Thousands of years ago, human beings decide to stop being nomadic and began to live together in cities. The first cities were between the Tiger and Euphrates in what is now modern-day Iraq. People stopped being hunters and gatherers and became farmers. The Greeks called these people the Mesopotamians. This is the beginning of civilization.
In fact, the word civilization comes from the Latin word "civis" which means "city-life." Around the world, when people stopped being nomadic and adopted agricultural practices, we describe the culture as a "civilization". They became city dwellers. Moreover, when cultures became city dwellers, certain things began to happen that was common.
Cultures would develop centralized government. They would develop some way of record-keeping like written language. They would see a dramatic rise in the sophistication of their art and architecture. Their people would begin job specialization and would develop social classes. Finally, the culture would organize a standing military force.
Around the world and in many different cultures, human beings followed similar patterns when it came to city dwelling or civilization. Imagine, if you could direct the rise of a historical civilization. This game has students direct the development of an ancient civilization by learning about the culture and completing tasks that would mirror the rise of that civilization.
