Or that Angkor, which reached its height around A.D.
I had no idea, for instance, that the Roman emperor Titus, after touring the smoking ruins of Pompeii, initiated a massive and surprisingly modern-seeming project to relocate thousands of survivors to other parts of the empire. They still have their charm and their surprises, these sections. The chapters on Pompeii, the volcano-buried city in the orbit of ancient Rome, famous for its exquisitely preserved ruins, its brothels and taverns and graffiti, and on Angkor, a metropolis of medieval Cambodia, didn’t fire my imagination so much, perhaps because I already knew something of their histories. As with most any guidebook, I found myself drawn to some sites more than others. The book functions as a travel guide to places that no longer exist. Though Annalee Newitz began work on “Four Lost Cities” long before the Covid-19 pandemic, it’s impossible to read it today without periodic is-this-where-we’re-headed? musings. Idea factories as they are, they would seem to hold the keys to that future, yet at the same time they suddenly seem shockingly vulnerable. And the crises are focusing particular attention on our cities. Navigating the pools of disinformation and ignorance makes one actually fear for the future of the human race. I don’t know about you, but I find myself, throughout this long slog of pandemic-plus-political turmoil, alternating between feelings of warmth and camaraderie for my fellow human beings - it is so heartening to see millions pulling together in an urgent situation - and periods of wanting to punch people’s lights out.
A Secret History of the Urban Age By Annalee Newitz
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