Since posting the story about Alexandria’s underwater ruins this morning, I’ve been haunted by these lines from Der Spiegel: “These are all relics of a city full of deep contradictions. Alexandria produced some of the most advanced technology of its day … But as advanced as it was in some respects, life in this ancient city, spoiled and given to the pleasures of the flesh, lacked inner strength.”

Is there a city in Europe or North America that can escape this judgment?