cosmopoleis

Thus the work of Milligan and others invites us to reëxamine familiar material from the ancient world with an eye to possible differences in the construction of sexuality between the cosmopoleis, such as imperial Rome, Ptolemaic Alexandria, and late imperial Antioch, and other social formations, and with attention to variations in economic organization that may differentiate ancient cities from one another as well as from their hinterlands.

1997, Thomas N. Habinek, Alessandro Schiesaro, The Roman Cultural Revolution, page 25

2004: Anthony Reid, Batson Lecture: Singapore between Cosmopolis and Nation, “Abstract” & “Pre-colonial cosmopoleis” & “Straits Settlements to Malaysia / Singapore” Seen from this perspective, the anomaly may be the twentieth century, with its attempt to impose an alien concept of ‘nation’ on the cosmopoleis which had taken root there. The Thai-ruled cosmopoleis in the northern half of the peninsula were also known for their intense variety of trading groups. The story is well known of how ideas of race and nation made their impact on these extremely diverse cosmopoleis in the 20ᵗʰ century.