History School.

[Hawk]

(This thread is dedicated to teaching people about civilizations of history, and is strictly limited to discussing history, culture and civilizations. It discusses the civilizations in the game Civilization V, but does not discuss the game, or any other game based on history. Please remain on topic, and treat others respectfully. This thread is a work in progress, and may not have much information now, but there will be plenty of information over time. We hope you enjoy learning and participating here at the History School!)

Welcome to the History School!

Enrollment is free, just follow our educational posts and ask questions.


Our unofficial history teachers: (Anyone interested in joining the ranks of unofficial history teachers, please send me a message. We prefer members of at least "Senior Member" rank, but I can make exceptions)
Hawk
MARDUK
Shiav
PachaMinnie
Incinerator
Pouakai
Vito_Lucente
tfordp
SlickSlicer
AessaSH

- Please feel free to ask us questions! We also welcome critics to proof read the information, because we want it to be historically accurate.


We will be teaching about many civilizations throughout history, and we hope to make learning about these civs an enjoyable experience. First we will be focusing on the ones that are in the game, but the list will grow, and we will include all those obscure civs, so you will be sure to learn something even if you are already well versed in history. (We abbreviate "civilizations" as "civs") To make it easier, I've highlighted and coloured the civs we have some info on, so you can see which ones you can learn about right now.

Here's our list of civs:

Civilization V civs:
America
Arabia
Assyria
Austria (and Hungary)
Aztec
Babylon
Brazil
Byzantium
Carthage (and Phoenicia)
Celts
China http://forums.2kgames.com/showthread...-School./page3
Denmark
Egypt
England (Britain)
Ethiopia
France
Germany
Greece
Huns
Incas
India
Iroquois/Haudenosaunee http://forums.2kgames.com/showthread...y-School/page3
Japan
Korea
Maya
Mongolia
Netherlands
Ottoman
Persia (also discussing Media)
Poland (also discussing Lithuania) http://forums.2kgames.com/showthread...y-School/page2
Polynesia http://forums.2kgames.com/showthread...y-School/page2
Rome
Russia (also discussing Ukraine)
Siam
Songhai (also discussing Mali)
Spain
Sweden

(Not in the game, but also being discussed...)
Aborigines/Koori http://forums.2kgames.com/showthread...y-School/page3
Bulgaria
Cahokia/Mississippi
Canada http://forums.2kgames.com/showthread...y-School/page3
Dacia
Harappan/Indus Valley Civilization
Hittites
Illyria http://forums.2kgames.com/showthread...-School./page2
Inuit http://forums.2kgames.com/showthread...y-School/page4
Israel/Hebrews
Javanese (including Majapahit) http://forums.2kgames.com/showthread...y-School/page3
Khazars
Kongo
Macedonia http://forums.2kgames.com/showthread...-School./page2
Morocco
Nok
Nubia/Kush
Portugal
Pueblo
Romani/Gypsies http://forums.2kgames.com/showthread...60#post1584260
Seleucid Empire http://forums.2kgames.com/showthread...-School./page3
Sioux
Sumer
Scythia http://forums.2kgames.com/showthread...-School./page2
Thrace http://forums.2kgames.com/showthread...-School./page2
Zimbabwe
Zulu

- There will also be posts just for the World Wars, and some post for famous people of history.
WW1 http://forums.2kgames.com/showthread...-School./page2
WW2
Cold War


*This list of civilizations will later be turned into an Index to where the posts on each civ are located in the thread.
**We will shortly be setting up posts for each civilization. Thank you for your patience!
***Educational posts may start small, but will be added to over time, as there is a lot of information to cover.


"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it" - George Santayana.

[Hawk]

Egypt

Class teacher: MARDUK


Few civilizations have left such an indelible mark on history as that of Egypt. Living astride the mighty Nile River for some 5,000 years, Egypt is one of the oldest surviving civilizations on the planet. Among many other firsts, Egypt is credited with the invention of writing around 3000 BC. Using sophisticated mathematics, Egyptian scholars plotted the movement of the planets with great precision. And of course, the Egyptians were the ancient world's greatest architects, creating monuments and temples that still awe and inspire us today.


15 Fascinating Facts About Ancient Egypt

1. A Pharaoh never let his hair be seen – he would always wear a crown or a headdress called a nemes (the striped cloth headdress made famous by Tutankhamen’s golden mask.

2. In order to deter flies from landing on him, Pepi II of Egypt always kept several naked slaves nearby whose bodies were smeared with honey. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z-ar7...8499E70E1CCB1D

3. Both Egyptian men and women wore makeup – eyepaint was usually green (made from copper) or black (made from lead). The Egyptians believed that the makeup had healing power. Originally the makeup was used as a protection from the sun – rather than for adornment.

4. While the use of antibiotics did not begin in the 20th century, early folk medicine included the use of mouldy foods or soil for infections. In ancient Egypt, for example, infections were treated with mouldy bread.

5. Egyptian children wore no clothing at all until they were in their teens. The temperature in Egypt made it unnecessary. Adult men wore skirts while women wore dresses.

6. Rich Egyptians wore wigs while the other classes would wear their hair long or in pig tails. Until 12, Egyptian boys had their heads shaved except for one plaited lock – this was as a protection against lice and fleas.

http://www.luxor-info.net/kuvat/pyramidit5.jpg

7. It is not known who destroyed the nose of the Sphinx (pictured above). There are sketches of the Sphinx without a nose in 1737, over 60 years before Napoleon reached Egypt and hundreds of years before the British and German armies of the two World Wars. The only person known to have damaged it was an Islamic cleric, Sa’im al-dahr, who was lynched in 1378 for vandalism.

8. Egyptian’s believed that the earth was flat and round (like a pancake) and that the Nile flowed through the center of it.

9. Egyptian soldiers were used as an internal police force. Additionally, they collected taxes for the Pharaoh.

10. In every temple in ancient Egypt the pharaoh was supposed to carry out the duties of the high priests, but his place was usually taken by the chief priest.

11. The first pyramid (The Step Pyramid of Djoser built around 2600 BC was originally surrounded by a 34 ft tall wall which had 15 doors in it. Only one of the doors opened.

12. The women in ancient Egypt enjoyed legal and economical equality with men. Nevertheless, they never enjoyed social equality with men.

13. Contrary to popular belief, excavated skeletons show that the pyramid builders were actually Egyptians who were most likely in the permanent employ of the pharaoh. Graffiti indicates that at least some of these workers took pride in their work, calling their teams “Friends of Khufu,” “Drunkards of Menkaure,” and so on—names indicating allegiances to pharaohs.

14. When a body was mummified, its brain was removed through one of its nostrils and its intestines were also removed and placed in jars called canopic jars. Each organ was placed in its own jar. The only internal organ that was not removed was the heart, because Egyptians considered it to be the seat of the soul.

15. Ramses the Great had 8 official wives and nearly 100 concubines. He was over 90 years old when he died in 1212 BC.

Here is one of my personal favorites and something fun to listen while reading;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...&v=Zev7nHUo4iU
Mercyful Fate – Egypt (1993) Official Music Video http://www.rockzirkus.de/forum/image...s/pic24370.gif

For a Youtube crash course on ancient Egypt, visit this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z3Wvw6BivVI

[Invader]

Well, this seems interesting...

[Shiav]

No one teaches Russia/Cold War better than ex-KGB controller turned Canadian prof

RUSSIA (and a bit of the Ukraine)

Russia is the name given to the people of the continental plateau that covers the Eastern half of Europe. It is pronounced "Rossyia", a Greek crossover of the original "Rus'" introduced in order to Romanize the country. The distance from Kaliningrad to the farthest tip of Kamchatka is a little over 8000 kilometres in a straight line, making Russia the largest country on the planet (and almost twice the size of Canada, number two). Russia covers eleven time zones and is made up of 83 subjects, varying from oblasts, federal cities, kais, republics and okrugs. The average temperature is -6 degrees Celsius, though the average winter mean in Siberia is -34.

Russian culture dates back to Kievan Rus', an early Nordic state that was a mix of scandinavian and slavic people. With the invasions of the Mongols the Kievan State disintegrated in the 13th century. Through shrewd diplomacy the Duchy of Moscow was able to retain a semi-independent status and was spared many of the atrocities that destroyed the Ukraine to the South.

Fighting off raids and territorial incursions by Swedes, Vikings and Teutonic Knights, Ivan the Great formed an independent state and declared himself "Grand Duke of all Russias". With the fall of Constantinople in 1453 Moscow was proclaimed the Third Rome, adopting the Byzantine double headed eagle that would remain on the Russian flag until 1917.

Building on the Orthodox religion, Ivan the IV (Terrible/Awesome: the word actually means both) crowned himself as "Tsar" for "Caesar". Over the next three hundred years the Russian state would grow to occupy a large share of the Russian Plateau, Peter the Great would attempt to modernise Russia by removing much of the importance of religion and introducing scientific method and rationalism. His reforms would be furthered by Catherine, who would preside over the "Russian Enlightenment", colonising vast swathes of Siberia and eventually Alaska.

These reforms would prove too little too late ultimately, as after several failed monarchies and wars the stage was set at the end of WWI for a Russian Revolution. Russian peasantry still lived on meagre scraps of food, industrialization had not made any large amounts of headway, and the country was considered the backwwards laughing stock of Europe.

Thus in February of 1917 the first revolution began. The monarchy was deposed, later to be killed by the Soviets to prevent their return to the throne. The first revolution and the country it produced were still unstable, thus in October Vladimir Lenin led the Soviets, or peasant councils, to overthrow the government. After a civil war ensued, in which the Allied powers of WWI backed a pro-monarchy movement known as the "Whites" was defeated by the better organized and newly inspired "Red Army", Lenin created the first socialist state in the world. After his death, the city of St Petersburg was renamed Leningrad in his honour (a title which the oblast hold today, though the cities name has changed).

When Stalin came into power, he enacted communism in full. He purged the party of all dissenters, including legendary Red Army leader and Lenin's personal best friend Leon Trotsky (who was later found with an ice pick in his skull in his South American exile). Through a series of Five Year Plans the Soviet Union underwent the most rapid industralization in history. Through a forced famine Stalin killed 12 million Ukrainian kulaks (farmers) and sold their grain to purchase more machinery.

The results, whilst formidable, left a deep scar in Ukrainian culture, and further divided Ukrainians and Russians. However, when Hitler invaded in Operation Barbarossa in 1942, Russia held. Suffering inumerable casualties (in the vicinity of 40 million), the Soviet people fought on. While the Red Army operated to encircle German forces heading to the Caucasuses in Stalingrad, Homo sovieticus, the common Russian man, was fighting behind enemy lines. Partisan resistance groups destroyed and killed thousands of German troops and eventually blocked off the German retreat, completely destroying a third of Nazi forces. The Battle of Stalingrad was the last territory that the German's ever took, and marked the greatest extent of the Nazi empire. With victories in Moscow, Leningrad, and Stalingrad, the Red Army was able to leverage its momentum to throw the Germans into a full retreat, by April (and coincidentally my birthday ) of 1945 the Reichstag was captured, Germany had been defeated.

The aftermath of WWII saw an escalation of tensions between the victors, the USA and USSR (yes there were others, shut up) as an unprecedented arms race began. in 1949 the Soviets detonated their first atomic weapon, and the Cold War begun. Over the next fifty years, via proxy wars in Vietnam, Korea, Afghanistan, and many more, the super powers vied for control of the world. In 1962 they faced off in the Cuban Missile crisis, the single closest point in time that humanity has come to complete destruction.

The Russian people in this time can be viewed in a mixed way. My Western audience (ie you) will view it as a time of hardship, we had no jeans, free speech, democracy, etc etc. Following a wave of Liberalism that began with Polish Solidarity, the Eastern Bloc slowly slipped away from the Soviets, when the Berlin Wall fell it signalled the end of an era (coincidentally when I came to Canada). After three tumultuous years the communist system collapsed, and Boris Yeltsin was elected the first President of Russia.

Then the nineties happened. And personal bias kicks in. Because the nineties sucked. Russia lost all sense of nationalism, GDP decreased sharper than the American's did in the Great Depression. There was a universal feeling of defeat amongst the people, one might note this is similar to the feeling felt in post-WWI Germany.

In 1998 Russia defaulted on its national debt, refusing to pay all creditors and essentially signalling that the government was bankrupt. Following the election of Vladimir Putin the future looked bleak. Through various policies designed to reintroduce large amounts of the security brought by the Soviet system, the Russian economy came back in a major way, between 2000 and 2008 GDP growth was 6-12% annually. A return of national Pride has returned to Russia, the countries successful bid for the 2014 Olympics in Sochi will further serve to reunite the spirit of a shattered nation. The Eurasian Union, modelled on the Free Trade principles of the EU but with the governmental structure of the USSR, came into effect on January 1st 2012. Essentially it reunites the FSSR of Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. Despite the deep ethnic divide cleaved by Stalin, the Ukraine has applied for membership.

Cool ☺☺☺☺/TL;DR:
The ten things you need to know about Russia:
1. It's big. Ridiculously big. Do not come here, especially with an army. We will eat you for breakfast.
2. It's depressing. Russian art, architecture, music and theatre carries the burden of two thousand years of death and destruction created by the various people who have attempted to invade and destroy Russia.
3. Stalin's quote is Russia's philosophy: "Quantity is a Quality all on its own"
4. We do not need liberty, we need security. If you are a libertarian please don't try to talk to/about us.
5. The Kremlin is the red coloured fortress with internal garden that comprises the wall of Red Square. Those pretty colourful domes are part of St Basil's Cathedral, an Orthodox church that has stood there since 1561
6. We were the first nation in space in 1957. Soyuz rockets that deployed Sputnik were equally capable of delivering a nuclear missile from Kazakhstan to Washington, DC
7. At the height of the Cold War we had stockpiled 67 000 nuclear warheads. No, we did not have delivery systems for them all. Who cares. If placed in one spot and detonated, the force of the blast would push Earth's orbit out, extending the time it takes us to orbit the Sun by eight days. And destroying all life on Earth.
8. In the Battle of Stalingrad Soviet workers continued producing T-34's that were unpainted, as upon their construction they were immediately driven out into the battlefield. At 2 Million casualties, it is the single bloodiest battle in all of history.
9. There is something we have called the dead hand. Myth? No. It is an underground, concrete and lead lined bunker outside of Moscow that has a permanent link to the Kremlin. If at any time that line is broken then the entire Russian nuclear Arsenal is automatically fired. Do not mess with Russia.
10. The myth that Tsarina Alexandra had an affair with Rasputin is pop-fiction spread by Boney M and the KGB/Cheka (separately of course). Rasputin was poisoned, shot, drowned and his body burned, so no, that is not his ☺☺☺☺☺ in a museum.

[Hawk]

Harappan/Indus Valley Civilization

Class teacher: Hawk


Few people even know about the lost civilization of the Indus valley (Here's a map of where the Harappan Civ was located: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...eIndoMappa.png), despite how surprisingly advanced they were for their time (They were a Bronze Age civilization for example)...And even more surprisingly, peaceful! We are still learning about these ancient peoples, but one of the most interesting things is that there is very little evidence of battles involving these people, and very few weapons at all. Instead there is evidence of art, architecture, trade and writing, and a public "Great bath" house. Their sewerage and drainage systems used gravity and ditches that ran under the streets, and were far more advanced than any found in ancient Egypt or Mesopotamia at that time, and ironically enough they were even more efficient than those in a lot of urban areas in modern Pakistan and India!

The Harappan Civ lasted from 3300 to 1300 BC, and no one is completely sure as to why they disappeared. There are three ideas as to why their civ diminished, the first one being conquest, as being peaceful made them militarily weak. The second idea seems unlikely because of how rich their land was, and that is that they destroyed their environment (such as cutting down all the trees and over farming). The third idea as a massive earthquake changed the course of the river, making much of the land dry up, and thus the people moved on.


Intriguing Indus Valley Civ facts:

At the peak of Harappan Civ culture they had well over 5 million in populace.

Harappan women wore gold jewelry and lipstick. Harappan people, male and female, loved to wear bright colours. A clue as to how they looked and dressed: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...%C3%B6nig.jpeg

They used domesticated elephants.

Schooling was not viewed as very important, although every village had a teacher that would teach male children from the age of five to when they were eight years old.


***

Here's a Crash course episode on them in Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n7ndRwqJYDM

[Incinerator]

Yay! Greece!

[Black Gate of Mordor]

Can't wait to see this in action, Hawk. It looks good.

[tfordp]

GERMANY

800: Charlemagne
The ruler of the Frankish Empire is crowned Roman emperor by Pope Leo III. Later the Carolingian, who dies 814 in Aachen, is declared the ”Father of Europe”

962: Otto I or Otto the Great
His crowning as emperor marks the start of the ”Holy Roman Empire”

1452–1454: Invention of printing
Johannes Gutenberg (c. 1400–1468), inventor of printing with movable type, produces the first printed Bible in Mainz – roughly 180 copies

1493: Rise of the House of Habsburg
The regency of Maximilian I marks the rise of the House of Habsburg. For centuries it was one of the dominant aristocratic dynasties in Central Europe, supplied the majority of emperors and kings of the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation, and from 1504–1700 the kings of Spain

1517: Religious schism
The Age of the Reformation begins when Martin Luther (1483–1546) publicly declares his 95 Theses against the system of indulgences in the Catholic Church in Wittenberg

1618–1648: Thirty Years’ War

Both a religious war and political conflict, the Thirty Years’ War ends with the Peace of Westphalia: The Catholic, Lutheran and Reformist faiths are recognized as equal

1740–1786: Frederick the Great
During the reign of Frederick II, literary scholar and general, Prussia emerges as a European superpower. His rule is seen as exemplary for the age of “enlightened absolutism”

1871: Founding of the Reich
On January 18 during the Franco-Prussian War Wilhelm I is proclaimed German Emperor in Versailles. The (second) German Reich is a constitutional monarchy. Shortly before the foundation of the empire the nation experienced an economic upswing known as the “Gründerjahre”

1914–1918: World War I
Emperor Wilhelm II isolates Germany from its neighbors and leads the country into the catastrophe of the Great War, which costs the lives of almost 15 million people. In June 1919 the Treaty of Versailles is signed, ending the war

1918/19: Weimar Republic
On November 9, 1918 Social Democrat Philipp Scheidemann proclaims the Republic; Emperor Wilhelm II abdicates.

1933: National Socialism
The NSDAP gains the most votes in the Reichstag elections in 1932; on January 30 1933 Adolf Hitler becomes Chancellor of the Reich.

1939: Start of the Second World War
Through his invasion of Poland on September 1, 1939 Hitler unleashes the Second World War, which cost 60 million people their lives and devastated large parts of Europe and East Asia. The Nazi extermination policy results in the murder of six million Jews

1945: The Second World War ends
The capitulation of the German Wehrmacht between May 7–9, 1945 ends the Second World War in Europe. The four Allies divide the country into four occupation zones and Berlin into four sectors

1948: Blockade of Berlin
The introduction of the deutschmark in the Western occupation zones prompts the Soviet Union on June 14, 1948 to cut off access to West-Berlin. The Allies respond with an airlift dropping supplies to the population in West Berlin until September 1949

1949: Birth of the Federal Republic of Germany
The first parliamentary elections are held on August 14. Konrad Adenauer (CDU) is elected Chancellor. On October 7, 1949 the division between East and West is completed when the Constitution of the German Democratic Republic comes into force

1957: Treaties of Rome
The Federal Republic of Germany is one of the six nations to sign the founding treaties of the European Economic Community

1961: Building of the Berlin Wall

1989: The Fall of the Wall
The peaceful revolution in East Germany leads in November 9 to the Berlin Wall coming down and with it the border between East and West Germany

1990: German reunification
On October 3, East Germany formally ceases to exist.

[Hawk]

Babylon

Class teacher: Hawk


Babylon was one of the most impressive civilizations of history. The ancient Babylonians were scientific, mathematical, and of course, for mostly religious. The city of Babylon was the Babylonian capital, and was founded around 1867 BC ("BC" stands for "Before Christ", as in before Jesus' birth). The Babylonian people are also called the "Chaldeans", the "Ch" pronounced as a "K", which is a Hellenistic terminology (The "Hellenistic civilization" was the Greeks after Alexander the Great).
Babylon was in southern Mesopotamia ("Mesopotamia" is ancient Greek for "Land between rivers". The two rivers are the Euphrates and the Tigris - here's a map of Mesopotamia: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi.../Tigr-euph.png), and was build on either side of the Euphrates river, but had huge, thick walls that were impenetrable - it was so thick that two chariots could ride side by side around it! These walls were built under the rulership of King Nebuchadnezzar II, who also built the famous Hanging Gardens of Babylon (one of the wonders of the world!) which he boasted he build for his deity Marduk (Marduk was the most important Babylonian deity), and may have built the Ishtar Gate (http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...lin_Museum.jpg).

The Babylonians were famous for building ziggurats - which were massive, towering builds used for worship - although they were not the first to build them...They got the idea off the Sumerians. Since no complete ziggurat has been found it is uncertain exactly how tall they were built to, however one of the tallest ziggurats, known as Etemenanki, is believed to have been 300 feet tall (http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...ki_drawing.gif).

How did such an impenetrable city become capture, and the mighty empire suddenly fall? The Persian king Cyrus (Cyrus the Great) had an ingenious plan! He diverted the water of the Euphrates river at night, and when the water was low enough he could march his army inside the city without bothering with the walls...Luckily for him the gates were also left open by mistake, and a lot of the Babylonians were drunk because they had been feasting that evening. This happened on the night of October 6th, 539 BC, under the rulership of King Belshazzar - who died that very night.


Intriguing Babylonian facts:

Babylonians had a large variety of food in their diet, such as various fruit and vegetables, cereals, breads, milk, butter, honey, and loads of meat! (in fact mostly meat, with the fat on it of course) They also liked to eat turtles and locusts! To cook these with they used herbs, spices, animal and vegetable oil, salt, and a sugary substances harvested from trees.

The ancient Babylonians invented Astrology, which was later reworked by the ancient Greeks, and is still used today by many people. They also started a religious hierarchy of priests, and believed in the immortality of the soul (Living as a spirit after the death of the body).

The Babylonian priests acted as law enforcers for their gods, and were also viewed as doctors. Priests were not supposed to parent children, but could get married.

To predict the future, priests would sacrifice a sheep and cut out its liver to read the condition of the liver.

Thousands of years ago an eclipse caused terror and panic in Babylon.

Women were not viewed as equals to men, but they were allowed to own their own land, and start their own businesses.

Only boys were allowed to go to school, but they were expected to do a perfect job and to behave. If not, the teachers whipped them, or used some other methods of punishment. (Don't worry, we're a lot nicer to our students in this school!)

Fathers had control over their children until they were married - lawfully a father could even sell his children!

[Hawk]

Persia and Media

Class teacher: Hawk


The Medes and the Persians started out as separate groups of nomads, but both settled and they became allies. They would soon form the Medo-Persian duel Empire (Also known as the First Persian Empire, or the Achaemenid Empire which started in 550 BC and ended in 336 BC - here you can see a Persian soldier, and a Mede soldier behind him: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...ppe_Detail.jpg), and under the rulership of Cyrus the Great (King Cyrus the 2nd), they would reach their most powerful point in history, and become, for a time, the largest Empire the world had ever seen. Cyrus the Great conquered Babylon (at the time Babylon was a civ you could call a "World Power"), as well as Assyria, Phoenicia, Lydia (located in Turkey), and other civs. His son, Cambyses the 2nd, extended the empire by conquering Egypt. King Cyrus allowed free religion (although he himself was a Zoroastrian - "Zoroastrianism" was once one of the world's largest religions), even amongst the conquered, and probably none of the conquered became slaves. Not only that, but he allowed conquered rulers to carry on ruling their country as Vassal kings, or "Satraps", so even his enemies respected him, and he was eventually called the King of Kings because of this.

After Cyrus the Great, and Cambyses the 2nd, other Kings ruled Medo-Persia. King Darius and later King Xerxes (pronounced "Zerxees") both attempted to conquer the Greeks, but failed. These invasions are called the "Greco-Persian" wars.

The Medo-Persian Empire - one of the most powerful and wealthy civs of history - ended when a young Macedonian man, Alexander the Great, invaded with an army of Greeks.


Intriguing Persian facts:

The Persian people loved their king Cyrus the Great so much that they called him "Father".

The Ten Thousand Immortals were the royal bodyguards, and were called "Immortals" because if any amount died they would be immediately replaced to fit the exact number of 10,000. They were also very skilled fighters.

The Persians believed that fire was the embodiment of light, and a symbol of Good.

Zoroastrianism forbade slavery, so slaves were almost non-existent throughout the Medo-Persian Empire.

When Alexander the Great visited Cyrus the Great's tomb, he discovered it had been looted, and was so horrified by this he put the local Magi on trial, and he had the tomb restored and improved upon out of respect for King Cyrus.

[Hawk]

Greece

Class teacher: Incinerator


The Greeks started out as a Greek-speaking tribe named the Mycenaeans, who arrived in the peninsula at around the first half of the 2nd Millenium.The tribe split into several different polises, each with there own way of running things. The Athenians created the first democracy, the Spartans controlled an oligarchy.


Okay, here's some battle info.

The Phalanx

The Greeks had devised a fearsome battle tactic that allowed them to get up close and personal, and far away at the same time. It is called a phalanx. It was usually made up of 161 hoplites, each with their large shield hauled up in front of them, covering half of themself, and half of the soldier next to him. The weakness with this technique is that the back and the flanks were usually unguarded and open to attack, so they usually had phalanxes in long rows so the ones on the sides could round the enemy and box them in.

The Hoplite

The hoplite was named after the large, metre-wide shield they utilized, a hoplon. They wore leather and bronze greaves, leather and bronze vambraces, a bronze helmet that made them quite deaf, a completely bronze(later leather)curiass and a skirt. They fought with 3 to 4 foot long spears, and had a short sword wen the spear either broke or they threw it.

The Peltast

The Thracians came up with a different soldier to take out hoplites, even though they used them as well. It was called the peltast, after the shield, the pelte. They carried around five javelins and a short sword after using the javelins. They wore light leather armour and vambraces, but no greaves, as they had to make a quick getaway. Hoplite's worst nightmare.

[Hawk]

Rome

Info from PachaMinnie...


Rome was founded 753 BC and this began the Roman Kingdom, ruled by seven different kings until the Romans over threw the Kings and started the Roman republic. Then Rome began to expand, fighting such nations as Carthage, the Gauls, Illyria, Macedonia, and Greece. Eventually Rome became a power house. Then Julius Ceaser over threw the republic and started the Roman Empire. The Roman empire began to expand the kingdom even more. Then Rome was constantly under attack by Barbarians. These various tribes took over Rome in 476 AD. Thus ended the Romans.


Roman Vocabulary:

Etruscans: An ancient tribe that used to live in Italy and Corsica
Latins: An ancient people living in the region of Latium, Italy, who believed that they descended from Latinus, the father-in-law of Aeneas.
Latium: Region of ancient Italy, home to the original Latin people
Republic: A form of government in which power is in the hands of representatives and leaders are elected by citizens who have the right to vote
Patrician: In ancient Rome, a member of the privileged upper class
Plebeian: In ancient Rome, one of the common farmers, artisans and merchants who made up most of the population
Carthage: Phoenician city in modern-day Tunisia which grew to become a major power in the western Mediterranean.
Tribune: In ancient Rome, an official elected by the plebeians to protect their rights.
Consul: In the Roman republic, one of the two powerful officials elected each year to command the army and direct the government.
Senate:In ancient Rome, the supreme governing body, originally made up only of aristocrats.
Dictator: In ancient Rome, a political leader given absolute power to make laws and command the army for a limited time.
Legion: A military unit of the ancient Roman army, made up of about 5,000 foot soldiers and a group of soldiers on horseback
Triumvirate: In ancient Rome, a group of three leaders sharing control of the government.
Pax Romana: A period of peace and prosperity throughout the Roman Empire, lasting from 27 B.C. to A.D. 180.
Patriarch: A principal bishop in the eastern branch of Christianity
Icon: Religious symbol used by Eastern Rome.
Cyrillic Alphabet: An alphabet for the writing of Slavic languages, devised in the ninth century A.D. by Saints Cyril and Methodius.

These are words used in Rome that I may or may not mention if I ever begin to write "The History of Rome".

[Doctor Tivilon]

I'm assuming we're allowed to ask questions? I apologize if this screws up any format you had in mind when making this.

Anyway, I was always fascinated by the TV show Rome but was always curious as to how historically accurate it was. The writing and characters sometimes seemed a bit, I dunno... glorified? Was it a decent indicator of how the Roman Empire actually worked? How much of what we saw actually happened, and how much was simply to keep the viewer interested?

Thanks in advance for answers!

[Pouakai]

As it says in the OP, feel free to ask questions!

As for Rome, I have never seen the show before, perhaps one of the other teachers could answer your question. If not, I'm off to Youtube

[Precarious]

Just a note, can people please not make multiple posts reserving a spot to post? Threads aren't really meant to be edited inless they NEED to be and it's considered spammish or duplicate posting. If it continues, it risks infractions, bans and the thread being closed. If there's a discussion, discuss. Cheers.

~Pre

[Hawk]

Sorry fellow teachers, but I'm not allowed to reserve for future educational posts. This means that the posts will be more jumbled and spread out, but we will make do, and I'll keep track of it all so I can index it later on.

...However, I may change this post in the future to discuss a civilization. (Probably Carthage and Phoenicia)

[Seasick]

I'd like to be a teacher, please.

[Hawk]

Celts

Class teacher: Hawk


Céad míle fáilte, a hundred thousand welcomes! Today we are talking about the Celts...

There are still Celtic countries in our modern times (Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Cornwall, the Isle of Man, and Brittany (Brittany is in France)), but once the Celts were spread all over Europe, and there were even Celts in what is now Turkey (http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi..._in_Europe.png). Although they had some communities so far apart, there was little difference to their culture, language, and beliefs.

The Celts were Polytheistic (this means they believed in lots of gods instead of just one), and they practiced animal (and in some cases, human) sacrifices. Their religious leaders were called "Druids", and these men (and maybe women as well) were quite powerful. Druids were viewed as very wise and able to predict the future, and were advisers for Kings, enforces of laws, and were in charge of sacrifices. It was believed that they could magically change their shape or turn invisible, control the weather, and even time travel!
The Celts also believed that when you died you woke up in the "Otherworld", which you could also die in and wake up again in this world, so the Celts were not so worried about dying, generally making them more brave in battles.

Celtic warriors deliberately went to battle without any armour - or clothes - because they believed that their gods decided when they would die, and armour couldn't save them from that. They didn't wear clothes so they paint their bodies with woad (a blue dye you get from a plant), still, a lack of armour or clothes wasn't their biggest problem...They also lacked organisation, and each warrior fought as an individual, while the Romans used a lot more team work in battles.

The Celts left their mark on the world with a stone structure called "Stonehenge", and the lesser known about, but religiously connected "Woodhenge". The Stonehenge may have been build as early as 3100 BC. There is still controversy as to what Stonehenge was used for in the past, but it's still used to day to celebrate the Summer and Winter Solstice (http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...nrise1980s.jpg). Evidence of human and animal remains show that the site could have been used for burials, sacrifices, and even feasting and celebration.

Great Celtic leaders...

Vercingetorix was a chieftain of the Arverni tribe in Gual (France). The name "Ver-cingeto-rix" means "Great warrior king". He made alliances with other tribes, amounting an army of about 250,000 strong, and lead Gual's most significant revolt against the Roman Empire, but ultimately failed.

One of the most famous Celtic women leaders was Boudicca. Can you spot the inaccuracies of this picture of her? http://ow.joystiq.com/screenshots/ci...gs-gdc-2012#/3. On one knows exactly what she looked like, but we have a fair idea. According to the Roman consul/historian Dio Cassius "She was huge of frame, terrifying of aspect, and with a harsh voice. A great mass of bright red hair fell to her knees: She wore a great twisted golden necklace, and a tunic of many colors, over which was a thick mantle, fastened by a brooch. Now she grasped a spear, to strike fear into all who watched her..." (So she probably looked more like this: http://www.radioanywhere.co.uk/displ...php?story=2676 (except with even longer hair)). Boudicca was Queen to the now extinct Iceni tribe (located where the red is on this map: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi..._the_Iceni.svg), and she lead the ancient Britons on a rebellion against the Roman occupation of Briton, which was ultimately unsuccessful, and resulted in her death, and the death of her people.

William Wallace, or "Uilliam Uallas" in Gaelic, the hero of Scotland. Most people know of this famous Celtic leader because of the film Braveheart, and although the movie is not all that historically accurate, he really was an impressive leader that nearly everybody in Scotland wanted to follow...But he wasn't as nice as he was portrayed in the movie. In fact he was even more vengeful, and liked to do to the English exactly what they did to his people - and let's just say the English soldiers were not very nice to the Scots back then. He wanted more than just to retake Scotland, and he turned the tables on the ruler of England at the time, King Edward the 1st (Also known as "Edward Longshanks" due to his height, and "The Hammer of Scotland") a strategic mastermind, and started successfully invading England. Eventually his army was defeated at the Battle of Falkirk.
Later William Wallace was betrayed by his friends, who had been threatened and blackmailed by King Edward the 1st, and he was captured in a house near Glasgow, where he is said to have been taken by surprise and still in bed. His death was a little more gruesome than shown in the movie as well...Before his execution he was stripped naked and dragged on the ground through London's cobble stone streets behind a cart. He was hung, and then (while most likely still being alive) he was cut open and his intestines were thrown onto a nearby fire - he probably could smell them burning as he died! Then he was quartered, and his body parts were sent to different parts of the country. His head, however, was boiled and placed on a spike on Westminster bridge for all to see.

Brian Boru was an Irish king who is famous for defeating the Viking invaders, and uniting Ireland.


Intreguing Celtic facts:

The Romans were the ones to call the Picts the "Picts" in the first place - which meant "Painted people" - because of all the woad paint they used on their bodies.

Male Celtic warriors bleached their hair with lime and spiked it up. Women didn't cut their hair, but let it grow very long.

Irish women who were skilled at fighting, taught the children how to fight.

The Celts invented the game "Scissors, Paper, Rock", only they didn't have scissors or paper, so it was more like "Knife, Cloth, Rock" (the "knife" was just one finger instead of two, but cloth was the same as paper).

According to the Celts, the most prized reward from a battle was an enemy's head. Heads were used to decorate their homes, and old heads were preserved in cedar oil. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tN_J5AzWn2o

The Celts slept on the ground and wrapped themselves in animal skins for bedding.

The Celts did not invent the bagpipes, but the bagpipes originate in the Middle East (like most things), and may have been introduced to them by the Romans. The Celts simply made their own variations of the instrument, and begun playing it in their own Celtic style.

The Medieval Scots had some bizarre customs, such as throwing herring fat at a wall to see if someone was honest: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FJEx8hFr1qE

The Celts didn't like fighting in the rain, as they believed it was a bad omen.

[Shiav]

Interesting that you're not allowed to reserve spaces. I'm in the process of writing up Russia but have marking to do

[Hawk]

Sounds good Shiav, and I appreciate what you're doing!


By the way, I'm having trouble with the pictures for MARDUK's post on Egypt. The post should show the pictures, I've typed in [img][/img], and tried it with and without using his quote. Does anyone know how I can do this?


Likely discussing England/Britain here.

[Pouakai]

Let me try...

http://www.luxor-info.net/kuvat/pyramidit5.jpg


EDIT: Hrm, seems to just become a normal link. Actually, I don't recall ever seing an Image on here

[Hawk]

Can we get someone to discuss Scandinavia?

[Precarious]

I don't understand why you can't just update the first few posts, guys. It's not that difficult. If anyone has qualms with what I've said, feel free to PM me, but we're not reserving spots for future posts.

[Codex]

The [img] tag only works in certain sections of the forum. As explained here by David. I'm not sure what other subforums they are allowed on, but I haven't heard anything else about expanding them for a while. If you feel like you desperately need them for this thread, it's probably best to make your arguments to an admin as we (the mods) can't change the code of the forum.

Anyways, now that's explained if you want any more info feel free to pm me. This thread's got a lot of mods in it :S

[Pouakai]

Ah, that clears it up, thanks Codex. And as for post reservations, we have the index in the OP, so I see no reason why we can't have the posts with content through the topic and linked to, posted when they are ready instead of reserving posts.

[Hawk]

By the way, if anyone - teachers, assistants, and students - wish a particular civ to be discussed sooner rather than later, feel free to ask for it.

[Hawk]

Incas

Class teacher: Hawk


(Work in progress...)

Firstly, it must be noted that "Inca" is a Quechua (The official language of the Inca, although their empire had literally hundreds of languages) word for the ruling class. It was the Spanish who started using the term to describe all ethnic and social groups who were subjected to the Empire under the Inca rulers. For the convenience of the word, I will use "Inca" to describe the entire Inca Empire as well.

So who were these Incas? Possibly the most impressive, and certainly the most technologically advanced pre-Columbian Native American civilization. (The "pre-Columbian" era is the history of the Americas before Europeans began to conquer and colonize the Americas.) They were located in South America, and at their height of power they extended their empire all the way from Chile to Columbia: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...nca_Empire.png
When it came to technology they stood out from the rest...They made bronze weapons, they built terrace farms, when building with stone they knew how to cut the stone so it fit perfectly together and needed no cement to hold it together, they built roads that extended across their empire despite difficult mountain ranges, and they had an early form of brain surgery!

Although various tribes had began to appear around 1250 B.C. (And people being in the area even earlier), the Incas only stared to form as am Kingdom around 1100 B.C., and they lasted until 1533 B.C. To the surprise of everyone, their massive empire fell to a relatively small band of Spanish conquistadors ("Conquistadors" means "Conquerors", and they were soldiers, explorers, and adventurers in service of either the Spanish or Portuguese). That's not the whole story of course, let me explain...
The first visitors from Europe were diseases that had spread through the land ahead of the Spanish. This devastated human populations, which also meant less people for the Spanish to fight. The conquistadors were on the hunt for gold, and would do anything to get it, and after hearing rumors of a golden land, they were on the march to find it...And find it they did, after about 20 years.

Incan rulers:

Pachacuti (the one you can play as in Civ 5) was the ninth "Sapa Inca" ("The Great One") and the first Incan Emperor who is famous far transforming the Kingdom of Cusco into the empire "Tawantinsuyu", or the Inca Empire. He is also famous for - and probably more famous for - having Machu Picchu built (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Ma...ly_morning.JPG). His name "Pachacuti" means "He who shakes the earth".
Pachacuti used some weird fear tactics on his enemies...He had soldiers carry platforms into battle loaded with piles of rocks. Their enemies believed that the rocks could turn into stone warriors, so they ran at first sight of them. He also had enemy leaders put to death, and had their skins stuffed with straw and ashes, and placed them seated upright on sacred burial ground. Their stuffed arms were bent so that when the wind blew the fingers would against their bellies like a drum. That's not all either, he also had their humerus' (upper arm bones) turned into flutes, their teeth turned into necklaces, and their skulls into drinking cups! Here's a Horrible Histories song on Pachacuti: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=51aHb_U8Zr0

Huayna Capac extended the Inca empire significantly, and under his rulership it reached to the height of its size and power. He cared a lot for his people, and greatly extended the road network, and built food storehouses along it so his people could always have food. He also had temples built. Huayna Capac was the eleventh Sapa Inca of the Inca Empire, and sixth of the Hanan dynasty.


Intriguing Incan facts:

The Incas had some of the worst parents in history. The Incas believed in handling a child or baby as little as possible (including hugs!), and they only picked up babies and children when absolutely necessary (such as for feeding and cleaning), and for the first three months babies arms were tightly bound to their bodies - thinking this would make them grow up stronger! Instead, babies were left in their cradles all day. When they grew a little older they were left in deep, dug out holes in the ground where they would stay through the day, that is until they turned 9 years old, which is when they started work. And that's not even the worst of it...Many children were sacrificed, and some where prepared for it since after birth, as they would strap pieces of wood to their heads so their heads would take the shape of the mountain they would be sacrificed on!

Incan women washed their hair in week old urine! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rpo69Unk5-M

Gold and silver didn't hold much value in the eyes of the Incas. They believed a rich person was someone with many followers, such as large families and big armies.

The Incas had no written language. Instead they used coloured rope and knots to keep record of things and to count, called "Quipu".

[PachaMinnie]

If the Zulu get added I would like to teach. I know a good bit about the Zulu, I may not know much about others but the Zulu Kingdom... I love those guys.

[Shiav]

its done...... holy ☺☺☺☺ that took longer than i thought

[Hawk]

Zulu

Class teacher: PachaMinnie


THE ZULU KINGDOM

The Zulu kingdom was once a large nation in South Africa, in a region now called KwaZulu-Natal. The history of the Zulu is one with horrible wars and atrocities spread across harsh rulers and British imperialism finally snuffing out the Zulu Kingdom. The people make up the largest ethnic group in South Africa with an estimated 10-11 million living in KwaZulu-Land. They have their own language isiZulu, and an example is here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQeN-...eature=related if this link works. Their language is a Bantu language and is apart of the Nguni group. It is one of the most widely spoken languages in all of South Africa. The Zulu people even have their own Polytheistic religion with Unkulunkulu or " the greatest one".

The Zulu tribe was once a tributary to the powerful tribe Umtitwa. In 1787 the chief of the Zulu tribe gave birth to Shaka. Shaka joined the Umtitwa military and served in one of their regiments as a soldier and won a high reputation for his courage on the field of battle. When his father died in 1810 he became chief of the Zulus. His warriors fought with bravery for they knew that if they where to retreat or show cowardice they'd have to undergo the terrible ordeal of the "Coward's bush". Shaka would draw the regiments up in a large semicircle and he made them march past in succession, and when each one passed a certain spot he would shout the orders "Bring fourth your cowards!" Those thought to have failed in battle were brought forward and killed. Much like the Roman decimation.

Shaka created an Imperial Guard of over 15,000 warriors who where ready at all times to march 50 miles and "eat up" a town or tribe in two days. Shaka expanded the kingdom greatly, taking out other tribes quickly and without mercy. One of Shaka's finest hours was at the battle of Gqokli hill. He was out numbered 2:1 but still caused massive casualties against the tribe of the Ndwandwe people. One of Shaka's best tactics was the 'Bull Horns' tactic. The main force, called the chest, comprised of senior veterans would attack the enemy and pin them into position. Then the 'Horns' would surround the pinned down army from all sides and crush it. The 'Loins' where a reserve force and would jump wherever the encirclement was weakest. Shaka wasn't the most beloved leader, either because he killed half his people or because he marched them on endless war, or both. His half brothers tried twice to kill him before they finally succeeded in 1828 and was buried in an unmarked grave.

The next ruler was Dingaan, one of Shaka's half brothers. Dingaan didn't like the Boer people very much and often massacred them when he got the chance. At one point over 3000 Zulu warriors surrounded some Dutchmen, and dragged them by their hair half a mile and butchered them all. Knocking their brains out with war clubs, impaling them and twisting their necks. A sadistic man's christmas. One man tried to fight back, he killed 2 warriors but was skinned alive and killed in the most horrible manor the Zulu warriors could think of. Dingaan even killed British settlers whom Shaka had encouraged to stay. His warriors killed who ever, men women, children, doesn't matter. They would cut the breasts of the women off and dash the brains out of helpless children via the wheels of wagons. Most of these accounts are from British men so they may be a bit over the top, but they are most likely all true.

People fought back but with little success. However this horrid story ends with the overthrowing of Dingaan, Yey! His brother Panda with half the Zulu tribe joined the Boers and became king. Dingaan fled to a hostile native power in the Amaswazi but they killed him later that day. Panda was a trader, not a fighter. He relinquished many of the savage and despotic habits of his ancestors and gave the Boers some nice land. Panda only killed the people that had to be killed, he wasn't a blood thirsty dude. Sadly our cute little friend Panda died and his son Chetewayo took over. Chetewayo wasn't like his mammal father Panda, he reorganized the Zulu army 50,000 men strong and strengthened the bonds of discipline and honor among the older regiments and the newer ones. The new army was mobile and strong, powerful enough to take on anyone and win! HUZZAH! Chetewayo was most likely fueled and the lust of new land and territory, much like Shaka.

Now we begin the end of the Zulu people, but first I must explain this, yes the Zulu had the ability to get some firearms. Yes they did get guns, but they tought that guns where for cowards, so they never really formed a standard force of gunmen that could be used against the British.


Okay now onto the ANGLO-ZULU WAR that started on the 11th of January and ended the 4th of July 1879, eventually the British got fed up with having the Zulu as neighbors, so they invaded. Our beloved friend Chetewayo was still in power however, and he decided to fight back with his massive military. The most famous battle of this war is Isandlwana where over 1,300 British soldiers where massacared by the Zulus, who only lost 1,000. This is the worst defeat in British history to some because a force of men armed with only spears and shields beat a force of over a 1300 men who where armed with bolt-action rifles. The next battle was Rorke's Drift, an old Mission station turned into an outpost by a force of over 150 British soldiers. The battle was fought on January 22-23 and a force of over 3000-4000 Zulus where beaten and bloodied by the 150 British men stationed at Rorke's Drift, plus some reinforcements of over 250 troops. 351 Zulus where confirmed to have been killed and another 500 wounded. But why did the small British force win this battle? Well I only have one word to say to you, just one word, Tactics. The Brits at Isandlwana where spread apart and surrounded by the Zulu. The Red Coats at Rorke's where not, they where more organized. the next battle is the battle of Intombe, Here the Zulu defeated about 104 british Troops under Captian David Moriarty [whom they killed] 62-80 British men where killed the rest flew from the force of around 500-800 Zulu warriors who lost very few men. THEN there was Hlobane ANOTHER Zulu victory this time against somewhere around 600 British men. The Bitish faced 2,000 Zulus, lost 225 troops and only killed a small amount of Zulus. Here is the turning point of the war, Kambula, Here 2086 British troops fought the Zulus and beat back a force on over 20,000 with only about 40 loses sustained, the death toll for the Zulu however was 1,000. I'm just going to speed this up, after 2 more Brit victories they finally reached Ulundi, the Zulu capital, 4200 British troops 2 gatling guns, 1000 Africans and 10 cannons beat back the 12,000-15,000 Zulu defenders and burned the city with only say 13-18 men dead while killing over 473 Zulus. Here the Zulus surrenders and this marked the end of the Zulu kingdom entirely as it was absorbed by the British, Zulus kept fighting though. The last king of the Zulus Dinuzulu hired a force of over 800 Boers, commanded by the famous Louis Botha, to help try to establish order in the kingdom by fighting his Brother for the throne. These mercinaries wanted payment an where given large amounts of Zulu land, eventually forming their own kingdom. The now small Zulu state dissolved and fizzled out, and Dinuzulu was exiled to St. Helena [Same as Napoleon], until the Bambatha Rebellion [Also called 2nd Anglo-Zulu war]. He was thought to have started it and was put on trial and imprisioned until his friend turned prime minister got him out, he died in 1913 on a farm in Transvaal.


FUN FACTS!!!!!!! YEY I KNOW YOUR EXCITED. SHOW ME THAT SMILE... Oh your teeth, is that one chipped? Oh you should go see a dentist. Ah, back on topic.

- The lion king has been translated into Zulu.
- 9 million people speak Zulu as a first language.
- My chicken Nuggets are getting cold just sitting there.
-http://www.mythicjourneys.org/bigmyth/myths/english/eng_zulu_pantheon.htm
- The Zulu god Mamlambo was in a South African newspaper recently, they say a large monster 20 meters (20 meters long is 67 feet.) long killed 9 people. They described it as a creature with the torso of a horse, the lower body of a fish, the neck of a snake, and it shinned with a green light at night. The bodies where later recovered by police, but they'd been in the water a while and the soft parts on their head had been eaten by crabs. The villagers however claimed the god sucked out the brains. giving the creature the nickname "Brain sucker".
- Those chicken nuggets made me sick.
- The film Zulu is very famous and features the battle of Rorke's drift. Here it is now: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aOoCrCeHxpI&ob=av3n
- Shaka banned Sandals.
- This is going to sound racist but the Zulu where so fast. How fast? The British thought they rode into battle on horses.
- The current president of South Africa is a member of the Zulu tribe. He is also a socialist. Jacob Zuma.
- Unmarried men carried black shields while married men carried white shields into battle.
- Ulundi was established during our old pal Cetewayo's reign and it means "A high place"
- In the movie Zulu he is played by his great-grandson. [Cetewayo].

[PachaMinnie]

Why don't you guys do major wars to? World War 1&2, American Civil War, Hundred Years war, The Crusades, October Revolution, Boxer Rebellion, I can go on all day, or history of the leaders and special units/building of the civilizations? Would be extremly cool and I could help even more

[Hawk]

That's a good idea! We will have a post on each World War. The other wars, such as civil wars, crusades, rebellions, and revolutions can be discussed in the relevant civ educational post.

[Pouakai]

For obvious reasons, I'll take Polynesia if that's OK. Won't have time immediately, but will get on it ASAP

[Hawk]

Nok Civilization

Class teacher: Hawk


Although little is known about the people of the Nok civ, what we do know makes them surprisingly impressive. The Nok began as a small civilization in the Niger River Valley: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Ve...-Kultur-en.png
Nok culture started out between 2,000 and 2,500 years ago, however it is theorized that Nok culture ended due to massacre, expulsion and racial assimilation that started before the arrival of Islam into Northwest Africa.

They made beautiful and complex artwork, some of which still survives today, that display their culture and gives us an idea as to what they would have looked and dressed like (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:No...-1998-11-1.jpg, http://www.dmvafricans.com/2011/09/nok-culture.html), and they also reveal that they knew about horse riding. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:A_...a_figurine.jpg)
Interestingly they also knew how to forge iron, although they probably didn't know about bronze. They made iron tools and weapons.


Intriguing Nok civilization facts:

The Nok jumped straight from being Neolithic to the Iron age.

They planted crops and raised cattle and horses.

Nok smelted iron by river sides because excess water is required to cool the iron rods, but also for the smelters to drink, and bathe in when they got too exhausted.

Nok people payed a lot of attention to their hair, and wore lots of jewelry.

[PachaMinnie]

If America hasn't been taken yet I might want to do them. I mean since I'm American I might do my own country. Just a thought. But I could always do the great old US of A if it's not taken

[Hawk]

I'm quite happy even if everyone writes up on a single civ. The more information the better, and the more teachers the more variety in learning the students will have, so whatever civ or point in time you want to write up on, don't feel you need to wait on everybody else.

[Shiav]

For obvious reasons, I'll take Polynesia if that's OK. Won't have time immediately, but will get on it ASAP

Hmm, I wonder why he might do Polynesia? I look forward to it, never heard much about the Pacific except as a giant obstacle between enhanced globalization.

Also, for obvious reasons I'd like to do the Cold War, but I might like to have someone do it from an American perspective as well.

And we should consider making a new thread over in CiV once all is done, but make sure its more orderly for easy viewing

[PachaMinnie]

I would love it if we would do Biographies to. I could easily get Shaka Zulu done, and that may ease my brain because I did leave a bit of his exploits out in my history, Including "The Scattering".

[Hawk]

Also, for obvious reasons I'd like to do the Cold War, but I might like to have someone do it from an American perspective as well.

And we should consider making a new thread over in CiV once all is done, but make sure its more orderly for easy viewing

Sure, we could have a post on the Cold War too.

I'm considering making a new thread, and have it more orderly, but that'll be quite a while away. Also, I'd much rather keep it in Off-topic, because there are that many threads on history in the Civ 5 Forum that I think this thread would get lost in the mix. Here it stands out, and it's getting enough attention here as well.

[PachaMinnie]

Hey guys if possible I want to do Poland's 20th century history if that's k with yall.. I mean I am going to be on vacation by Saturday so I just want to write one more thing. I'll cover the Polish-Ukrainian war, Polish-Bolshevik war, Polish Defensive war, Poland Under Communist rule and free Poland. So I may have that out by Friday if that's cool.