[IW] A world where all 'ancient' civilizations reached TL9?

[Greg 1]

This is a great idea.

One problem that would have to be worked out, related to the earlier point that different civilizatiosn sprang up in the same territory, is how you retain the flavor of the various civilizations while allowing for the fact that they haven't conquered each other. For instance, it is harder to represent Rome as being an imperial power if they don't own Egypt, Greece (which has already been mentioned), Israel and Macedon. They could have backwards-old western Europe of course, though that might be trickier if you want to see a TL 9 Celtic civilization.

[Turhan's Bey Company]

Originally Posted by Greg 1

One problem that would have to be worked out, related to the earlier point that different civilizatiosn sprang up in the same territory, is how you retain the flavor of the various civilizations while allowing for the fact that they haven't conquered each other. For instance, it is harder to represent Rome as being an imperial power if they don't own Egypt, Greece (which has already been mentioned), Israel and Macedon. They could have backwards-old western Europe of course, though that might be trickier if you want to see a TL 9 Celtic civilization.

Well, some compromises are clearly necessary. My preference would be to keep the big, iconic civilizations and work in others around the edges. For the Romans, it'd be fairly easy to maintain a number of other civilizations as ethnic groups in subject territories, as was the case historically, only more so. You'd have subject Greeks and Semites in the eastern Med, subject Celts in western Europe, and subject Phoenicians in northern Africa. About the only territorial changes you'd need to make would be an independent Egypt (probably incorporating Axum and stretching most of the way down the Nile) and a firmer eastern border so that the empire doesn't roll into Mesopotamia, which already has quite enough going on. Even then, there's room for some small, independent Celtic territories in Ireland, Scotland, and around the fringes of the western part of the empire without compromising either the empire or the Scandinavians.

[vicky_molokh]

Yeah, one important thing to remember is that Great != Big. In a way, Singapore can be considered a great civilization.

[YunusWesley]

I'm surprised no one's mentioned Greg Bear's _Eon_ and _Eternity_, some nice parallel worlds SF.

_Eon_ sets up using space-time as a building material, with world-jumping possibilities;

_Eternity_ plays it out with a... not really TL9 Alexandrian empire, but maybe a TL3+5, emergent +4.

[Pip Boy]

Great idea, really!

But, as a start... how many 'great ancient civilizations' do we have? Or, better yet, how many CAN we have, before our tiny planet squeeze them against one another, and one culture become unrecognizable or lost again?

[SuperGamera]

How would this world come to be? It seems that you would need a development c. 100 AD that would greatly increase the stability of governments at the time. Some form of improved communication (printing press) or transportation (sailing ship, carriage suspension) that would allow large empires to survive and keep better contact with their frontiers?

[Phantasm]

Originally Posted by Pip Boy

Great idea, really!

But, as a start... how many 'great ancient civilizations' do we have? Or, better yet, how many CAN we have, before our tiny planet squeeze them against one another, and one culture become unrecognizable or lost again?

Earliest "Old World" civilizations: Sumeria, Egypt, Harappan India, China, Minoan Crete.

Looking at this, Sumeria should dominate the Middle East, Egypt should dominate Northern Africa; India should cover the Indian sub-continent, including what is today Pakistan; China should dominate Asia, and Crete should dominate the Balkans, western Turkey, and the Italian 'boot'. Sorry, Rome, but you were a Greek colony to begin with before you became a world-dominating super-power. Maybe we can have the Etruscans take your place?

[Phantasm]

Just a few scribblings:

Sumerian Empire

Geography
The Sumerian Empire dominates the Middle East. Originating in the Balkans, the Sumerian people settled in the area between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers and their tributaries. Currently, their borders contain the present-day nations of Iraq, Iran, Kuwait, Jordan, Syria, Israel/Palestine, eastern Turkey, and western Afghanistan.

The Sumerians are not the only people in the Empire. Subject peoples in the Empire include the Akkadians, Babylonians, Canaanites, Phoenecians, and Hebrews.

Religion
Surprisingly, Sumeria is still officially polytheistic, worshipping the same pantheon of nearly 900 gods, collectively known as the Annunaki, they did when they oritinally settled the region. The reason the Empire still officially worships the Annunaki is because the Emperor is also the Patriarch of the religion, and has been for the last 6,000 years.

However, this is not the only religion worshipped. Zoroastrianism and Judaism are common religions among the populace. Two thousand years ago, a sect of Judaism that became known as Christianity emerged, and was exiled from the Empire.

Language
The official language of the Empire is Sumerian. Subject peoples are permitted to keep their own language, but are required by Imperial decree to learn Sumerian as well. Sumerian schools offer classes in Egyptian, Greek, and Indian as electives.

The old Sumerian syllabic cuniform writing style has been superceded by the Greek alphabet, which in itself was based off the coastal Phoenician alphabet.

[rogersd]

Some ideas for the worlds biggest empire. I have followed tbrock's format.

The Roman Empire

Geography
The Roman Empire dominates continental Europe including Great Britain and Spain, in the west and extends further into Eastern Europe, Poland (could easily include the Baltic states if you would like) and Romania in the North East and Western Asia Minor in South. The Empire occupies much of North Africa until reaching the Cyrenaica, Egypt's western most province, the Sahara desert forms the southern limits of the empire. The size of the Empire means that there are many groups contained within its borders, all Hellenized to a greater of lesser degree.

Religion
The Empire officially retains the Olympian gods as the Imperial Cult. However, the empire is religiously diverse and many of the religions of the smaller populations persist. The largest non-Olympian cult outside of the Christians are the followers of Isus, a religion that spread from Egypt and is commonly worshiped by women in the Empire. Rome remains the center of the Empire and the Emperor retains the title Pontifex Maximus. Christianity's hold in the Empire is the strongest in the eastern regions of the Empire and is based in Constantinople where the Patriarch of Constantinople is the high priest.

Language
Latin is the official language of the Empire. Greek is widely spoken, especially among the educated, the elite and the people of the eastern Empire. The average Imperial citizen has received education in Latin and one-or-two of the other languages, most likely Greek and a local language. The alphabet is the Latin (Etruscan).

[vicky_molokh]

Do we count Sumeria's large number of orbital platforms and their space elevator into their territory? Same with the "God of the Underworld's kingdoms" of civilizations that have such gods (Romans?).

Aztects should probably have some artificial sun tech, maybe mirror satellites used to improve agriculture?