‘Cities’ reveals common ground between ancient and modern urban life
A new book chronicles 6,000 years of metropolitan history
By Bruce Bower
Cities
Monica L. Smith
Viking, $30
Ancient Rome’s Monte Testaccio and modern Tokyo’s Tsukiji fish market reveal a lot about the nature of cities. Monte Testaccio is a hill made of broken pottery in the middle of Rome. Around 2,000 years ago, people tossed empty wine and olive oil vessels onto what was then a garbage heap. Tokyo’s vast seafood emporium, also known as Toyosu Market, includes passageways where forklifts deposit and remove containers of every sea creature imaginable, as chefs and home cooks bid for the day’s catch.