They transitioned from a democracy to an empire in which entrenched power didn't need to innovate. Additional their power structure was extraction based in ter

They transitioned from a democracy to an empire in which entrenched power didn't need to innovate. Additional their power structure was extraction based in terms of lands that they conquered and integrated into the empire. At a certain point in the growth of the empire I am sure that the ability to move classes was more political/militaristic than through entrepreneurial capability thus it limiting individual drive to achieve. As well I am not sure how much public funding there was available to literacy / sciences.