What are the greatest civilizations of all time?

[siredgar]

Here is my list (in some kind of order):

1. English (Europe)
2. Chinese (Asia)
3. Romans (Europe)
4. Americans (Americas)
5. French (Europe)
6. Spanish (Europe)
7. Russians (Europe-Asia)
8. Egyptians (Africa)
9. Babylonians (Asia)
10. Germans (Europe)
11. Arabs (Asia)
12. Greeks (Europe)
13. Indians (Asia)
14. Japanese (Asia)
15. Portuguese (Europe)
16. Dutch (Europe)
17. Koreans (Asia)
18. Persians (Asia)
19. Turks (Asia-Europe)
20. Phoenicians (Asia-Europe-Africa)
21. Mongols (Asia)
22. Assyrians (Asia)
23. Vikings (Europe)
24. Inca (Americas)
25. Khmer (Asia)
26. Mayans (Americas)
27. Ethiopians (Africa)
28. Polish (Europe)
29. Malians (Africa)
30. Celts (Europe)
31. Aztecs (Americas)
32. Huns (Europe)

P.S. I reserve the right to change my mind at any time because I only took five minutes to make this list.

[Dauphin]

England #1!

Damn the political correctness of the Victorians (and the requirement of calling it the British Empire.)

[Coracle]

You have the Greeks too low. Hellenic influence was IMMENSE.

Phoenicians includes Carthage, I assume.

[siredgar]

Originally posted by Coracle
You have the Greeks too low. Hellenic influence was IMMENSE.

Phoenicians includes Carthage, I assume.

Perhaps, but I do not believe that I am underestimating the influence of the Greeks. After all, I am also taking into account territorial expansion, too. All of the civilizations ranked higher than the Greeks (and some that were even ranked lower) had conquered more territory.

[siredgar]

Originally posted by Sagacious Dolphin
England #1!

Damn the political correctness of the Victorians (and the requirement of calling it the British Empire.)

Well, I was debating on whether to call them the British, but decided against it for several reasons:

1. They are called the English in Civ 3.

2. The English conquered the Scots, Welsh, and Irish and then formed the British Empire.

3. It is English not British that is the world's universal language.

4. Most of the important rulers and leaders of the British Empire were English.

[Drake Tungsten]

Originally posted by siredgar
4. Most of the important rulers and leaders of the British Empire were English.

What about the Tudors? Or the Stuarts? Or the house of Windsor? A suprisingly large number of English monarchs have not actually been English...

If you're talking about PM's, OTOH, I'll agree with you.

[Dauphin]

There have been many more French and German descent monarchs of England. The fact the Tudors were of Welsh or Stuarts Scottish descent is not that important.

[Drake Tungsten]

Originally posted by Sagacious Dolphin
There have been many more French and German descent monarchs of England. The fact the Tudors were of Welsh or Stuarts Scottish descent is not that important.

I'm well aware of this. Siredgar's post, however, mentioned the Scots and the Welsh specifically, so I figured that the Stuarts and the Tudors would be good examples.

[Dauphin]

Despite being descended from many various nationals, the Royal family is still full of inbreds.

[KrazyHorse]

Originally posted by Coracle
You have the Greeks too low. Hellenic influence was IMMENSE

Agreed. And why are the Egyptians so high up? Their ancient culture had remarkably little impact on the rest of the world, and in more modern times they were swallowed up by Arabs.

[KrazyHorse]

Originally posted by Sagacious Dolphin
There have been many more French and German descent monarchs of England. The fact the Tudors were of Welsh or Stuarts Scottish descent is not that important.

The fact that the Stuarts were from Scotland was supremely important in your history.

[Boris Godunov]

Originally posted by siredgar


Perhaps, but I do not believe that I am underestimating the influence of the Greeks. After all, I am also taking into account territorial expansion, too. All of the civilizations ranked higher than the Greeks (and some that were even ranked lower) had conquered more territory.

What?! Alexander's Empire was far larger than anything conquered by the Egyptians or Babylonians, and Greek historical and cultural influence was far greater than them as well. Remember, much of Rome's culture was built on Greek foundations. And it was a revival of interest in Greek classical works that developed in the European Renaissance, which in turn lead to European worldwide cultural dominance.

[Boris Godunov]

Originally posted by KrazyHorse


Agreed. And why are the Egyptians so high up? Their ancient culture had remarkably little impact on the rest of the world, and in more modern times they were swallowed up by Arabs.

I certainly wouldn't put the Egyptians higher than the Greeks, Arabs or Germans.

[Boris Godunov]

Oh yeah...and the Celts should be higher. Remember that prior to the Roman Empire, Celtic culture spanned across all of Western and Central Europe.

[jdd2007]

babylonians in the top ten? i think they should be in the top 25 or 20, but ranking them over greeks, arabs and japanese does not make sense. the one great contribution to the world from the babs was the Code of Hammurabi. i agree with everyone else about the greeks. the great minds of the ancient world were all greek until the romans came along and built upon the greek foundation.

two civs that could be in there are the hebrews/israelis and the scots.

i think that the french should be a little lower, as well as the egyptians, but overall i think that is a pretty accurate. its hard to compare civilizations that have left their impressions on history in different ages and in different ways.

for example, the mongols were overwhelmingly militaristic.