Cities and Urbanism in the Ancient World: An Introduction

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to briefly introduce the debates about the concepts of city and urbanism, with special attention to the ancient world. Regarding the city, the contributions made by the social sciences from the middle of the 19th century onwards are summarized, highlighting those comparative studies that have tried to identify the common features of cities in different regions and periods. Attention is also paid to those approaches that emphasize native notions about what we today regard as cities. Then, it delves into the contributions of urbanism, studying cities as nodes of hierarchical settlement systems, prevailing relations, and oppositions, with respect to other forms of landscape occupation such as rural villages or nomad tents. Lastly, before introducing the contributions that are part of this dossier, a definition of the city is proposed.