Archaeologists Find Athenian Naval Base

[abaris]

And with respect to the technical innovations which created the modern world it wasn't until the high renaissance when this mindset first manifested and not until the Enlightenment did it get really going. And it took massive changes away from Roman modes of thinking and institutions to get there.

Rome never was static. They were open to innovations. In a what if case, you can't say what they would have achieved. They also weren't shy about adapting to new lines of thought if they thought them to be advantegeous.

But yes, christianity only contributed to the decline. By virtually being the enemy of scientific or technological discovery, which go hand in hand. The main contributing factor were the peoples moving in from the North and the Northeast, who didn't know the same level of administrative organisation as the Romans had.