Early Cities Research Paper

Words: 1567
Pages: 7

Compare and contrast the emergence of early cities
The main features of a city are its social functions; however, the structures in a city can give much insight as to what those functions are. All of the early cities had a large focus on spirituality and worship, a system of governance, a structure or geographic form of protection, access to sufficient supplies of water, and access to trade. During this time most cities are making significant strides in developing a set of laws and regulations to support city life, these include a broad range of topics from taxes to how to resolve civil disputes. The development of a written language (cuneiform) and later a phonetic alphabet 1200-700BCE greatly improved the efficiency of these processes. Beginning in the fourth
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In 404BCE Athens was defeated by Sparta and later Rome in 338BCE but, remained a center of teaching and philosophy. The Roman Empire expanded to cover a vast expanse from Greece and Egypt to northern India. Due to popular public policies, including offering citizenship to residents of conquered lands, focus on education and civic improvements, Alexander encountered little resistance from many of the territories he “conquered”. Alexander established 70 new cities during his reign. The most notable of these cities was Alexandria; with a population between 200,000 and 500,000 inhabitants, it surpassed Rome in size, wealth, and splendor from 300-100BCE. Known for its museum containing the largest library and research center in the world, Alexandria was the largest cultural center of the time. Alexandria was surrounded by a large wall, and constructed a gigantic lighthouse at the entry to the port. Like cities of the Indus River Valley and China, it was laid out in a very organized grid and divided into separate precincts and contained a grand palace. After China’s period known as the warring states (475-221BCE) with rulers developing cities and