>City somehow becomes a center of trade >Wealth starts

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>City somehow becomes a center of trade
>Wealth starts to accumulate within the city as a result of trade
>As the city becomes more and more wealthy, its neighbors become more envious
>The city becomes the target of barbarian raids, as well as attacks by neighboring cities
>The city is forced to form an army to defend itself
>Eventually, the city decides to use this army not just to defend, but also to pillage and dominate other cities, justifying it as a form of pre-emptive self-defense
>Eventually, the city ends of controlling a substantial area of land through its army
>Now the city wants to trade with other people who are further away
>It starts building a merchant fleet
>Pirates start attacking the merchant vessels, the city is forced to build a navy for defense.
>Once the pirates are gone, a use must be found for the navy.
>The navy is then used to prey on the ships of rival cities and control trade routes.
Eventually, the navy is used to transport the army to rival cities and fuck them up
>The city now dominates the entire surrounding area

Is this how an empire forms?