A friend of mine stated the other day that the Romans were quite close to achieving the use of steam power, and I didn't quite believe him. While I know a few Greek mathematicians/inventors envisioned some limited steam power, to my knowledge it was never anywhere near commercially viable. Searched for the topic and didn't see anything.
Not close, at all! The only real evidence od steam devices from the Roman Empire are the Aeolipile, essentially a parlor trick for Greek temples, and a device making use of steam power, that was designed by Heron of Alexandria ... to open and close temple doors. Aside from its' appearance in his writings, there is no evidence that it was ever used, and it probably never was. btw, here's the aeolipile: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aeolipile
Suggesting that these devices demonstrate the Romans being 'quite close to achieving the use/harnessing the power of steampower, would be like looking at the Wright brother's biplane and saying, "y'know, they are quite close to developing trans-atlantic airliners". Yes, the wright brothers have a basic airplane, but they don't have a 747. Yes, the Aeolipile shows basic knowledge of steam power, but no, they won't be having an industrial revolution anytime soon!
Hope that answer's your question.
They had three things going against them;
First, building an efficient steam engine requires some knowledge of the Carnot cycle and thermodynamics, although I suppose this could be overcome with a lot of trial and error. Second, their metallurgy was not up to reliably making pressure vessels. And finally, they had lots of slaves, so the need just wasn't there.