Most Influential Cities of all Time

This list records the twenty most influential cities of all time, plus some honorable mentions and why they didn't make the cut. I measure civic influence by four main factors, with the last one having lesser importance:

1. Cultural influence. This means things like artistic movements started in a city, philosophical developments, technological breakthroughs, and the influence of its institutions. One thing to keep in mind is the importance of the founder effect: later cities which are influenced by earlier ones (like Paris being influenced by Rome) do much to bolster the historical influence of the older city, as later developments may be dependent on earlier ones. The French Revolution would not have occurred if not for the existence of the earlier Roman Republic, for example.

2. Territory ruled. This one is straightforward to a point. It isn't enough to rule a large amount of territory from a capital, but it must do so for a long amount of time and the rule must be reasonably directed from the city. One example of a capital of a large empire not on this list is Pella, the capital of Macedon. Alexander never really ruled him empire from that city, nor did his empire last for long enough for this rule to really count.

3. Economic Importance How important the city is or was to the world economically. This is measured using economic size (actual or estimated, and in proportion to the world at the time), presence of major companies (not just corporate headquarters), importance to world trade (past or present), and the city's overall role in the global economy (such as Los Angeles for movies and TV, or New York for banking.)

4. Headquarters of Institutions. This one is the simplest of all: how important are or were the institutions in a city. Examples of institutions include things like the United Nations, the Roman Catholic Church, UNESCO, or the Red Cross.

Now, here is the list, from most to least importance. Feel free to challenge it or comment in the reply section. Just remember that this is not a list of important cities today, but one of the most important cites on world history. The impact that a city once had a long time ago counts heavily on the list, especially if that past influences our present.

1. Rome. Although it hasn't been the capital of an empire for about 1500 years (the Italian Empire notwithstanding), the city has nevertheless been a model for all other Western cities since that time. The fact that it is the headquarters of the Roman Catholic Church doesn't hurt either, nor does its current status as the capital of Italy. Although no longer the most important city in the world, Rome influenced most of the other important ones in some way, ruled over a huge empire for a long time, and if one includes the founding of Rome until the fall of Constantinople and ignores the Papal States, that still gives one Roman State which lasted from 753 BC until 1453 AD, longer than any other continuous state.

Rome also imparted the institutions of the Republic onto the West, and by extension, all of the countries colonized by the West. The city and its surrounding area was also responsible for the Latin Alphabet, many important developments in architecture, much of the culture of High Renaissance, much of the Church's music, and continues to be an important center for fashion to this day. Were this list confined to the modern world, Rome's influence would still place it on this list, although not at number one. Were Rome's influence confined to the ancient world, it would still not make #1. Only the continuous influence of the city on all subsequent Western cities, indirect influence on non-Western cities, and the importance of the Catholic church (yes, I know it is headquartered in Vatican city, but that's inside of Rome) have combined to make it the most influential city of all time. Even when non-Western powers do great things, most of their modern accomplishments are still made in the Western mold. Things like skyscrapers, modern bridges, and anything owing its existence to the scientific method come from the Western world, which was largely filtered through and derived from Rome. Largely, but not entirely. Finally, the idea of Rome was and has been kept alive in the West, either in name (such as the Holy Roman Empire), or in fact, such as the modern USA.

Some institutions that descend from Rome today include public entertainment venues (like the Colosseum or Circus Maximus), large-scale plumbing systems (they existed in other cities before, but not on this level), Republican government (complete with checks and balances), and even the novel (just look up Juvenal.)

2. Athens. The birthplace of democracy, moral philosophy, and center of some of the most important cultural, architectural, and literary achievements of all history. Athens is to Rome what Rome is to modern cities. While it is the capital of Greece, it never ruled a great empire, and the Greek Orthodox Church is too small to make it a serious rival for the Roman Catholic one. Nevertheless, it is hard to overstate the influence of Athens, with similar impacts on Western Civilization, and a greater impact on Islamic civilization than Rome ever had. As Christian and Islamic lands share philosophical roots in Aristotle, and as Aristotle's school(the Lyceum) was in Athens, the works of literally thousands of thinkers in the Western and Islamic worlds derive from Athenians developments. Plato's influence on the West and on Aristotle are also profound, as is the importance of Democracy on countless countries, Western and non-Western alike.  

3. London. As much a I wanted to put my home city of New York in this slot, I just couldn't. New York isn't the capital of a country, and only was the capital of a nascent US for a very brief time. London was the capital of the largest empire in the history of the world, modeled in no small part on Rome (in fact, it dates from the Roman Empire too.) It is not only the capital of the UK, but also one of the most important cities in the world today, and has influence over every common law country, not just the English-speaking ones. Although New York is larger, richer, and more important today, few if any countries worldwide can trace their roots back to New York, whereas dozens can trace their existence back to London, including the USA. Finally, London was important when New York was just a tiny outpost on the Southern tip of Manhattan. Although New York will likely overtake London's historical influence in a century or two, it just hasn't had enough time yet. At least I can truthfully say that NYC has overtaken London since about 1920, and that the gap has only grown in New York's favor since that time.

4. Paris. This is where the presence of European empires comes in handy. As great as Eastern Empires such as the Han, Mughals, Sassanids, Tang, Mongol, Gupta, and others were, they had little impact on the West. The Ottomans were a partial exception, as you will see below. The overwhelming influence flow is from the West, impacting the East. Westerners never threw out their Natural Rights-based Republics in favor of Empires based on the Mandate of Heaven, western languages were rarely if ever written using an Arabic script, and while Christianity has made many converts in places like Nigeria or South Korea, few Westerners follow Eastern faiths.

So, where does Paris come in? It's influence stems from three main sources. First, there is the Enlightenment and its including its ramifications. These include but are not limited to: the French Revolution, Napoleon Bonaparte and the Civil Code, the Metric System, and subsequent revolutions influenced by the French one (such as the Russian Revolution, or even modern Revolutions in China.) Second, the French Empires, including the ones in the Americas, Europe, and the later colonial Empire in Africa and Asia. Third, the modern influence of Paris as one of the world's richest cities, capital of France, and headquarters of many international institutions such as UNESCO or the OECD.

It also helps that France was the model for European high class culture and city-building for at least a couple of centuries. Even today, French culture, mostly emanating from Paris, is seen as fancy and elite all over the world.  

5. New York. The Big Apple. Everyone who has ever seen modern movies, modern TV shows, or even modern video games has probably seen my hometown. One of the richest cities in the world (arguably the richest, but there are many ways to measure wealth), New York scores at or near the tops of the charts in every field of influence, save political influence. Although not a national capital, New York is the capital of world finance, a major center of fashion, vastly influential on global architecture, hugely influential in the fields of art and music (for example, rap music and hip-hop culture come from the NYC Borough of the Bronx), and NYC is what people worldwide often think of first when they think "city." People speak of the Harlem Renaissance and the melting pot of New York almost as easily as they refer to their own cultures, and dozens of major intellectual and artistic trends have started in New York: everything as complex as abstract expressionism and Broadway musicals, to the popular appeal of Marvel Comics and Tin Pan Alley songs (like "Take me out to the Ball game"). I admit that the move by DC to Los Angeles is something of a blow to the city, albeit a minor one.

The only other factor keeping NYC at number five beyond its status as a non-capital is that it isn't very old yet. One of the youngest cities on the list, New York wasn't even the largest city in the USA until about the completion of the Erie canal in the early 1800s. Among cities which are important today, I predict that as globalization continues and countries become more interconnected, New York and other major global urban areas will increasingly lose their identity as national cities and people worldwide will come to identify with them, regardless of their own nationality. Until then, New York will be probably no more than number five, unless the United Nations grows dramatically in importance and continues to be headquartered in NYC. Then, the city's historical importance may grow even farther and faster.  

6. Beijing. The most influential Asian city on the list, this one was to East Asia what Rome is to the West (except for the Spanish-influenced Philippines). While China has had different capitals, this one is the longest-lasting. It is not only the capital of the most populous country on Earth (this will change when India overtakes China's population), but it is one of the larger and richer cities around. Beijing's influence suffers from not successfully exporting its cultural model past East Asia, but the over 1.6 billion people who live in East Asia which either live in China or a country which styles itself in part after China (Japan, Vietnam, the Koreas, Taiwan, etc) earns it a spot on the list. Not much more to say about it.

7. Istanbul/Constantinople. This one was tricky. The modern Turkish city of Istanbul was more influential in the developments it garnered as Constantinople, yet was still influential after being conquered by the Turks. The city has a sort of weird triple existence, first a moderately important Greek city called Byzantium, then as the new capital of the Roman Empire and center of the Orthodox Christian World, then as the capital of the greatest Islamic Empire of all time. It wasn't even known as Istanbul until after the Ottoman Empire had fallen. It is an Islamic city which had the greatest impact on world history as a Western city. It was even known as "Nova Roma" for a time.

The importance of the city derives from four main sources: its status as the Capital of the Eastern Roman Empire, its status as a critical crossroads of trade, its status as the historical headquarters of the Eastern Orthodox church, and its status as the capital of an Islamic Empire. The reason it isn't higher on the list is twofold: very little of what the city accomplished was original to it. The Roman, Greek, Christian, and later Islamic ideologies were founded independently of the city. Some specific influences which come from Constantinople include the Corpus Juris Civilis (basis for almost all law in Civil Law countries), the development of Eastern Orthodox Christianity (which did not start in the city, but was lifted up by it), the Cyrillic Alphabet (used by about 200 million people if not more) major development in architecture which would later influence Orthodox as well as Islamic buildings, and the simple fact that the city stopped invasions of Europe from the east over and over again, until 1453. Modern Istanbul is a large and rich city, yet it is neither a capital (Turkey's capital is Ankara), nor does much modern culture derive from Istanbul. Even so, the city has a rich and long history, easily putting it on the top 20 list.

8.Madrid. Although an important city today, Madrid used to be the capital of the largest empire of its day: the Spanish Empire. While Spain's Empire wasn't originally headquartered in the city, it was ruled from it for a long, long time. Major cities such as Mexico City, Buenos Aires, and Manila owe much of their civilization to Madrid and the culture which was directed from it. The primary importance of the city comes less from its own cultural innovations and much more from its status as a model for future colonial European Empires. The French, British, the Dutch, and even the Belgians picked up on Spain's model for how to conquer and rule from an ocean away. On a lesser note, Madrid oversaw massive global inflation due to policies directed from in or near the city, caused in no small part by massive importations of silver from South America. Despite the problems this caused, Madrid was responsible for overseeing the development of much of the early modern economy of the world. Decisions made in this city directly affected people's lives on five continents (including cities Spain held in Africa), something few cities then or since could ever claim.

It is surpassed by Constantinople/Istanbul mostly due to its lack of direct influence outside of the Spanish-speaking world, (even though that world is several hundred million strong), and the relatively short time it has been a capital next to the former head of the Eastern Roman Empire.

9. Florence. This was a very close one. If Rome and Athens were the places where western civilization developed, Florence is where it was reborn and revolutionized. As the birthplace of the Renaissance, home to the first major international banks, the birthplace of the Italian language, and the location for a major turning point in human thought, the city punches far above its relatively small modern size. Although the renaissance wasn't confined to Florence, the city's developments in art, architecture, thought, and economics put the city high up on the list. While Alexandria preserved and then lost much knowledge (see below) and was the capital of a sizable state for centuries, Florence was the capital of its small realm in Tuscany for centuries more, and was even the capital of Italy for a brief moment.

It would be an exaggeration to say that if not for Florence, we'd all be in the middle ages. Developments elsewhere were pulling Europe out of that age as well. It is accurate to say that Florence gave Western civilization a huge push, not only moving it forward, but changing its direction. Plenty of advanced states have kept less-than-advanced ideas on how to live. Singapore to this day beats people with canes for minor infractions. Ideas such as humanism, skepticism, secularism, and even some of the first traces of capitalism come from Florence. It was in Florence that labor and capital were separated for the first time in what was called the putting-out system. It was in Florence that large international bankers made loans to foreign countries, and it was in Florence that
modern politics arguably had their start, although similar developments in Venice may account for this as well (see even farther below).

10. Alexandria. Compared to the other cities, this one burned brightly for a short while, then began to slowly burn out. Nevertheless, in the relatively short time it was on the top of the world, it burned brighter than almost anything before and since. Alexander the Great founded many cities bearing his name, but few of them attained any real size or importance. The capital of Egypt, this Greek-speaking city was more than just the head of a nation, but the cultural and economic capital of the Hellenistic world. Fueled by grain exports, the Ptolemaic Pharaohs built the greatest institution of learning, the Great Library of Alexandria. They also built the Pharos Lighthouse, one of the great wonders of the world. Alas, the Library was repeatedly burned by various conquests, although the knowledge that was preserved has been invaluable to us today. It is worth noting that while many important scientific, mathematical, and theological developments occurred in Alexandria, little if any of those things could be considered a turning point for history as a whole, unlike the Renaissance, which was.  

The learning of Alexandria was legendary, as it was both a major center for science and an important early center of Christianity, providing diverse figures such as Euclid, Athanasius, Eratosthenes, and Heron (inventor of the first steam engine.) While it is Egypt's second largest and most important city today, Alexandria found itself losing out to Constantinople and Cairo as the premier cities of the Eastern Mediterranean. Even so, its accomplishments still lighten our world today.    

11. Venice. When most of Europe had kings, Venice was a republic. It kept the light of representative government alive for 1100 years, stretching from 697 to 1797, when Napoleon Bonaparte finally took it. Easily one of the greatest port cities of all time, the most serene republic owes its independence to geography as much as its naval skills and trading acumen. Located in a series of islands in a swamp, the city was very hard to reach, let alone besiege. Over time, the city developed a merchant-based economy in a time when land was the main source of wealth. Eventually, it came to dominate the Eastern Mediterranean, conquer holdings on the Italian mainland, and redirect the fourth crusade to attack Constantinople in 1204. It even developed the first assembly-line factory centuries before its time: the Venetian arsenal.

The main influence Venice has comes from three main factors: its sheer longevity, its influence as a model for a republic, and the sheer wealth the city had for so very long. From the 1100s until the later 1600s, Venice was probably one of the top ten richest cities in the world, and definitely on that list in Europe, especially after 1204. Early modern ideas about economics and secularism developed in Venice, even before they did in Florence. Venice was also the city which developed affordable commercial printing, using the German invention to produce cheap, affordable books. This helped to enable the spread of learning on an unprecedented scale. Just Google "Aldus Manutius" or "the Aldine Press" for more.

Today, the city is a shell of its former self. Not only did the lose much of its importance after trade routes were redirected around Africa in the late 1400s- early 1500s, but it is starting to slowly sink into the swamp. I hope it can be saved. It probably can be, but it will be expensive and some buildings may have to be relocated.

12. Jerusalem. Were this a ranking of religious cities, it would be easily on top. The holiest city in the world for Jews, one of the holiest for Christians, third holiest for Muslims, and the (de facto) capital of Israel. It only ranks on this list at all due to religious influence. It gave the world few great laws (the ten commandment are from Sinai), was never the capital of a major empire, was rarely the largest city in its region, and wasn't even the most important trading city in the area. Nevertheless, the impact of Jerusalem on the world of religion is huge. One of the great Pilgrimage destinations, the city is as much a symbol as anything else. Wars have been fought over it, people have died to get there, critically important religious ideas have come from it... without being directed in it.

The city of David never held the headquarters of a major world religion as Rome did, and the founders of Christianity left the city to found churches elsewhere, especially in Rome. Still, without Jerusalem, the world would be a very different place, even as the city itself can claim little credit for founding such religions: Jesus was from Nazareth, Mohammed from Mecca, Moses from Egypt, Peter from Galilee, Paul from Tarsus. For Christians, it is the place where Jesus died and rose again, for Muslims, it is where Mohammed ascended to heaven in a night trip, and it was the site of God's Temple for the Jews.

If any of those religions were actually founded in the city, it's influence would rise at least a few slots. As it is, the city played a major role in all three, without being absolutely necessary for them. Jerusalem's existence wasn't needed for Jesus to do what he did, and most of his time was spent in the countryside. Jerusalem was only the site of the climax of his ministry, even as the events there were of vast importance to Christianity. The religion which holds Jerusalem in the highest regard, Judaism, accounts for less than half a percentage of the world's population. Were Jews as numerous as Christians, this would surely have changed Jerusalem's rankings. Even in highly religious times, Jerusalem itself was less of a model and more of an ideal. An ideal which rarely lived up to the reality, as recorded in the Bible itself. Even the Jews admit they fell short over and over again, which is why prophets were sent to them over and over to lead them back. Simply having God's Temple wasn't enough to make one right, which is perhaps the lesson of Jerusalem: simply possessing a city, even a holy one, doesn't make one righteous. This is why I only rank it at number 12 of all time.

13. Baghdad. Once, it was only surpassed by Constantinople, a shining model for all to see. At its peak, it had one of the greatest centers of learning (the house of wisdom), it was the seat of the Caliphate (nominally the head of the Islamic world, but functionally, the king of Iraq), and it stood on a major crossroads of trade. While not the first major Islamic city, Baghdad was the greatest for about four centuries. It ranked beneath Constantinople in its day for two reasons. First, Baghdad only had access to land trade, while Constantinople had access to sea trade in the Eastern Mediterranean as well. Yes, I am aware that some trade occurred using ships which sailed from Baghdad down the Tigris and Euphrates rivers down into the Persian Gulf and then into the Indian Ocean, but most of that Indian ocean trade went around that route, heading to the Red sea, and from there, to Cairo.

Second, Baghdad just wasn't as safe, due to its exposed position and weaker walls. Constantinople was surrounded on three sides by water and protected by a navy as well as its army. Nevertheless, Baghdad was still the envy of almost everywhere else.

The the Mongols burned it down in 1258. In an event with repercussions to this day, the city was burned and sacked. Just about all of its texts were lost, countless thousands died, and the city didn't recover its former population until modern days, by which time even the great city would have seemed relatively quaint and small. Baghdad qualifies on the list as it was a model for Islamic cities much as Rome was for the West, or Beijing for the East. It stood at the peak in its part of the world for the greater part of 400 years, a feat only matched by Rome, Beijing, and Constantinople. After Baghdad was sacked, Cairo became the leading Islamic city, although it too would run into major problems.  

It bears noting that the sack of Baghdad was probably the worst single event for civilization ever, apart from natural disasters like plagues. While the fall of Rome was a process, the destruction of Baghdad stunted the development of the entirety of Islamic civilization, arguably holding them back to this day. Rome was well past its peak when it was sacked, and the damage done was more along the lines of looting instead of outright killing and destroying. Although Baghdad recovered to an extent under the Ilkanate (Mongol-ruled Persia), it never regained its former importance, and was sacked again in 1401 by Timur. Today, it is a mess. Let's hope that it won't be sacked again by ISIS.

14. Amsterdam. Although capitalism was embraced as government policy in the United Kingdom first, the Dutch had the general idea long before Adam Smith put it into writing. The first truly modern aspects of capitalism arguably come from the Netherlands. Earlier versions in Italy and elsewhere could be best described as mercantile capitalism, in which investors would pool their cash together, invest in a commercial voyage, and the investors would reap a share of the profits should the voyage succeed. In Amsterdam, this was taken a big step further with the development of Joint-Stock companies. Instead of investing in individual ships or voyages. Investors could now put their money into a business entity, becoming part owner of it and spreading the risk while reaping the rewards.

Instead of risking everything on single ship or even a single fleet, investors could now put their money into a commercial institution which wasn't nearly so vulnerable to sudden shocks, such as a bad storm wrecking a ship. Although antecedents of joint stock companies had been around since 1250, the Dutch companies were true investment vehicles, as they had publicly traded shares on a stock exchange, in Amsterdam. If this is sounding like the modern world, you can see where the influence of the city comes from. New York itself was founded by the Dutch as the fur trading post of New Amsterdam, and the city has arguably kept the same spirit of money-making, frugality, and thrift which the Netherlands itself has seemingly lost today.

15. Tokyo Okay, you are all probably wondering why it is so far down the list. While Tokyo is super rich, super-large, and a national capital, it has started almost nothing unique to itself. Japanese civilization was copied from China's, and Western elements account for the modern elements, leaving the original Japanese culture as a substrate underneath those, apart from a few critical elements such as language and etiquette. Even anime and manga are just simplified imitations of 1940s Disney cartoons. Furthermore, Tokyo has only been a major world city since the later 1800s, when Japan began to industrialize. While it grew tremendously, much of it was burned down during World War II. The modern city of Tokyo is surprisingly young for a country so old.

Not much remains of the city Tokyo once was. Between WW2 and frequent Earthquakes, the old town of Edo is little more than a memory. Despite its size and wealth, Tokyo is a follower, not a leader. Almost everything it has is copied from elsewhere. The Tokyo Tower is even a blatant copy of the Eiffel tower, just with different coloration and a slight greater height. It even has a much smaller copy of the Statue of Liberty. Although it scores very high on economic measures, Tokyo is let down by the others, as well as its relative youth as an important city. Should other places be influenced by Tokyo in the future, this may change, but until people speak of "Tokyo Enlightenment" or a "Tokyo Renaissance" as major world events, this is unlikely. I suppose the lesson is that money doesn't equal influence alone. The fact that, due to geography, there are few other places to headquarter companies apart from Tokyo and Osaka kinda forces those cities to become large by default. Were Japan the size of the US, I doubt economic activity would be so highly concentrated in Tokyo.

16. Delhi. This one is straightforward. It is and was the capital of various Indian states, and oversees over a billion people. While the capital is technically in New Delhi, this city has gained importance to a large number of people by the sheer population of the subcontinent and the amount of time it has been a capital alone. It doesn't hurt that many of India's finest buildings are near Delhi, including the Taj Mahal, which is actually a lot smaller than it looks. Nevertheless, one might be able to say that the Delhi area is to India what Rome is to the West, Beijing is to East Asia, or what Baghdad was to the Islamic world.

17. Moscow. At this point, you might be sensing a theme. Moscow is to Russia and to much of the Orthodox Slavic world what Rome is to the West, if one doesn't consider Russia to be a part of the West. The city even claimed the title of "Third Rome", though few believed it. It is capital of the largest country in the world by land area, one of the largest cities in the world, and headquarters to almost every important Russian company. These last factors explain why it is more important than the next city, even though I wished I could place it higher.

18. Washington DC. Capital of the most powerful country in the world, Washington isn't nearly as important or as large as New York, even if one counts the DC metro area, and the area of Metro Baltimore as well. It only ranks at 18th place because its importance almost entirely derives from its status as a capital. Without the federal government, there would be very little there. In fact, it is saved from falling farther by the Presence of the World Bank and IMF, although these also owe their being there to the Federal Government, no doubt.

Economically, the city is important, but I'm not really counting this. It's importance to the economy doesn't come from production or trade, but from the ability to guide the economy of the rest of the country, mostly through federal taxing, spending, and the federal reserve system (the central bank of the US). In short, Washington DC is a capital, a showpiece which more than vaguely mimics Rome in appearance (there's the #1 city again), and while a handful of countries have purpose-built capitals (Brazil, Pakistan, etc), few cities are influenced by Washington DC in any way. If anything, it is trying to be a city from the past. Just look at the comparisons and feel free to Google them in: The US capitol/St. Peter's Basilica, The Jefferson Memorial/The Pantheon, Washington Monument/and number of Egyptian Obelisks in Rome, The National Museum of Natural History/Baths of Diocletian, and so on.

It really is America's Rome.

19. Chicago: It was hard for me to order these last two. Los Angeles is richer and larger, but few innovations occurred there and Chicago is easily ahead when it comes to corporate headquarters. While LA is a more important port, Chicago has an important stock exchange and a very important mercantile exchange (for goods, not stocks). It came down to the one major innovation Chicago imparted on the world, an architectural change which has forever transformed cities. Chicago is the place where the skyscraper was invented. That alone would not give it a place on the list, but it does push the city onto the top 20 in conjunction with the city's sheer size and wealth. It also helps that skyscrapers are now a key part of most major global cities, whereas fifty years ago, only a handful of cities had them outside of the US and Western Europe.

20. Los Angeles: A major economic and cultural center, LA plays host to Hollywood, center of the American film industry. Were this the golden age of Hollywood, I'd be tempted to reverse places with this city and Chicago. However, the rise of alternate filming locations such as Vancouver, New Zealand, New York City, London, and even Cleveland has forced me to question the indispensability of the city. Hollywood truly is what makes LA unique. Without it, its just a vast suburb with a mid-sized skyline thrown in, and a major port attached to it. Despite its larger size, LA has a smaller skyline than Chicago, fewer companies, and almost no major institutions to speak of. It is also quite a young city, as most in the US are. If this were a ranking of the most influential modern cities, LA would rank near the top, but, as this is an all-time list, I can't really do that.

Honorable Mentions: Many cities are or were influential in just one category, or weren't influential for long enough to really make a huge impact on the world. Rhodes, for example, was once an important trading center, but only for a relatively short time. Its signature monument, the Colossus, fell after just 57 years, and the city never regained its previous influence. Here are some good cities which were or influential, just not enough to make it to the top 20 of all time.

San Francisco: When one mentions this city, one is really mentioning the San Francisco Bay Area. While this includes the critical tech hub of Silicon Valley, it just hasn't been around long enough as a highly influential area to count much on an all-time list. That said, if Silicon Valley remains an important tech center for a long time, it may change. There are signs of this happening already, with other tech hubs adopting the name "Silicon" in their name (like "Silicon Hills", or "Silicon Glen"), much like the suffix "-wood" is being attached to places around the world, like "Bollywood", or "Nollywood".

Vienna: This quaint little city is important to the history of classical music, central and Eastern Europe, and little else. Quite a few international organizations are headquartered here, but Vienna was never influential on the world as a whole as it was to the upper classes of Europe. Even here, Vienna was a follower instead of a leader. Much like many other cities on the list, it copied its architecture from elsewhere, including but not limited to, Rome. Just compare the Karlkirche to the Pantheon, for starters.

Philadelphia: The birthplace of the US and its first capital, Philadelphia's main hope for reaching the top 20 cities of all time rested on the importance of the American Revolution. Had the French Revolution not been the model for how most revolutions gone, it could have made number 19 or 20. As it is, Philly is a nice city and a lot of fun, but most of its importance as an exceptional city was past by the early 1800s. After that, it was just one of many in a crowd. The people there are understandably proud of their past as the city of Benjamin Franklin, so much so that his face is everywhere. It's rather odd.

Nanjing: A former capital of China, this city could have been like Beijing, but it wasn't the capital for long enough nor was it as strong of a model.

Mumbai: It has the makings of a major cultural center and economic hub, if only it wasn't so poor.

Mexico City, Buenos Aires, Sao Paulo, Rio de Janiero: These four are similar enough that I can say they are all follower cities attempting to imitate rather than innovate. Buenos Aires is especially guilty of this. Not only does it try its best to look like a European city, it even built a small-scale copy of the Washington Monument. El Obelisco really looks like a ripoff, doesn't it? While a few bits of culture from these cities are important to global culture (like the Tango), their influence is second-tier at best next to New York, London, Paris, etc. It is also hard to see how a major intellectual development could come from these Latin American cities. As harsh as that is to say, size alone doesn't make a city important. Cities which play host to major organizations, important companies, or are the centers of world-changing intellectual movements are the influential ones. Which brings me to the next two.

Shanghai, Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Hong Kong: The first three are as much a factory floor as anything else, and the last one is a major port which mixes British and Chinese culture without exporting much of its own apart from Kung-Fu movies and angry rants about how mainland Chinese are "locusts." Apart from an impressive productive capacity, these cities offer relatively little as a model, and thanks in part to the repressive government of China, almost nothing in terms of intellectual or culture innovation. Still, all of these cities have potential.

Seoul: See Tokyo. Based on Chinese and Western culture, except that it was also influenced by modern Japanese culture. Provides little of its own innovations, but is addicted to Western Culture. Especially Starcraft. I don't know why they love that game so much.

Cairo A rich city in its day, and one of the largest in the modern world. Despite its size, Cairo never had the same clout as Baghdad did within the Islamic world, and little influence in the other cultural regions of the world (the West, India, etc).

Babylon: Some say this was the first great city of the world. While this may be so, the city's own culture has had relatively little impact outside of the Middle East. It is a curiosity, but no one speaks of a "Third Babylon." If it is any consolation to fans of ancient Mesopotamia, Baghdad was built pretty close by.

Cordoba: A great city for a century or so, then it returned to relative obscurity. Cordoba's main importance was not producing much new knowledge, but preserving pre-existing Greek and Roman knowledge in the form of Arabic manuscripts. Not so much an influential city as an big library. Even if the city were to be lost, its influence would have stayed the same if the library in the city was intact. Alexandria contributed greatly to science. Cordoba didn't. To be an all-time great, a city needs staying power, not to just rise and fall from importance in a century or two.

Thebes(Egypt): One of the largest cities in the world in its day, Thebes has left behind remarkably little for other cities and places to emulate. Egyptians were much better at pyramid building than city-building, it seems.

Dishonorable Mentions: These are cities which either gained importance by doing very bad things or made false pretenses to being important. At best, these are superficial places, or at worst, were built on the suffering of others.

Dubai: Although it ranks highly on global cities lists due to the oil which passes through it and its major airport, Dubai is a terrible city. The place has very little production of anything, be it goods, services, or culture. It has a reputation for being a hangout for cheap Eurotrash while at the same time maintaining a repressive Islamic culture. This leads to women in veils walking next to speedo-wearing Swedes on the beaches, while a bunch of mostly-empty skyscrapers and palm-shaped artificial island stand as a testament to the property bubble of the 2000s. It's a testament to greed as well as the hollowness of the saying "if you build it, they will come." No, they won't. People need a reason to come to a city first, and then you build things. It's like a bridge to nowhere, city-sized.

Las Vegas: If you want substance, go to New York, London, Paris, Rome. If you want a cheap, superficial city where most people go to empty their pockets for nothing, this is the place for you. I admit it has some good conventions, but it really is a giant hole in the desert where people bury their money.

Nineveh: Imagine a city built on genocide, mass murder, and terror. Imagine a group so awful that the need to stop them united dissimilar people into an alliance. That's what Nineveh, capital of Assyria, was.

Berlin: See Nineveh. It's better today, but it's only important because it is the capital of the 4th largest economy in the world. Most of the actual economy is in the West, while Berlin is in the depressed East.

Detroit: Had this list been made 50 or 60 years ago, it would have been in LA's place. That was when Hollywood was the small industry and automobile were driving the economy. Now, while the situation isn't actually reversed in terms of overall economic activity, it seems to be reversed in terms of profits and in prospects for future growth. The main cultural export of Detroit, Fordism, stipulated that high wages and strong unions were the way to go. Economics and globalization have undermined this so completely that Detroit has become a ruined, hollowed-out shell of a city despite no military invasion or natural disaster wrecking the place. It is a testament to bad economics becoming a way of life.

And there you have it. I might add more to the (dis)honorable mentions later.