am wondering, again as an aside, how Rome would of "coped", or rather, spur on an Industrial Revolution in their time.

How can we draw any parallels between the 4th c. western Roman Empire and China in the 1950s? Rome was not an effective state, it has been unfavourably compared to modern Zimbabwe in the sense of government effectiveness. There was no way that any Roman ruler ('government' would be to much here) could effectively enforce such a population policy. Furthermore, it was not the 'mere accident' of Rome 'falling' that prevented your predictions of European demographic development, but rather the other way around. Rome fell due to a number of factors, some of them being a drop in population, also due to a number of factors (war, economics, climate). The Western Empire was not equipped enough to keep itself together, whereas the east barely managed to hang on.
Therefore, there can be no question as to the conditions for anything like an Industrial revolution - even if the knowledge had been there, there was no educational system, no understanding of economics, no grasp of effective government (not even a working succession system).