Aristotle had the idea that the ideal-sized state is one that's encompassed in the range of the town-crier's voice. He came to this conclusion coz he knew vast kingdoms controlled by an inaccessible few would inevitably lead to despots abusing power, which he considered the worst form of government.

I'm going to use this in The Refuser. Thanks for sharing.

Only problem is it make take the collapse of civilization to ever get back to that point.

Yep. Centralized power will never give their power up by choice.