F
Ancient cantasy
C civilization
Dcraft by Manuel Cantillo, treasurer
Imagine you ' re in a fantasy league draft but instead of American Football or Soccer or whatever you draft for, you ' re drafting your perfect ancient civilization. So instead of the usual QB, WR, or RB positions you have aspects that make or break ancient civilizations. Location, Irrigation, Government type, Trade Routes, Military strength, Religion, Economics, etc. Ok? Ok! To start us off for the location slot, I ' m going to have to go with the Fertile Crescent. It ' s an obvious first round pick as you have 2 rivers surrounding you for natural defenses, the rich soil and predictable flooding guarantee steady agriculture. Next, for irrigation, I would pick Mesopotamia but twice in a row is kinda boring, so I would go with the Egyptians’ basin-based irrigation system. With this, my civilization can easily survive the dry seasons, with basic mapping of flooding and careful planning. I have no doubt they’ ll thrive, producing food surpluses that allow for specialization, trade, and urban growth. On the topic of trading, I ' ve got to take the Romans’ approach. That means my civilization can dominate both land-based trade like the Mongols did with the Silk Road and sea-based trade. By being in the fertile crescent they have access to Asia, Europe, and Africa through land and have access to the Persian gulf and the Mediterranean Sea. This almost guarantees wealth, access to luxury goods, and cultural connections that keep the society innovative and
For type of government, I wanted a monarchy based on religion like the South American civilizations and like Egypt. This way, decisions can be made quickly, labor can be organized for massive projects like temples or pyramids, and order can be maintained across the population, without much pushback because of the religious aspects. Complementing this choice, I wanted to go with a polytheistic religion like the Greek pantheon or Hinduism. This ensures that we could have someone be reborn as Zeus, much like the pharaoh was to Rah.( Or like the Avatar cycle [ if you dont know I REALLY love Avatar not the blue people tho { come talk to me about avatar if you see me out and about or at a JCL event: D }]). Filling the military strength position, I’ d draft a disciplined, warhungry army, something like The Vikings. A strong military isn’ t just about conquest. It ensures security at home, deters enemies, and protects those trade routes that keep the economy flowing. Last, but not least, for economy, you got to go, no, you HAVE to go with the Chinese. First paper money instead of bartering with precious metals and resources? Banking systems? It ' s just a no brainer to be honest. They made trade so much more efficient. Sorry to everyone whose favorite civilization didn ' t get picked. Maybe I ' ll do this again sometime and pick new civilizations or do something completely different. Who knows? Well I’ ll atleast be back for winter. adaptable.
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