most important city the world has known?

[muy_thaiguy]

Rome/Vatican Ciy. For centuries it was the center of one of the most powerful and influential empires the world has ever known, and for centuries more was the center of all Christendom.

[army of nobunaga]

New York,Rome,Alexandia,London,Paris,Athens,Jerusalem,moscow and the list goes on ,what in your opinion is the most important city we have ever known that has shaped the the way the world works?its a pretty hard question,so a city and a reason please?i will go for alexandria at the moment,it bridged east and west,brought the best minds in the world together,so name your city and give a reason,think this could be intresting to see what people think

waterloo. It was the place of the only possible last great stand against an empire.

Im not sure If I can place a more important city on terms of how much the course of modern history changed from there.

Maybe Rome. If Rome had not have conquered and pacified europe and forced cilization on the germanic tribes and vikings and such things would probably be much diff today.

[Juan_Bottom]

Tokyo?
Beijing?
New Dehli?
Anyone vote for one that isn't founded by Anglo-Saxons?

[army of nobunaga]

I cant vote for it unless its existence has changed world history... dont think any of those would count. I could maybe go with tokyo for its computer and engine innovation, well no I couldnt because there are as many other japanese citys that did that too. No.. Nope... maybe whatever city budda was from? But other than that, not sure I could pick an eastern city.

[jefjef]

I still say D.C.

But I am surprised London hadn't been solidly mentioned.

[Juan_Bottom]

Each one of those cities has existed for hundreds (thousands?) of years in control by the very people who founded them. Each changed world history in ways you might not predict.
Gunpowder for instance.

[army of nobunaga]

well we are talking citys man.. not a country... take bejing out, we would still have gunpowder. Unles syou know the exact city it was invented in (no one does) then you really cant pick one for that reason.

[notyou2]

It was invented in the city of Gung Pow Duh in the province of Hung Do in the 5th century AD.

The inventor was a graduate of McGill

[saxitoxin]

+1 on Waterloo

Saxi's nomination:

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia ... birthplace of the human species

[Army of GOD]

My top 3:

1. Rome
2. Jerusalem
3. New York City

[Phatscotty]

Tokyo?
Beijing?
New Dehli?
Anyone vote for one that isn't founded by Anglo-Saxons?

not in an audience of mostly anglo saxons....

[muy_thaiguy]

Tokyo?
Beijing?
New Dehli?
Anyone vote for one that isn't founded by Anglo-Saxons?

You do realize that the Anglos and Saxons came from Scandinavia, and in such had little to no bearing on Jerusalem, Athens, Rome, Alexandria, and other aforementioned cities?

[Juan_Bottom]

We are talking an era where the capitol city was the lifeblood of a nation. Capture it and you've conquered the nation.
Naturally I can't argue that someone wouldn't have created Gunpowder somewhere in the world without the Chinese.

So my only point relies on the Ruling Class of the Chinese Creating a society where ideas could be created and thrive. And they did so, hundreds of years before other cultures. The Chinese may have had Gunpowder in 800 AD and yet the Japanese didn't get it until the 1500s from the Portuguese.
Well ok, maybe not exactly "thrive" since Gunpowder didn't save them from the Mongols.

They also created the printing press!


Another city to be considered is Stalingrad. Simply because Hitler lost the war there.... and Stalin offered Hitler peace after turning him back from Stalingrad, but Hitler refused. This could be a starkly different world today.

It was invented in the city of Gung Pow Duh in the province of Hung Do in the 5th century AD.

I too, thought that it was unknown? Other than the McGill part I mean?

not in an audience of mostly anglo saxons....

So Madrid is out huh? So is Havana? (they gave the Middle Finger to D.C.)

You do realize that the Anglos and Saxons came from Scandinavia, and in such had little to no bearing on Jerusalem, Athens, Rome, Alexandria, and other aforementioned cities?

Am I wrong that Anglo-Saxon has become a generalized term for people of White Ancestry, instead of calling them Caucasian which is an even more encompassing term that is even used sometimes to include the Spanish? It's a gaming site on the internet, let's not get out the DNA helix's just yet, ok?

[Army of GOD]

I'd go with Kyoto before Tokyo.

I'm also not sure about Beijing or New Delhi because I don't think they were the capitals for very long and both India and China have very rich and diverse histories.

[muy_thaiguy]

Am I wrong that Anglo-Saxon has become a generalized term for people of White Ancestry

Basically, yes. As that pretty much implies they are of British or Scandinavian descent. There are also a lot of people with Celtic descent, especially in the US due to the high amount of Irish immigration, particularly during the Potatoe Famine.

instead of calling them Caucasian which is an even more encompassing term that is even used sometimes to include the Spanish?

Caucasian implies that a particular person is of European descent, and not tribe/people specific. That is a huge difference.

It's a gaming site on the internet, let's not get out the DNA helix's just yet, ok?

It may be a gaming site, but this particular forum is for subjects that are non-related to CC in the first place.

[tzor]

You know, I go to college at said local engineering school...

You must have gone there or know someone else who does, because no one outside Troy knows that stuff.

Class of '83 - Physics

Click image to enlarge.

[InkL0sed]

well we are talking citys man.. not a country... take bejing out, we would still have gunpowder. Unles syou know the exact city it was invented in (no one does) then you really cant pick one for that reason.

Take the city/town of Waterloo out, and you still have a defeated Napoleon.

[Army of GOD]

You know, I go to college at said local engineering school...

You must have gone there or know someone else who does, because no one outside Troy knows that stuff.

[/quote]

I know like 50 people that go/went there (including my broha) and I had no idea about any of that stuff.

How about a bit north of Troy: Saratoga?

"Battle of Saratoga"

Invention of the Potato Chip

Something else that I can't think of right now.

[army of nobunaga]

dont think so, the rivers and hills and farm resources, all played a role in the battlefield. Without this battlefield and napoleon able to use his famed shock troops, I think he would have beaten the british before the Prussian army could reinforce them and aid in a flank.

I believe napoleon would have ran through the british and the prussians would have staged a withdrawal. But I dunno, maybe you are right.


From the Wiki gods
"The Waterloo position was a strong one. It consisted of a long ridge running east – west, perpendicular to, and bisected by, the main road to Brussels. Along the crest of the ridge ran the Ohain road, a deep sunken lane. Near the crossroads with the Brussels road was a large elm tree that was roughly in the centre of Wellington's position and served as his command post for much of the day. Wellington deployed his infantry in a line just behind the crest of the ridge following the Ohain road. Using the reverse slope, as he had many times previously, nowhere could Wellington's strength actually be seen by the French except for his skirmishers and artillery.[22] The length of front of the battlefield was also relatively short at two and a half miles (4 km). This allowed Wellington to draw up his forces in depth, which he did in the centre and on the right, all the way towards the village of Braine-l'Alleud, in the expectation that the Prussians would reinforce his left during the day.[23]"

[saxitoxin]

"If I made one mistake in my life, I should have burned Berlin!"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z0LuHqLLgbQ

I still love this scene from the film when Generalfeldmarschall von Blücher - who was Saxi's age now at Waterloo - orders the Prussian cavalry to "raise high the black flags!"

[thegreekdog]

Yeah, f*ck that shit. Greeks are not Anglo-Saxons.

[tzor]

How about a bit north of Troy: Saratoga?

"Battle of Saratoga"

I remember an old story that almost seemed like a joke. (I use it a lot when making arguments in role playing forums because a lot of people think firearms was the great killer of all things medieval.) During one recreation of the battle a small child complained that while there was a lot of shooting going on, very few people were dying. Most people forget how inaccurate those muskets were on the field of battle, the effectiveness was based on their being used in large numbers and that even a simple wound like broken bones could lead to gangrene and death.

But let us not go North, but West. (To see the elephant? No, but something greater.) And the city of Cohes anbd the Cohoes Falls.

Click image to enlarge.

Heard about it all the time, but it took me 26 years after my graduation to actually visit the spot.

Cohoes Falls is a waterfall on the Mohawk River shared by the city of Cohoes and the town of Waterford, New York, United States. Discovered by the indigenous Mohawk tribe, the falls were originally called Ga-ha-oose, which is believed to mean "The Place of the Falling Canoe." Cohoes historian Arthur Masten wrote in his 1880 history that the phrase might mean "Potholes in the River," referring to the potholes that appear in the riverbed when it is dry. In the oral tradition of the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois), the Cohoes Falls are the site where The Great Peacemaker, also known as Deganawida, performed a feat of supernatural strength, convincing the Mohawk people to become the founders of the Iroquois League of Nations or Confederacy. Some historians believe the Mohawks launched the Confederacy as early as 1142 CE, though other experts report dates ranging from 1450-1650.

Engraving of the Cohoes Falls in 1778, one of the earliest images of the falls.Celebrated by 18th century travelers in letters and journals, the Cohoes Falls, also called The Great Falls of the Mohawk, were regarded as the second most beautiful cataract in New York State after Niagara. In 1804, the national poet of Ireland, Thomas Moore, visited Cohoes and wrote a paean to the waterfall's beauty: "Lines Written at the Cohos (sic), or Falls of the Mohawk River."

[jefjef]

Yeah, f*ck that shit. Greeks are not Anglo-Saxons.

Aren't Greeks actually Italians?

[AndyDufresne]

Whichever "camp" of the rural migration group of Homo erectus that first invented fire. Camps are not quite cities, but you get the idea.


--Andy

[DAZMCFC]

Babylon, without which we wouldn't have the cool name Nebuchadnezzar

...or Boney M would not of had a hit with By the rivers of Babylon.