Freighters

[flykiller]

Keeping the economy intentionally strangled seems a bit dangerous, the Imperium has neighbours and some of them are hostile...

heh. a king's worst enemies are his own people. it's not "a king and people" vs "a king and people", it's "king and king" vs "people and people".

 

[Condottiere]

Senate and People

 

[AnotherDilbert]

happens all the time. the cannoneer who built the cannons used to break constantinople's walls went to the byzantine emperor first offering his services, and when the emperor refused to pay he went to the turkish sultan and built the guns for him instead.

Yes, I have to agree that governments do stupid things all the time.

 

[Whipsnade]

The Terrans advanced from TL9-12 rapidly because in the early ISW period they could: (snip of stuff everyone usually overlooks).

This, this, this, THIS.

I really glad to see someone other than me post that.

Regarding the aeolipile and the steam engine, the former is not a stepping stone to the latter. The lineage of Watt's device includes the piston-operated pump and the "bone digester", not the aeolipile. The two devices don't operate even remotely alike.

 

[kilemall]

The Third Imperium as Rome is not quite so obvious.

You've got the choice of the Byzantines and the Venetians as Roman heirs.

Given the backstory on the 3I, I vote Venetians.

 

[kilemall]

Regarding the aeolipile and the steam engine, the former is not a stepping stone to the latter. The lineage of Watt's device includes the piston-operated pump and the "bone digester", not the aeolipile. The two devices don't operate even remotely alike.

I didn't say it was a stepping stone. I am implying that the power of steam was known to potentially do useful things, and it was not pursued in a timely manner, likely due to any one of a number of economic, political and cultural reasons.

And again, technology is not an inevitable march.