Why no Roman Industrial Revolution?

[urbanoid]

1 minute ago, sunday said:

Well, Spain's borders are noteworthy for how little they have changed in time in comparison to other big European countries, but I am afraid I am not able to fully understand your point here.

Given that the borders of France and Spain haven't changed that much and due to the French-Spanish population ratio of today, I must have subconsciously assumed that Spain had just a little bit less population than France in the past, not significantly less. That's why when you said that Spain wasn't very populous, I asked 'what happened to the European Spanish', after all in my mind the population should be just a bit less than the French one.

[sunday]

A country does not exit a multi-century war with a large population. Especially not when that war, from time to time, is an extermination war.

Edited August 9, 2023 by sunday

[lucklucky]

2 hours ago, urbanoid said:

Given that the borders of France and Spain haven't changed that much and due to the French-Spanish population ratio of today, I must have subconsciously assumed that Spain had just a little bit less population than France in the past, not significantly less. That's why when you said that Spain wasn't very populous, I asked 'what happened to the European Spanish', after all in my mind the population should be just a bit less than the French one.

 

There are the Pyrenees mountains between France and Spain so a natural barrier.

[sunday]

5 minutes ago, lucklucky said:

 

There are the Pyrenees mountains between France and Spain so a natural barrier.

Some rivers and mountains between Portugal and Spain, too.

[lucklucky]

The biggest defence of Portugal besides we being intractable in hard and soft ways is that the land gives you pretty much nothing so your army gets disease, no food etc...you have to bring everything with you.

Edited August 9, 2023 by lucklucky

[Stuart Galbraith]

18 hours ago, lucklucky said:

The biggest defence of Portugal besides we being intractable in hard and soft ways is that the land gives you pretty much nothing so your army gets disease, no food etc...you have to bring everything with you.

And if you also back it with some relatively well engineered defences, you arent taking it at all.

 

[rmgill]

Being nominally friendly crows for centuries also helps. 

[lucklucky]

Roman saying: There is a people in the far reaches of Iberia who neither govern themselves nor allow themselves to be governed. 😝

[sunday]

1 hour ago, lucklucky said:

Roman saying: There is a people in the far reaches of Iberia who neither govern themselves nor allow themselves to be governed. 😝

Those were the Vascons and the Cantabrii.

Overwhelming the Lusitanians required the traitorous murder of Viriatus, crime that brought up the famous saying Roma traditoribus non praemiat, Rome does not pay traitors.