The territory of the Roman Province of Dacia (roughly present-day Romania) is located in an unusually resource-rich geographical area, with large deposits of metals and salt, and most importantly the Ploiești Oil Fields, from which oil is still easy to extract because of the deposit's proximity to the surface, and which in pre-industrial times regularily seeped oil up to ground level.

In the TL Giving Radio to the Romans, a time traveler appears in Rome in the 2nd century CE, and tries to simultaneously advance local technology and science to bring about an early industrial revolution, while trying to reform society to slowly abolish slavery, and work towards a future that is better than OTL. In the topic the OP suggested that the Dacian oil fields would be easily exploitable (at least to a degree) even with Roman technology, and this could fuel early combustion engines. Roman metalworking is too primitive to make steam engines which don't burst, but good enough for the diesel-like Hot Bulb Engine.

So, if for various reasons, Dacia experiences more prosperity and development during Antiquity (either with the survival of a more stable Roman Empire, or with a similarily well-developed and organized post-Roman early medieval Dacia) could that be a location from which an early industrial revolution could spring forth?

Could the first Dacia automobile roll down the production line around 600 CE?
 

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It would be unsustainable without prior technology and vast resources. A single resource and especially oil rich territory is not fuelling an Industrial Revolution, which in actual history require extensive global colonial accumulation and resources like rubber, Sea Island cotton, gutta percha and (if I'm not wrong) palm oil. There's a reason the Roman Empire was only proto-industrial at most, and even that has always stricken me as exaggerated.
 
How did the Roman manufacturing Latifundia look like, where large numbers of slaves were used for organized production? Were they similar to early 19th century factories just without powered machines? Could a working heat engine transform Latifundia into real factories eventually applying free workers?

I remember reading that the Romans already had a degree of standardization in manufacturing (at least to a degree it is possible in a pre-industrial society), one of the key features of factories.
 
An industrial revolution must take place on an island of a certain size, not too far from the mainland, rich in coal, advanced sea transport, with a budding of modern science, a stable government, no frequent great natural disasters, with a large population, but not so large that manpower is cheaper than machine.

The nature of capitalism is exchange, which is based on routes and means of transport. Sea is free trade route, the boat, as a mean of transport, is faster and carries more stuff than a horse-drawn cart. Sea create capitalism, capitalism Industrial Revolution.
 
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An industrial revolution must take place on an island of a certain size, not too far from the mainland, rich in coal, advanced sea transport, with a budding of modern science, a stable government, no frequent great natural disasters, with a large population, but not so large that manpower is cheaper than machine.

So basically Britain?
 
Japan lacked coal, political stability, and modern science.
It also suffered from over-population.
All those problem could be solved once industrial revolution occurred elsewhere, and was transplanted to Japan, in a way much easier than its neighbours.
Each posed a great obstacle for it to generate on its own.
Madagascar, Cuba, and Taiwan
The were underpopulated for most of the history, due to malaria and such.
 
Would the successful domestication of Silphium led to a smaller slave population, thus more demand for mechanized production? In OTL this herb only grew around the coastal areas of North Africa. It first gained widespread use because of its delicious taste in cuisine (modern enthusiasts of Ancient Roman cuisine generally substitute it with Fennel), but later it was discovered to have contraceptive properties, and thus used as such by wealthy Romans who could afford regular shipments of the herb, similar to the contraceptive pill in the modern era. Eventually, it was over-harvested and went extinct.

But what if for some reason, this herb was transported back to Italy and other areas of the Empire and successfully grown in every local garden alongside native plants (Preferably before its contraceptive properties are discovered, to avoid an early ban)? This way, even slaves could get hold of the herb, and cladestinely take it regularily to avoid unwanted children.
 
An industrial revolution must take place on an island of a certain size, not too far from the mainland, rich in coal, advanced sea transport, with a budding of modern science, a stable government, no frequent great natural disasters, with a large population, but not so large that manpower is cheaper than machine.

The nature of capitalism is exchange, which is based on routes and means of transport. Sea is free trade route, the boat, as a mean of transport, is faster and carries more stuff than a horse-drawn cart. Sea create capitalism, capitalism Industrial Revolution.

The nature of capitalism is not "exchange", and exchange itself is not "based on routes and means of transport". Ex: I give you two banana's for the big stick that pokes people.

Also, what exactly is stable about a government that produces the South Sea Bubble? Financial fraud, rampant widespread corruption at all levels of government, a revolutionary war that saw most of its overseas territories lost, an entire century of constant flirtation with near-bankruptcy, a deeply partisan parliament that made the passing of laws exceedingly difficult, countless Jacobite attempts to overthrow a government which itself overthrew a previous government in 1688, and countless little odd events depict a government trying desperately to hold onto its newfound power, and at the same time milk it for all it was worth. You do not get the kind of change that British society experienced during that century without massive instability at an institutional level. The French had their revolution, and so did the British.
 
Would the successful domestication of Silphium led to a smaller slave population, thus more demand for mechanized production? In OTL this herb only grew around the coastal areas of North Africa. It first gained widespread use because of its delicious taste in cuisine (modern enthusiasts of Ancient Roman cuisine generally substitute it with Fennel), but later it was discovered to have contraceptive properties, and thus used as such by wealthy Romans who could afford regular shipments of the herb, similar to the contraceptive pill in the modern era. Eventually, it was over-harvested and went extinct.

But what if for some reason, this herb was transported back to Italy and other areas of the Empire and successfully grown in every local garden alongside native plants (Preferably before its contraceptive properties are discovered, to avoid an early ban)? This way, even slaves could get hold of the herb, and cladestinely take it regularily to avoid unwanted children.
An interesting idea, but it assumes silphium actually worked as an effective contraceptive, which I do not believe has been confirmed. Nor do I see a way in which it could be, as the plant is believed extinct so we can’t go out and test it. All we really know is that the Romans believed silphium was an effective contraceptive and acted accordingly.

Additionally, was internal slave reproduction a significant factor in the size of the slave population? I was under the impression that at least under the Republic and Principate the primary source of slaves was people captured and enslaved as booty from military campaigns. If that is the case, then limiting slave reproduction won’t stop more slaves being brought in and might incentivize it by making such activities more profitable.
 
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