[ WP ] Narrate a game of Civilization as though it were excerpted from a history textbook .

4,000 BC 
 
 The sun rose over the hills rimming an obscure corner of a vast and unknown land. Dawn had come to the spring campsite of the small band of foragers who had only begun to call themselves'Roman'. Their site was well-chosen; in the plains to the north, there was a stand of wild grain which provided abundant food, and in the patch of barren desert to the west, a black liquid seeped up from cracks in the hard-caked sand. 
 
 Shaking the last of the winter chill from his bones, Chieftain Romulus supposed to himself that that liquid would be useful one day. Climbing out from his tent and hefting his spear onto a broad shoulder, he strode to the center of the camp's square and awaited the gathering of his people. 
 
 He savored the stillness of the morning for a moment. Raising his spear high above his head, he spoke: 
 
 `` My people the Romani! Hear me now! For too long have we scraped a bare living from the dusty earth, and for far too long has its bounty escaped our toils! I stand before you now with not a command but rather a bargain! Array yourselves underneath my banner, and prosper under my flag! For the way is hard and there will be much effort, but the reward shall be wealth untold, for you and your children!'' 
 
 A cheer erupted through the village. In the following weeks, councils were held among the leaders of warbands, wise men, and tribute collectors. It was decided that this village would be named'Rome' in honor of the tribe, and that they should send out settlers to establish new villages in the nearby hills and plains. Within 500 years, they had managed to master the craft of working of a strange new metal, called'bronze', and the art of drawing the sounds of their speech in such a way that Romulus's edicts could be borne by messengers as faithfully as though they came from the throat of the great man himself. 
 
 3,200 BC 
 
 Rome's arms had stretched out over the plains, and new cities were founded: Veii, Vindolanum, and Londinium. Children were born, roads were built, and the four cities were as one. But not all was as bright as the sunrise over the sea, for there were chilling reports from survivors of exploring parties who during their voyages had happened upon villages filled with hordes of barbarians atop great beasts, who handily slaughtered the exploring parties almost to the last man. 
 
 Furthermore, there was a growing feeling that they were not alone, and that their power might be rivalled. These barbarians could be dealt with easily; the spears of the Roman phalanges could beat back all but the most determined savages, and their granaries could support their swelling ranks for centuries to come. Rome had prospered under Romulus, and the time had come for some changes to ensure future prosperity. 
 
 But the granaries were being chipped away, tribute was being siphoned off, and learning for the greater glory of Rome was abanonded in favor of idiotic pursuits. Romulus stood before his people at the steps of his great palace, and spoke once more: 
 
 `` People of Rome! You have enjoyed the fruits of your toils, deservedly, but there are those among you who have taken more than the share which your labors have merited! I ask you, O honest and upright Romans, to unite under me as the King of the Four Cities, and stamp out these criminals!'' 
 
 A cheer, a thousand times louder than that centuries before, echoed off the city walls and thundered through the Four Cities. But that cheer was not unheard, and soon an envoy wearing strange clothes and speaking a strange language had arrived in Londinium. 
 
 Wasting no time, Romulus invited him to his court, and through immense patience and effort, they both reached an agreement that neither king would harm the other, for the envoy came from the Zulu, whose name was whispered in the outer reaches of Rome as a great civilization of fierce warriors, more brutal still than the horse-riding barbarians of the great unknown outside of Rome's borders. 
 
 Rome was not alone, but at least it had neighbors who wished them no specific harm. Romulus ordered his wise men to direct their efforts into better weapons and defenses, as a precautionary measure. 
 
 3,000 BC 
 
 The morning came to the coastal city of Vindolanum just as thousands of mornings came before. The gulls shrieked and swooped, the fishermen bundled their nets and counted their catch, and the temples rang with the incantations of the priests and Vestal Virgins. But this morning was soon to be marked as one of the blackest but most auspicious days of Rome's history, for a strange ship had appeared off the coast. Not like the triremes that carried Rome's men up and down the shore, this one was of a type never seen before: as vast as a city, made fully of iron, and with no visible sails or oars to propel it. 
 
 Romulus's heart wavered just as a gout of fire erupted from the deck of the ship. Seconds later, the temple burst into a great, thundering ball of fire, and the chants were silenced. 
 
 What was this ship? Who sent it, and how could Romulus prevent his cities from being flattened into smoldering embers by the great, fiery bolts it shot forth? Anger and confusion filled his head. He sent out a ship bearing a flag of truce, but it was soon sent to the bottom of the harbor by another gout of flame. 
 
 So, this was war. 
 
 Meanwhile, aboard the great battleship, the USS Portland, Comrade Theodore Roosevelt stood proudly and surveyed the harbor. The People's Union of the States of America had prospered under their Premier, who had discovered secret codes to grant any amount of wealth, scientific knowledge, and power to its holder. Determined to unite the entire world under the American banner, a great eagle clutching a hammer in one talon and a sickle in the other, Comrade Roosevelt's heart leapt at the notion of playing the hammer today in order to show these backwards `` Romans'' how to properly wield the sickle for the prosperity of the proletariat. 
 
 `` Admiral, you may proceed. Let us show these Romans the might of the American people!'' 
 
 The bombardment began in earnest, until not one stone lay atop the other in Vindolanum. 
 
 2,900 BC 
 
 Romulus and his retainers retreated to the coastal hill town of Veii, where the geography would shield much of the city from the horrifying fireballs of the mysterious American ship. With only two phalanges to hold the city, only a miracle could save the Romans and avenge the memory of Vindolanum. The ship's eery, sail-less masts peaked over the horizon. Today was to be a bloody day. 
 
 The vessel sailed into the harbor and began its thundering assault on the exposed buildings of Veii, but evacuations had already taken place, and a vast chain lay underneath the mouth of the harbor, ready to trap the ship while the remaining forces of Rome's once-great army struck its last, desperate blow. 
 
 Rowing out under cover of smoke, the two phalanges made for the great battleship. Behind them, the Colossus crumpled and toppled under the force of a fireball from the ship. Beneath the notice of the crew on board that terrible vessel, the phalanges pressed on, saved by the very smoke and fog that was the doom of Veii. 
 
 Romulus led the men. It was either victory or death; surrender was not an option for true Romans. 
 
 Quietly, despite their armor and spears, the phalanges clambered up the sides of the battleship. Sentries were skewered and cast overboard. An alarm was raised, and men appeared, wielding those short spears which produced small gouts of flame like the great weapons on the battleship. But their numbers were too few, and at the cost of many noble Romans, the defenders were overwhelmed. 
 
 Romulus, with the spears of a dozen men bristling about him, made a mad dash for the great structure amidships, where he knew the leader of these Americans would await him. 
 
 And so he did. The man was hideous beyond description, with a barbaric mustache, strange discs of glass before his squinting, pig-like eyes, and clothing that appeared to be more suited to that of a laborer than the leader of a civilization. Javelins impaled Roosevelt's bodyguard, the training of Rome's army not having been neglected. Roosevelt was led away in manacles and paraded through the rubble of Rome. Romulus was victorious, but knew that it was only a matter of time before another of these great and terrible ships would appear in the harbors of Rome, so no sooner than the triumphal procession reached the palace than Romulus commanded his wise men to redouble their efforts in war technology, and his envoys to further cement his friendship with the Zulus, exchanging gold for wisdom and wisdom for gold. It was to be a struggle, and Rome would need every advantage it could procure...
