Civilization- Week 1- Getting Started

In the game of civilization one becomes increasingly aware of the importance of protection. Warriors, soldiers and weapons are a key component of the game as I quickly learned. It is not a matter of.... I will get around to it otherwise you don’t last long in the game as I quickly learned. As Diamonds states “ The history of interactions among disparate peoples is what shaped the modern world through conquest epidemics, and genocide” (Diamond 16). However in order to be able to create a force that both allows the you to protect your cities as well as eventually expand your power one needs a surplus of food. Jared Diamond expresses this throughout his book Guns. Germs and Steel. Food surplus is accomplished through both farming and the domestication of animals. The ability to grow food however is also reflected in the geography of the area in which the civilization is. This plays a large role in both starting the game as well as choosing were you build your cities because there is a correlation between where the city is built and how successful it is at growing food. For example, building a city on a hill does aid it from being attacked, however it decreases it success of being able to grow food. As a result of this when creating a city you begin to weigh the pros and cons on protection vs. food surplus. However in the end as illustrated by Diamond in his book, food surplus and protection are interlinked with one another.

Works Cited
Diamond, Jared. Guns, Germs, and Steel. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1999.