Why were there great periods of time when man did not flourish? Ex. Roman empire to Industrial Revolution?

Humanity's success is entirely contingent on science and resources. Also, we need a proper command structure to organize the two in a harmonic manner. The Romans had a Senate and then an Emperor that kept order (for the most part) and managed the states resources properly. The Romans fell due to their nearly total consumption of the Mediterranean map. Had scientific studies been conducted by the empire with the tomes of past civilizations, the Romans may have realized that they could have prevented their demise through means of peace and moderation of power. Modern society has flourished so extravagantly because of a recent discovery of cheap, powerful hydrocarbon energy. Oil has propelled man further and further ahead at a near perpetual pace and our over consumption of this non-renewable resource is only digging a ditch for humanity to stumble into. Oil is stained across the edifice of modern society. When the oil dries up, so too shall humanity's fountain of affluence and prosperity. You wana learn more about humanity and how we have gotten to where we are now, go to www.thezeitgesitmovement.com