Which is your favorite civ historically?

[Xen]

Originally posted by erez87
minoan civilization was not less terrible. takign 14 young men and women to be eaten by a monster in a labirnth... yack!

somehow I get the feeling that the tale about the part man, part bull minotaur is a little less then true

 

[Jawz II]

i havent heard about the minoan civilization,ever

and i consider myself pretty well educated...

i dont mean to start a flame war or anything,but im guessing minoans were peaceful

thats prolly why not many people have heard of them

let me guess,they got wiped out by their warmongering,bloodthirsty,stoopd neighbours?

evolution is slow,genocide usually is not


one of the premises for being counted as a great current or former civ is how much land a certain civ controlled,for how long,military might etc

how do you think the US of A got to wheres its at now?
indian land,african slave labour and european capital + know how!

2/3 of that was taken by force

lets hope were smart enough to not start ww3 just yet

i wanna live until im 50 at least


ps.i thought the greeks were the ones with the minotaour/laborynth thing as a part of their mythology?

oh well ancient cultures and anthropology arent my biggest interests

 

[LouLong]

For us, looking backwards, they are Greeks but before Greece became one culture it was diverse (if only because of the different invasion waves) and larger powers shifted along time.

Minoans were the first. From Kreta and their city-palaces they ruled over the Aegean sea and it is likely they imposed a tribute on Greek cities there (hence the legend of the 14 young people to be sent by Athenes each year, probably as slaves, rather than as Minotaur-meat .
There is a say that the explosion of the volcanoe of Thera (Santorini) caused a large tsunami that is lrgely responsible for Kreta's decline. Later they were only famous for piracy. 2000 - 1425 BC. Actually in 1425 the Knossos palace is burnt during a rebellion against the new Mycenian masters.

The next step is Mycenia, and represents the power of the Acheans (new comers and fairly different ethnically from the dark, curled hair Kretans). They are the ones who raged war against Troy. They are considered the first Greeks and are called Ionians (1850-1200 BC).

The next invasion was made by the Dorians who pushed Ionians into the sea (many settled across the sea in Asia Minor, an area that would be later known as Ionia) or into small areas (Attica around Athenes. Dorians mostly settled Peloponessos and crossed the sea to Kreta and Rhodes. This ethnic fights were remembered by Thucydides as one of the reasons of the bitter hatred between Sparta and Athenes.

After that appeared slowly the city-state concept and Greece entered the historical stage.

 

[Dr. Broom]

Originally posted by Trip
All you have to do now is learn how to spell it.

Actually both Habsburg and Hapsburg are correct spellings.

 

[dafunk]

the greeks romans and babylonians are all cool

egyptians seem boring to me...along with all the asian civs

 

[ArmPilot]

Egyptians did have some intersting aspects. I like most asians civs, especially Mongols. They had the largest empire in the history of the world. spread from China to hungray, siberia to india. After Chingis Khan (not Gengis Khan as many people think) died on the way to conquer china the Mongolian empire started to break apart into "Khanates". Khubilai Khan was the last great Mongol ruler. Tamerlane (original name was Tamer The Lame) was also a strong leader. The Mongolian Empire lasted longer then most people think. Even tho it wasn't whole the last Khanate, Khanate of the Crimean Tartars,was anexxed by Russia in 1783.

 

[Lunacy]

Originally posted by reddleman
I have to agree with those who have said it before, Rome was the ultimate civilization. What continues to fascinate me was the technology they had back then. There was one guy I saw a special on once (gotta love the Discovery channel ) who was something of the Roman equivalent of Thomas Edison... He invented all kinds of things, including the vending machine. I sometimes find myself wondering where we would be now had we not lost 1,000 years after the fall of Rome... and how far will the world backslide when our civilization collapses?

Yeap. I think in our modern age we tend to think our cultures will be around forever but time tends to indicate otherwise. With that in mind you have to admire a civilization like that of Rome which lasted for thousands of years and if you look at it closely - didn't really FALL - rather it changed and evolved into a number of the civs which go on to this day.

I've always like Rome and Ancient Egypt. Egypt because of the mystical foundation their empire had - cool mythology, rather unique view of the afterlife, mummies, all those felines (gotta love the felines ;-) and the rights they afforded women. Women in ancient Egypt enjoyed rights they wouldn't again have 'til the modern era. Rome because of their world view. Mind you - this may sound funny or a bit despotic at first considering they were bloody conquerors but if you look at the big picture - in the type of world Rome evolved it was either conquer or be conquered. I think the Romans stood out and were able to create the massive empire they did not just because they were bloody conquerors but because they also had vision. Once they conquered they usually tried to bring peace to the areas - they built improvements, roads. Unlike most of our modern religions, they were incredibly accepting of other religions sometimes embracing foreign gods and practices. They insisted that conquered people recognize their emperors as gods but beyond that people were allowed to worship their own dieties. Rome had some crazy, murderous emperors but when they had quality leadership they did some incredible things. I think it says something that quite often there were even more people trying to become part of the Roman Empire than were running from them.

I also admire the Chinese people and their ancient empires. I find it amusing when looking at documentaries about western inventions that quite often it's noted that the Chinese had a similar thing a thousand years earlier ;-)

Lunacy

 

[The Commander]

Originally posted by Lunacy

I also admire the Chinese people and their ancient empires. I find it amusing when looking at documentaries about western inventions that quite often it's noted that the Chinese had a similar thing a thousand years earlier ;-)

Yeah, the Chinese have managed to keep their civilization together through all sorts of rebellions and dyanstic wars, invasions etc. pretty impressive, really. The thing is they might have come up with gunpowder earlier, but they mostly used it for firecrackers to ward off evil spirits, or to set off in battle to confuse the enemy, the closest they ever got to practical weapons was a rock in bamboo launched by gunpowder, it was the Europeans who came up with the more effective use of gunpowder.

Though didn't the Chinese come up with the compass
super-early? That's one where they were ahead of the westerners.

 

[the_corvos]

My favorite civilization is the Greeks because of their contributions to the world. After the Greeks comes the Romans, the English, and the Germans. The latter two have had perhaps more scientists and thinkers than any other civs. The Japanese civilization is after those that I just listed. Of course, America is a great civilization, but it is quite young. Also, China is a great civilization, especially if they really did discover America first (although we may never know). Honorable mentions are Russia, Egypt, Maya, and Aztec. Anyway, here is my top five:
1. Greeks
2. Romans
3. English
4. Germans
5. Japanese

 

[civilleader]

India,India,India,India,India,India,India,India,India,India,India,India,India,India,India,India,India,India,India,India,India,India,India,India,India,India,India,India,India,India,India,India,India,India,India,India,India,India,India,India,India,India,India,India,India,India,India,India,India,India,India,India,India,India,India,India,India.

Oh and did I mention India?



Bharat mata ki jay!

(long live mother India)

 

[Jawz II]

yeah indians are cool

i specially like the war paint...!

GERONIMO!!

 

[Zydiax]

Vikings. Im interested in their religion,
and also because im Scandinavian .

The Egyptians are cool, i like their gods.

And India and Japan. Hm.