Big empire = big capital?

>>53464446
Usually. Although with the Roman Empire for example, the capital was moved to the smaller city of Ravenna during the later days and I think Constantinople was already as large if not larger than Rome by the time of Constantine.

>>53464465
This.

A good modern equivalent would be how the US are a pretty big country with hundreds of millions in it, but New York has more people in 'er than Washington.

> Big empire = big capital?
Generally yes, unless it gets moved to somewhere small intentionally. Otherwise, people from all over the empire will flock there because that is where the important movers and shakers probably are, and thus where the wealth tends to concentrate. You'll get people coming in from far and wide attempting to influence the most powerful figures of the empire or to benefit from their patronage.

>>53464465
Ravenna was an example of a capital of a shrinking empire. What actually happened there was arguably less important than what happened in the field headquarters of the more prominent generals. The imperial court in Ravenna was isolated and often times completely divorced from reality.

But then doesn't exactly fit OP's point, just because Washington isn't the biggest city, doesn't mean it's not a big city.

Two possibilities to a big empire/small(ish) capital paradigm: capital is a sacred place; capital has been appointed specifically by the bigger powers inside the empire to be a form of weak, powerless neutral ground.

Could be both too.

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>>53464446
Not necessarily.

>>53464608
True. I've heard that Ravenna was chosen because it was located in a swampy region of Italy which made it easier to defend and harsher on any who would besiege it.

>>53464446
I like the Imperial captial in LoGH, not having any buildings taller than the palace, trees and open spaces.

>>53464669
Their capital was massive, anon.

>>53464446
empires grow to be empires, so it makes sense that City with more capital becomes the capitol.

But what prevents other large cities from being the capitol is simply government buildings. and official organization.

Thats it.

>>53464669
The Mongol Empire grew so rapidly that Karakorum didn't really have much time to grow. It started to under Ogedei, but the capital was soon moved out and Karakorum went back to being a podunk town in the middle of nowhere.

>>53464446
Sometimes.

Depends on why that particular city is the capital.
If it's the traditional seat of power of the empire's royal family, or perhaps the city-state the empire grew out of, then it is reasonable for the city to be very big. If nothing else, just the size of an imperial administration and everything associated with that amounts to a fair amount of people.
Rome is an obvious example, though it wasn't always the capital.

But if the city is intentionally chosen for some characteristics other than its size and history, or may even have been especially built to serve as the capital, it may be of smaller size. Sometimes capitals are chosen for political reasons, like a compromise between other options. Think Washington DC, or Canberra.

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nah

>mfw this is still bigger than the largest city in my state