CIVILIZATIONS FULL DOCS!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Civilizations appeared as agriculture and technology developed
to the point where humankind could gather and live in cities. With only
part of the population needed to provide food for all, the rest could
afford to specialize in the tool making, trading, engineering, and
managing that urbanization made possible. Specialization improved
efficiency and production. Cities also encouraged a rapid exchange of
ideas. A teacher could reach many students at once, not just a few.

City residents cultivated the nearby fields, logged the forests,
and gathered fish from the rivers, returning each night with the result
of their labors. This produce and raw material was bartered in the city
markets for the goods and services of others. Charcoal from one area and
iron ore from another might be taken to the town smelter who made the
iron that the blacksmith turned into tools.

But cities developed unique problems. As they grew in size it
became more difficult to provide sufficient food from nearby farmland.
Overcrowding, menial jobs, and living conditions often led to unrest
among the poorer citizens. Prosperous cities became tempting targets for
rival civilization and barbarians invaders. Cities and civilizations
that developed better management and new solutions to these problems
grew and prospered. Those that failed have left their ruins around the
world as warnings.

In CIVILIZATION, as in history, a key step and a fundamental
concept is the founding and management of cities. The civilization that
you are about to rule begins as a prehistoric wandering tribe that has
... Далее >>