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by bombcar 46 days ago
Venice was a hotbed of political intrigue in the olden days and had half the population of NZ.
2 comments

I suppose. Although if NZ manages the sort of vigour and industry of Venice back in the day I am going to move there.
It's amazing reading history, about a huge city that totally affected the course of a major war, manufacturing and logistics hub - open it up and look inside: "Population 10,000."

Roman Army at it's peak: 450,000 men.

Walmart: 2.1 million

(Cue reddit arguments about Roman Army vs Walmart)

> Roman Army at it's peak: 450,000 men.

Plague of Justinian: A handful of rats (initially).

I don't think the republic of Venice ever had 2 million people, what time period are you referring to?
Wikipedia reports it peaked at 2.5m - "16th century estimate".