Romans had slaves, so labour was cheap. Industrialization requires expensive labour as demand driver. Wasn't there just an article on HN about that?
Edit: Found it: https://rootsofprogress.org/robert-allen-british-industrial-...
Edit: Found it: https://rootsofprogress.org/robert-allen-british-industrial-...
Though I wouldn't think that industrialisation would require expensive labour since there could be other benefits driving it, e.g. faster production, less wasteful production, etc.
Industrialisation didn't end slavery or it's derivatives either. It just changed to tools of production.
Well, so did the British.