During 100-200 AD Rome had a relative stability. No major wars. Relative internal stability. Still a competive system were able men could make a career (not like the republican times of course) and ambition were premiered. A tax system that worked and created a surplus. Great engineers and builders.
My thoughts:
-A horrendous school system (who neglected natural sciences, mathematics etc...)
-Too many slaves (even though the influx of slaves most have diminished during this time)
-Religious beliefs (which we don´t understand? Maybe like the egyptian traditionalism and conformism?)
- A centralised system that not premiered innovation?
Your thoughts?
'Advancement' is not a linear path, despite what Civilization and other 'tech trees' may teach their players. Remember always that a 'tech tree' is an abstraction for gaming purposes, and it resembles real life technological advancement only in the very broadest of strokes.
Since you bring it up, here's some previous posts on why there was no 'Roman Industrial Revolution':
Could you clarify what you mean by "the next step?"
Hey there,
Just to let you know, your question is fine, and we're letting it stand. However, you should be aware that questions framed as 'Why didn't X do Y' relatively often don't get an answer that meets our standards (in our experience as moderators). There are a few reasons for this. Firstly, it often can be difficult to prove the counterfactual: historians know much more about what happened than what might have happened. Secondly, 'why didn't X do Y' questions are sometimes phrased in an ahistorical way. It's worth remembering that people in the past couldn't see into the future, and they generally didn't have all the information we now have about their situations; things that look obvious now didn't necessarily look that way at the time.
If you end up not getting a response after a day or two, consider asking a new question focusing instead on why what happened did happen (rather than why what didn't happen didn't happen) - this kind of question is more likely to get a response in our experience. Hope this helps!
By next step i mean stuff like "the art of printing", steampower, an understanding of inflation, accounting etc.