Great Cities

One of the OGs of Bear circulated a question that got me thinking about time travel. What have been examples of great cities? Why did they achieve greatness? How did they contribute to the world? Here’s my list of globally dominant cities: City Period Problem Contribution Key Figures Athens 450–400 BC How should humans think? Philosophy, democracy, reason Pericles, Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Thucydides Rome 50–200 AD How do you govern vast societies? Law, engineering, administration, empire Augustus, Trajan, Hadrian, Cicero, Marcus Aurelius Venice 1200–1400 How do continents trade? Maritime commerce, banking, insurance, logistics Marco Polo, Enrico Dandolo, Francesco Foscari, Aldus Manutius Florence 1450–1500 How do wealth and creativity reinforce one another? Renaissance, banking, patronage, art, sound currency (Florin) Lorenzo de' Medici, Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Machiavelli Amsterdam 1600–1700 How do you mobilize capital? Modern finance, joint-stock corporations, global…