There’s a forgotten invention from 1st-century Alexandria that almost launched an industrial revolution two millennia early: Heron’s steam engine.

A closer look

There’s a forgotten invention from 1st-century Alexandria that almost launched an industrial revolution two millennia early: Heron’s steam engine. It spun fans and opened temple doors automatically—but the Greeks never imagined using it for work. Why? Slavery made labor cheap, so automation stayed a novelty instead of a revolution. History’s hidden lesson: technology matters less than the culture willing to reinvent its values around it. Today, as AI threatens to automate millions of jobs, we face the same crossroads Heron’s city did—whether to use innovation to amplify human freedom or to entrench existing power. What we do differently may define our era’s legacy.