I saw someone on a Reddit thread claim that ancient Rome (I think he claimed around Aristotle's time) was very close to industrialisation. I want to know if that claim holds any water, and if so, then how close was Rome to industrialisation, and were there any other ancient civilisations that were close to industrialisation?
There are some difficulties, especially when you look beyond 'just' the technological aspects. (Honestly, this contemporary obsession with technology and technological determinism has a lot to answer for.) More can always be said on the matter; for the meantime, you may be interested in this previous post by u/LuxArdens examining this question precisely.