The 18 Civilizations.

[Wernazuma III]

So will we get the Jamaicans in this time?

Jamaicans, Dagestanis, and Sami should all make the cut

[Norselord]

Vikings and Mongols both had long reaching effects on civilizations, and not just the "we killed people" kind of effect. Vikings started plenty of trading towns, and the Mongols became rulers of several lands after the Horde went home.

I would like to add that of all people Genghis Khan has influenced more than anyone else. He is supposedly the direct ancestor to 0.5% of men on the planet, or 34 million people.

[Azuarc]

Well, here's the real question then...if you could -- from the perspective of considering all angles of the game -- pick exactly 18 Civs to put in your version of Civilization, which would you use?

From the East, I would say India, China, Japan, Mongolia
From the Middle East, Egypt, Arabia/Persia, Babylonia or something else ancient
From Africa...hrm...I already said Egypt, huh?
From the Americas, the U.S. and the Aztecs

Counting some token African nation -- and there should probably be two to represent west Africa and South Africa -- that's 10, leaving room for 8 out of Europe. We couldn't possibly leave out Britain, France, Russia, Rome, Greece, or Germany, right? Well...we could, but they all play critical roles in European history.

So now we're down to two. Europe is already fairly congested, as anyone who plays on an Earth map will recognize. We are noticeably missing any sea powers besides arguably the English. Spain or Portugal, preferably Spain, represents the Age of Exploration, although arguments could be made for Dutch or Viking there. So what to fill out with? Well, let's look at chronology...

Ancient - Egypt, China, Babylonia, India?
Greco-Roman - Greece, Rome, Persia
Middle ages - Mongolia, Aztec, Japan
Post-Renaissance - Britain, France, Spain, token African power
Modern - U.S., Russia, Germany

No gaps there. But another seafaring nation would be good, and also one from Africa, so I'm gonna go with Carthage.



So how'd I do compared to what we know?

They have Arabs, Incans and Ottomans, plus two unknowns. Their African group is the Songhai, whoever they are.
I have Babylonia, Greece, Spain and Carthage. I used Persia rather than Arabia.

Of my four, Greece *feels* like the biggest omission, but the Greeks were never really an empire, barring the couple of years following Alexander...who was technically not Greek. (And Macedonian Empire just sounds weird.) Geographically, the Ottomans are in a fairly close position, and we've got Rome on the other side. We very well could eliminate Greece.

I'm loathe to say Babylonia (or other ancient Mesopotamian culture of your choice) should be cut. It's an important part of history that could be neglected, and doesn't really just lump in with "Arabia." However, assuming we want our Civs to actually have a unique unit, and some of those ought to be naval, the list-to-date doesn't offer much. Most of the knowns are land-based powers. Japan isn't, but Japan still is known more for Samurai (or Ninjas) than for boats, assuming we're talking feudal Japan, which is led by Oda, so it is. England is of course a naval empire, and we can make up any contemporary unit we want for America -- although they should probably represent airborne units instead. So, really, we probably should be including two maritime groups as our last two.

Spain, Carthage, Vikings, Portugal, Dutch, take your pick...but those are probably your missing two.

[MxM]

Did anyone mention possibility for Byzantine empire? It kind of covers Greek/Macedonia as well...