CHARLEMAGNE DIDN'T RULE THE HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE WHICH ISNT HOLY OR ROMAN OR AN EMPIRE WASHINGTON BOUDICA AND HANNIBAL WERE MILITARY LEADERS NOT POLITICAL ONES GANDHI WAS JUST A HUMANITARIAN THE BYZANTINE EMPIRE IS REALLY ROME THE OTTOMANS SHOULD BE THE TURKS INCA AND ETHOPIA AND PORTUGAL NEVER MATTERED AND DONT DESERVE INCLUSION THE VIKINGS AND AZTECS AND NATIVE AMERICANS WERENT ACTUAL CIVILIZATIONS RAGNAR AND GILGAMESH WERENT REAL BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW
Debate for pages on end about those or add your own that I missed
1. The Holy Roman Empire was based on the partition of the Frankish Empire--which Charlemagne ruled--in 843 by the Treaty of Verdun. Although Charlemagne never ruled the H.R.E., he was an extremely emperor of the Frankish Kingdom, so traditionally he is considered its first ruler. Stop complaining.
2. The H.R.E. was a collection of kingdoms that varied in size and influence during its history. Although not technically a civilization by strict standards, it was an influential political entity. The aforementioned quote by Voltaire was made during the later days of the Empire's lifespan. By that time, the Empire had become an ineffectual and the position of emperor largely ceremonial. Stop complaining.
3. Washington is often considered one of the most influential Presidents not only due to his military leadership, but also to the precedents he set in office as the first president. Stop complaining.
4. Boudica, Hannibal, and Gandhi were not political leaders, but they were influential people. The developers of Civilization like to take a loose interpretation of history. Big Whoop.
5. The Byzantine Empire was not Roman. The Roman Empire had a Latin West and a Greek East. After the Latin West fell, the Eastern Empire began to develop as a very distinct political, cultural, and religious entity.
6. Ottoman and Turkish are interchangeable and both valid.
7. The Incan, Ethiopian, and Portuguese Empires mattered to differing degrees. They were probably included in order to emphasize the diversity of human civilization.
8. The Vikings, Aztecs, Native Americans, Arabs, Celts, etc. may not have been singular political entities, but to varying degrees they did share a common culture (less so in the case of the Native Americans).
9. Ragnar and Gilgamesh were actual leaders though heavily mythologized and obscured by history. Very little about their respective reigns is known.
Please stop crying.
