Memphis and Nashville

Both cities claimed antiquity.  Florence was the birthplace of humanism, and the fastest to erect the neoclassical edifices and impossible bronzes which made it feel like a new Rome.  Yet how could Florence be a new Rome when Rome was only a few days’ rides away?  Renaissance Rome profited from humanism, gaining international esteem, and controlling the lion’s share of Italian antiquities.  Even Petrarch had confirmed the supremacy of the eternal city by choosing to be crowned poet laureate in Rome.

 The Vatican’s wealth and prestige made it easy for Rome to hire away the best of Florence’s artists and scholars—or demand their services with threats if need be—so Rome grew grander and more classical with every Florentine innovation.