Through the lens of the Variae, official letters written by Cassiodorus on behalf of the Ostrogothic ruler, Theoderic, and his successors, Chapter 4 examines the concerted attempts of a ‘barbarian’ regime which took the place of Roman emperors to preserve the traditions of Roman imperial rule and support the fabric and traditions of city life. Rather than either a sham or futile nostalgia, the letters are read as an exercise in bridge-building between Roman traditions and new political realities. The emphasis placed on cities is embodied in the ideal of civilitas, based on the rule of law, city life, and a mutual respect between Roman and Goth. While betraying both the strains of urban life and the decay of much urban fabric, Cassiodorus offers a vision of the ‘modern’ based on respect for and imitation of antiquity.

The School of Advanced Studies (SAS) is a liberal arts school within the University of Tyumen in Russia. Founded with financial support from a national excellence strategy, SAS models individualized learning and different ways of managing an institution. Its activites have already influenced the larger regional institution and attracting attention from other national universities. SAS also challenged the conventional view of the university’s role in preparing graduates for specific vocations, balancing that with a desire to be engaged with the region, its enterprises, and its government.

The perspective of the Greek historian Procopius, narrating the campaigns under Justinian in the East, North Africa, and Italy, proves to coincide with that of Cassiodorus. Procopius’ world is one of cities, with the exception of barbarian zones, which are city free. In Persia, Africa, and Italy was is fought over cities in a series of sieges. Adversaries are judged on their appreciation of critical elements of cities. The Persian Chosroes sacks Roman cities, but builds his own. The Vandals in Africa are sharply criticised for their demolition of city walls, which proves their military undoing. The Goths in Italy have a varied record: Theoderic is given credit for the sort of respect for Roman law, tradition, and city fabric which Cassiodorus documents, but his last successors, especially Totila, earn criticism, and ultimately defeat, for demolishing city walls.

While the focus of preceding chapters has been on written sources, this chapter looks at the archaeologicy of cities as evidence for underlying ideas. The old model of the disintegration of a city of straight lines into tangled suqs is hard to reconcile with the evidence. New cities continue to be built through Late Antiquity, with the model set by Constantinople. Far from indicating the grid as the ideal, it is based on Rome itself, a notably non-gridded city. Despite contrasts of terrain, Constantinople competes with old Rome wherever possible. Justinian was responsible for a series of new cities, as Procopius claims, for which we have the advantage of good archaeological studies. If there is a model for these, it is Constantinople itself. Visigothic Reccopolis follows the same pattern. Exceptional among these new cities is the Umayyad foundation of ‘Anjar, outstanding as the most mathematical grid plan since antiquity; the model seems to be in Roman forts. Finally, Charlemagne’s Aachen is examined; though a palace rather than a city, contemporary court poets celebrate it as a New Rome.

Qatar University (QU) in Doha, Qatar, was founded as a public institution whose purpose was to provide higher education to the academically talented students from the country. After several decades, the institution sought to pursue international standards of excellence, hiring international faculty and offering courses in English. However, a course correction led the institution back towards its original purpose and a desire to strengthen national identity and values.

The eight very different higher education institutions define excellence in ways that make sense to the people they serve and reflect the demands of culture and place. They are places that have looked for and pursue a clear sense of purpose and where institutional behavior aligns with stated values and goals. These portraits offer insights into the ways institutions can create cultures of excellence without slavishly following the norms and metrics celbrated by international ranking schemes. They also show policymakers that concentrating resources on a few institutions is not the only way to lift quality and strengthen a national system.