References, Reader-Suggested Books, and Rabbitholes #

NOTE: I’m adding new entries as I discover and read books and references, both from my own research and reader suggestions..

I released the first issue in HN in July 2025, and gathered a ton of valuable input.

The feedback was smart, and full of fun rabbit holes. People really liked the idea, a Roman industrial revolution sparked by future knowledge, and many people said they’d keep reading. Several commenters brought up the real-world challenges of building things like steam engines or spinning wheels with ancient tools. They want to see the hard parts, not just magic tech drops.

Some questioned whether Roman society could even handle an industrial shift, while others cheered the “what if” angle anyway. A few pushed back on the AI use, saying they prefer hand-drawn art, but most were more interested in the story. Overall: great concept, lots of excitement, and tons of useful ideas to build on.

Below is a list of references and authors, some of my own, and others recommended by readers, that stood out to me as especially relevant and interesting. Some I already knew well, others I’d heard of but hadn’t explored, and a few were completely new to me. All of them were a joy to dive into.

Alternate History / Time Travel Fiction #

A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court #

I read the Mark Twain classic when I was a kid.

I remember how its protagonist, Hank Morgan, tries to spark industry in Camelot with steam engines, printing presses, and rifles—only to crash into the same wall of old customs and fearful people that Marcus faces in The Lydian Stone when he brings future knowledge to ancient Rome.

Both stories are about someone from the modern world trying to fix the past, but one ends in failure and the other in hope.

Rome, Sweet Rome #

Prufrock451 posted the story on Reddit in August 2011. A Marine Expeditionary Unit unintentionally sent back to ancient Rome under Augustus. It became a sensation, spawning its own subreddit and fan content.

Seems Warner Bros quickly optioned it for a film, with Prufrock451 hired to write the first screenplay draft.

Since then, it's been stuck in "development hell". The last rewrite was in 2013, and though interest remains, no production has moved forward, what a shame.

Tech Tree & Engineering Realism #

ACoup Blog #

Particularly the post "Why No Roman Industrial Revolution?" was captivating.

According to Bret Devereaux, Rome didn’t have an industrial revolution because it lacked the key ingredients that made it possible in 18th-century Britain, like deep coal mining, steam engines, and a textile industry ready for machines.

But Rome stayed an efficient farming-based society, but it never made the leap to machines powered by coal or steam. Its economy didn’t need them, and the tools and knowledge to build them didn’t exist.

Still, if someone had introduced the right ideas, like how to make pressure cylinders or use steam power, Rome might have taken a different path to industrialization.

The Empire had good roads, strong trade, and a unified market. With the right push, maybe through water power or chemical methods, a different kind of industrial revolution could have started. The pieces were there—they just needed to be put together differently.

That’s what makes Devereaux’s insights so useful for storytelling. He shows exactly what was missing, and that gives writers a chance to imagine what could have changed. A character who brings future knowledge to ancient Rome could find clever ways to work around the gaps and spark a revolution.