Royal Karka

The cities of the ancient world were situated where resources were plentiful and could be defended. River crossings, ports and natural trade routes were ideal locations for large populations to arise. Cities developed over long periods of time, often incorporating the architecture of earlier civilisations. In 305BC, the city of Seleucia vastly expanded an existing town on the west bank of the Tigris River. In the centuries that followed it came to rival the great Hellenic cities in magnificence. Often, planned expansion was limited to high-status quarters of the city: palaces, temples and public areas. Everyone else squeezed into the available space within the walls. This led to magnificent buildings being only a stone's throw from squalid slums.