Throughout history, creators have sought ways and means by which they could realise value for their creations. Such people would seek out trading posts where people from different regions converged to sell their wares. For instance, the city of Kyiv was a very important trading post on the Silk Road that connected Persian traders with European traders.
For those who were left without the possibility of finding mates in their villages, these were great places to try their hand at finding both work and mates. This convergence at such trading posts gave birth to cities.
Cities are also a great vector for the spread of viruses.
In 1346, a bacterium called Yersinia Pestis started spreading across Europe. Over the next seven years, Europe saw the largest outbreak of Bubonic Plague or the Black Death, as it was known. It is estimated that between 75 million and 220 million people died. The global population at the time is estimated to be 443 million. The global human population was reduced by between 20% to 50% depending on the estimate you pick.
Venice had become incredibly wealthy at the time thanks to the slave trade from Europe to Persia. Have you heard of the Slavs?
Dubrovnik was under Venetian rule at the time. To keep the disease from spreading, the city of Dubrovnik declared that the ships and people arriving at their ports had to be isolated for 40 days before entering the city. 2
At the time, in the Venetian dialect, 40 days was referred to as ‘quaranta giorni’. This gave birth to the word Quarantine.