What is town-city?
What is town-city?

I googled the word and looked it up in the dictionary. The result ddin't appear.

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The city of Pompeii is a partially buried Roman town-city near modern Naples in the Italian region of Campania, in the territory of the comune of Pompei. Along with Herculaneum, Pompeii was partially destroyed and buried under 4 to 6 m (13 to 20 ft) of ash and pumice in the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD 79.

Question

What is town-city?
What is town-city?

I googled the word and looked it up in the dictionary. The result ddin't appear.

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The city of Pompeii is a partially buried Roman town-city near modern Naples in the Italian region of Campania, in the territory of the comune of Pompei. Along with Herculaneum, Pompeii was partially destroyed and buried under 4 to 6 m (13 to 20 ft) of ash and pumice in the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD 79.

Answer

When Pompeii came under Roman rule in 80 B.C. it was a town and not yet a city.  By the time it was destroyed 160 years later it had developed into a city.  Hence "town-city" if you are surveying its entire Roman history.

A town is larger than a village and smaller than a city.

Answer

I'm not sure in this case! Maybe they're trying to say that it's a little too big to be considered a town, but a little too small to be a city???