Expansion Pack Civs (Part 4): A never-ending story?

[Mankind]

Originally posted by ogotai
"Leppersson" - hmm... that reminds me something... but what?!

Yes, you're right... Maybe it was the 'Andrew' thingy...

Maybe not!

[Locutus]

Warning: long reply coming up...

Oerdin,
Well, I apologize if I offended you, I admit my reply could have been less 'straightforward'. I admit that I underestimated your knowledge of these civs but the ease with which you dismissed them did create the impression that you knew little about them (I don't want to place the blame for this on you but you could have explained the reasoning behind your decision in your original post). Even now I still have the impression that this is the case regarding the Mali, or at least that you underestimate their importance.

Personally, I have a number of objections to the criteria you used but I won't go into that too much. There's only one (big) issue I'd like to object to: in all those criteria, 'large impact on the world' is a very important factor. However, using that as a criterium, very few civilizations actually qualify, civilizations that had a truly global (or at least multi-continental) impact are very rare. The only pre-colonial age civs that were really global are the Arabs, the Mongols and (part of the time) India. Maybe I'm overlooking one or two but not many more. Next to colonial and post-colonial age civs (such as Spain, Portugal, the Netherlands, Britain, the US, France), no other civs had a truly global impact. Even the Romans, Chinese, (Ottoman) Turks, Vikings, Phoenicians, etc can only were important on a continental scale. Some of the greatest civs in history had even less influence, regional would be the only appropriate turn, like Babylon (and Sumer and Akkad and...), Egypt, Aztec, Germany and Japan (pre-WWII Japan, that is). Whether or not a civ has a big impact on the world around it depends just as much on that world as on the civ itself. The Egyptians, by many seen as (one of) the greatest civilizations of human history, never had more than a regional influence because the areas west and south of them were extremely inhospitable (and expansion was limited by the Ku****es) while their ability to gain an influence in Asia and Europe was severely hampered by the Fertile Crescent civs and the Minoan empire. Their influence on the world today is extremely small (if not non-existant), but this does not mean it's not a great civ. Another example, in terms of science: the Greeks invented the steam engine around 70 AD, a very important invention that, as the British showed, should have a large impact on a global scale. Yet, in case of the Greeks, this was not the case at all. This is because steam power had to compete with slavery in those days. Any invention or discovery, no matter how advanced or important, will only have a world-wide impact if it's invented at the right time, in the right place. A similar thing can be said for the cultural, economic, demographic or any other type of impact. When comparing civs with each other one should IMHO pay just as much attention to the merits of a civ itself as to the way in which it impacted the world around them.

However, even if I'd accept your criteria as valid set for comparing civs, at least the Mali and probably the Khmer too still can't be ruled out as important civs.

The Mali was one of the wealthiest civilizations in human history, they had an extremely strong economy and were at the time one of the world's major trading nations. Their wealth was known to the entire Muslim world and even in Europe, where its reputation was of mythical proportions (that's where Timbuktu got its reputation as a far away place from). Their 'national' economy was based on the rich and fertile lands near the river that formed the center of their empire, the Niger. These lands provided them with a solid basis for agriculture (they grew cotton, peanuts, grains, and variety of other crops), herding, fishing, trade and all sorts of other economic activities that kept their civilization alive. What made them such a powerful 'international' economic force was the extensive trade network throughout Northern and Western Africa which they largely controlled. They traded not only in salt and gold but in many other commodities: ivory, nuts, slaves, jewelry, weapons and even books and manuscripts. A famous episode of Mali history is the pilgrimage of a Mali king to Mecca: this king brought so many gifts with him on this journey that influx of such wealth completely devastated the economy of Cairo and it needed several decades to recover, while this loss of capital didn't hurt the Mali economy one bit. The Mali wealth was easily at the same level as - if not superior to - that of other rich civilizations like the Spanish, the Dutch or Indians, so they easily qualify for criterium #5 (economy).

Contrary to most other civilizations that grew wealthy through trade, the Mali did not use this wealth to wage war and only a fairly small part of it was used for building great palaces and mosques. The vast majority of this wealth was invested in science. I was amazed to read that you were not aware of the Malian scientific achievements because they are famous for them. Mali kings built great mosques, vast libraries, and Islamic universities throughout their kingdom. Timbuktu became one of the major cultural and scientific centers not just of Africa but of the world, it became a meeting place of poets, scholars and artists of Africa and the Middle East. Even after Mali declined, Timbuktu remained the major Islamic center of sub-Saharan Africa. One interesting quote I don't wan't to leave out comes from the book "Timbuctoo the Mysterious" by Felix Dubois, which describes the intellectual accomplishments of the famous Sankore university at Timbuktu:

The scholars of Timbuctoo yielded in nothing, to the saints in the sojourns in the foreign universities of Fez, Tunis, and Cairo. They astounded the most learned men of Islam by their erudition. That these Negroes were on a level with the Arabian savants is proved by the fact that they were installed as professors in Morocco and Egypt. In contrast to this, we find that Arabs were not always equal to the requirements of Sankore.

The Mali excelled in fields such as architecture, the arts, literature, theology, geography, astronomy, mathematics, philosophy and medicine. The Mali more than pass criterium #2 (science) and were important in terms of #1 (culture) as well.

As far as geographic area, population size and longevity goes, they were certainly not amongst the largest civs in history in this respect but certainly not amongst the smallest either. Their golden age lasted 3 to 4 centuries, (much) longer FE than that of the Dutch, Portuguese, Aztec, Inca or Byzantines. Personally I think that if Mali is included in Civ3 they should represent all Sahel civilizations, in other words include the Songhai and Ghanaians as well (in the same fashion that Babylon in Civ3 represents the Sumerians, Akkadians, Assyrians, etc as well as Babylon itself). In that case, the Mali empire lasted from roughly 300 AD to 1600 AD, so it would be a very long-lived empire too. As far as geographic area goes, they were roughly comparable with the Holy Roman Empire. I don't know what your definition of 'medium-sized' is but personally I'd say they were too big to be medium-sized but too small to be large. So, as far as criterium #4 goes, they didn't really excel in this area but they certainly weren't inferior to many of the civs from the top 32 (Civ3 civs plus top 16 from this poll) either.

All things considered, even using your criteria the Mali most certainly qualify as a great civilization. Without an indept analysis of all three civs I wouldn't dare to say whether they are superior or inferior to the Portuguese and/or Dutch but to dissmiss them off-hand as inferior is IMHO very premature. Since this post is long enough as it is, I won't elaborately describe my opinion on the Khmer. I will say though that they excelled in their religious and construction projects: they built many hundreds of large temple complexes, they built an extensive road network and their advanced system of waterworks and agriculture are important signs of greatness. Combine this with a social structure that was so complicated it still isn't fully understood by scholars today and I'd say there too were an important civilization. I agree that they weren't as great as the Mali, Dutch or Portuguese but I personally think that Austria *was* in their league (again, to figure out which of the two was superior would require an indept analysis of both civs).

My point is that I even though I might agree with you when you argue that European civs generally were more important than many of the non-European civs but you shouldn't underestimate the importance of these non-Europeans either, some of these are most certainly worthy of a place in Civ.

[Locutus]

I updated the ranking. 30113 points, 196 valid votes, 96.0%. (Last update: Rosacrux)

Solmyr,
You can't vote for the Hungarians. You have enough points left but already voted for 16 civs, you'll have to retract your votes for one other civ.

ogotai,
You voted 165 points. To make your vote count anyway, I gave the Spanish only 5 points extra (they got 15 points now). Let me know if you want it changed.

Droximus,
The Iroquois are already in Civ3. I can understand you may want to revise them but IMHO it's not a good idea to vote for them because of that. So I didn't count your points for the Iroquois but I counted the rest of your vote.

[Gramphos]

You forgot to chenge the name of last updated to. It still says Mars.

[Gramphos]

The Excel file ends with Droximus, so I can't update the bars for the top 16

[Melloj]

Locutus,

Just wanted to make sure, you got my votes back on page 2.

Thanks

Melloj

[Locutus]

Gramphos,
Thanks for pointing those things out. I accidentally uploaded the files to the wrong server Should be fixed now...

Melloj,
Yes, I counted those.

[Melloj]

Thank you Sir.

[Gramphos]

Originally posted by Locutus
Gramphos,
Thanks for pointing those things out. I accidentally uploaded the files to the wrong server Should be fixed now...

Yes, works fine now. The bars have been updated.

Happy Birthday Locutus!

[Solmyr]

Locutus: I don't remember at all which civs I originally voted for and with how many points, so I might as well submit a totally updated vote:

Byzantines 20
Arabs 20
Turks 20
Spanish 20
Mongols 20
Vikings/Normans 20
Khmers 20
Koreans 20

[Faboba]

In no particular order ( the way they came to me in another thread )

1 : The Celts 20
2 : The Spanish 20
3 : The Polynesians 20
4 : The Arabs 20
5 : The Mongols 20
6 : The Incans 20
7 : The Vikings 20
8 : The Turks 20

[Shaka Naldur]

Spanish 20
Crown of Aragon 20
Al-Alandalus 20
Arabs 20
Mayas 20
Incas 20
Portuguess 20
Hitites 20

[ogotai]

You voted 165 points. To make your vote count anyway, I gave the Spanish only 5 points extra (they got 15 points now). Let me know if you want it changed.

You have right, it was my mistake, sorry...

I'm ok with your change.
5 points less for Spanish won't hurt dem

[Jay Bee]

Originally posted by JayKay


Portugal - Nation of Magellan's (from Magellan's Expedition)

Jay Kay (that handle bears a vaguely familiar ring to me ):

That's not the flag under which Magellan sailed, man . Not only that, Magellan was trying to find an alternate route to compete with the Portuguese for the Asian trade. Shouldn't that make him more of a traitor than a hero for you guys? You should have Vasco da Gama up there. Or even better (muuch better): LUIS FIGO!

Jokes apart, why don't you come over the Spansih Civ Site forum? It was originally meant as a generic Iberian Civ Site forum, but since you luso guys don't visit.....

[JayKay]

Originally posted by Jay Bee



Jay Kay (that handle bears a vaguely familiar ring to me ):

That's not the flag under which Magellan sailed, man . Not only that, Magellan was trying to find an alternate route to compete with the Portuguese for the Asian trade. Shouldn't that make him more of a traitor than a hero for you guys? You should have Vasco da Gama up there. Or even better (muuch better): LUIS FIGO!

Jokes apart, why don't you come over the Spansih Civ Site forum? It was originally meant as a generic Iberian Civ Site forum, but since you luso guys don't visit.....

Well Jay Bee, i know already all that u r saying, but Magellan's was Portuguese - and that's only what my phrase is saying: "Nation of Magellan's" it isn't saying Nation of Magellan's Expedition does it? Besides what matters is that he's Portuguese, and without him the Spanish would never do it!!
That remindes me of Colombus, who was italian and discovered America, aldo thinking it was India (That's why they natives of America are indians), was at the service of Spain (aldo with Portuguese maps)! It's believed that Portugal didn't accept the Colombus services (so he turned is attention to Spain) because Portugal already knew that America was there...that's why Brazil was discovered not to long after America!!

Of course i think Vasco da Gama (discoverer of the Maritime path to India) and Pedro Álvares Cabral (discoverer of Brazil in 1500) r more important to Portugal history than Magellan's (actually Fernão de Magalhães is he's name in portuguese - don't know were they get this stupid name translations; if he's name is Magalhães why call him Magellan); but the only reference to Portuguese in Civ is Magellan's!!

So...it seems that he is more known than any other Portuguese personality (really don't understand how they can leave Portugal out of Civ 2 - our country was, when we had our colonies, bigger than Europe. Our empire was spread all over the world - in America (Brazil); in Africa (Angola; Moçambique; Guiné Bissau; São tomé e Príncipe); in Asia (Macau; Goa)!!!

Personally (and i think i speak for all portuguese all over the world), i don't know why we were left off the Colonization too!!!

So that's the reason why i put Magellan's and not other portuguese (is the only portuguese in Civ 2)!!

And we don't think he's a traitor... You Spaniards from Barcelona were the ones who called traitor to Luis Figo when he left for Real Madrid!! I don't think that's fair - he would stay in Barcelona if they gave him what he wanted!!

_________________________________________________



Portugal - Nation of Magellan's (from Magellan's Expedition)