Imperial cities shape faith, and faiths.
Empires shape religions, whether by spreading faiths, or particular forms of belief and practice. Much of that critical work occurs in the great cities that empires usually (not always) develop. Empires generally need capitals, seats of royal authority, and hubs of military and bureaucratic power. Those cities quite rapidly become very populous, and economically critical. We think of Babylon and Baghdad, London and Paris. Often too, empires develop very sizable and powerful cities that are great regional capitals. In each case, all such cities attract diverse migration, so that cultures and ways of thought interact in ways they could not have done if individual societies had remained isolated from each other. Those interactions are crucial to religious development. In the Western tradition, Rome is of course the best-known example of this. Rome early became a very influential center of the emerging church and a magnet for Christian thinkers from around the enormous empire. In the 130sA...