Alex M - Civilization Book

Alexandria
THE ANSWER TO WHAT MAKES A SUCCESSFUL

CIVILIZATION
Alex McGregor
McGregor, Alexandra Friday, January 10, 2014 1:11:31 PM Pacic Standard Time 70:56:81:af:fb:57
SECTION 1
The island appears in the distance, iso-
lated and alone in the big blue sea. The
shimmering water is cool to the touch, a
perfect escape from the heat. The tropical
jungle is copious with fruits, and dense,
crawling with all kinds of spiders, in-
sects, monkeys and wild boar. Tropical
birds soar in the air, their bright colors
It is on this isolated island that the long-lasting civilization of Alexandria is formed.
Introduction
1
bursting against the pale blue sky. The air
tastes of salt, wafting up from the sea. De-
licious looking fruits and coconuts fall
from trees and land with a hollow thud in
the sparkling sand. The rays of sunlight
touch the ground, radiating heat, the
bright sun bounces off of the golden
ground. Wind carries the scent of fruit
and tropical owers away from the jun-
gle, pleasing all that are lucky enough to
smell the sweet scent. The waves crash
against the land, roaring and rumbling.
Birdcalls ring though the air, some are
sharp, some are sweet, and some are inde-
scribable. Animals scream and yell in the
forest, ghting for food and shelter. The
wind whistles to the trees, calling a sweet,
sad goodbye to the island as night falls
and the sky darkens like the ebony plum-
age of a blackbirds wing.
It is in this favorable geographic envi-
ronment that the civilization of Alexan-
dria will be founded. It is a civilization
whose design takes its inspiration from
the study of past civilizations such as the
Arabs, the Aztecs, the Greeks, the May-
ans, the Mesopotamians, and the Ro-
mans, among others. This book will docu-
ment the necessary steps to take in order
to create a successful civilization.
2
People are children of their environments
-Shinichi Suzuki
CHAPTER 1
3
Modifications
SECTION 1
Part I Analysis of the Problem
The rst step in building a successful civi-
lization is to secure basic human needs
such as food and water. Due to its geogra-
phy, the major challenges the civilization
of Alexandria faces in achieving a basic
food and water supply include the follow-
ing:
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Human Changes to the Land
4
One of the problems that an Alexandrian
is faced with when living on the island of
Alexandria is nding a way to get fresh
water. The island is, of course, sur-
rounded by salt water, but the Alexandri-
ans cannot drink that. Salt water is good
for shing, but unless the Alexandrians
can purify the water, the water does not
help the problem of thirst. Fresh water
must be found for them to survive. If they
cannot get enough water for every person
to drink, some of them will die of thirst.
Another problem that an Alexandrian is
faced with is how to get enough protein
for a healthy diet. Another part of that
problem is nding materials to make
tools to hunt and catch sh. If they cannot
sh or hunt, they will not have enough
protein in their diet, and they will starve.
If they start to starve, they may die, their
civilization may perish completely, and
nothing would turn out well.
Part II Proposed solutions
An adaption is where the people of a civi-
lization change to t their environment. A
modication is where the people of a civi-
lization change the environment to t
their needs. People adapt because unless
they can survive in their environment,
their civilization will not thrive. Civiliza-
tions have to modify the environment so
that they will have a place to live, and so
that they have enough resources to sur-
vive.
5
Though the Alexandrians live near a
big body of water, it is not fresh water
that is safe to drink. To solve the problem
of having to walk into the jungle to the
rivers and streams every time an Alexan-
drian needs water, they are going to build
aqueducts to bring water to their civiliza-
tion. The aqueducts are going to be built
out of hollowed out palm tree trunks, and
will run downhill to Alexandria to supply
the Alexandrians with water for their
crops and personal needs. These irriga-
tion systems were based off the aque-
ducts that the Aztecs built. Like the Alex-
andrians, the Aztecs needed to get water
to their crops and buildings so that they
could live. The [Aztecs] boasted other
technological marvels, like the aqueduct
that carried fresh water for irrigation
(Frey 275). The water was carried from a
spring three miles away, to supply the Az-
tecs with fresh water.
6
This is one of the Ancient Aztec aqueducts.
http://lh4.ggpht.com/_Ku3Hgoxo2a0/SBeCLhaOFgI/AAAAAAAAC90/awLAu4J9hfM/DSC02037.JPG
The other major problem that an Alex-
andrian is faced with is nding a way to
get enough food to feed their whole civili-
zation. To solve this problem, they will
shape palm wood into wooden knifes
and hooks, and will nd sharp rocks to
cut food and kill animals in the jungle. To
solve the lack of crops, they will grow
food that can be grown in their sandy soil
and hot environment such as tropical
fruits and coconuts. A similar technique
was used by the Greeks to grow food for
Greek families. With so little at land
available, Greek farmers had to think of
the best ways to use the land they had
7
Palm tree
http://static.panoramio.com/photos/large/1979941.jpg
Coconut water is good to drink, coconut meat can be eaten.
http://www.defeatdiabetes.org/resource/dynamic/global/food_-_coconut_meat_and_shell.jpg
(Frey 249). The Greeks grew olives and
grapes, which can be grown on rocky
Greek hillsides. Some also planted hill-
side orchards of fruit and nut trees in or-
der to get enough food to survive.
This is rocky terrain that the Greek people lived on.
http://www.kidport.com/reib/worldgeography/greece/Images/Hills.JPG
8
The peoples good is the highest law.
-Cicero
CHAPTER 2
9
Laws and Government
SECTION 1
Lessons From the Past
Lesson #1: Treat people fairly
One important lesson that should be
learned from the governments in the
Greek city-states is to treat people fairly.
Greece used to be a monarchy, which is
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lorem ipsum potenti.
Maintaning Civil Order
10
where one leader rules all, but when the
kings advisors and aristocrats overthrew
the king, Greece became an oligarchy. At
rst, the oligarchy seemed like a good
idea, but eventually it became clear that
the oligarchs were treating the poor un-
fairly. As stated by Frey, Under the [rule
of the] oligarchs, the rich became richer,
and the poor became poorer (Frey 255).
The oligarchs treated the poor unfairly,
and the poor eventually rebelled. The civi-
lization of Alexandria will learn from the
mistakes that the Greeks made in the
past. They will not be a monarchy or an
oligarchy. Alexandria will be a democ-
racy. In a democracy the citizens of the
civilization are allowed to vote for one
leader that they would like to be their
ruler.
Citizens
also vote
for laws
that they
like and
that they
think are
good. The citizens of Alexandria get to
have a say in the government, so hope-
fully as many people as possible can be
happy.
Lesson #2: Everyone should have a
chance to participate in government
Another important lesson that should be
learned from the rise of the Roman Repub-
lic is to give everyone a chance to partici-
11
This is a what happens in a democracy
http://www.duhaime.org/Portals/duhaime/images/450-BC-Twelve-Tables-Mirys.jpg
pate in government. Between 616 and
509 B.C.E., the Etruscans ruled Rome
(Frey 318), and only the patricians, the
upper-class citizens that made up 5% of
Rome, got to vote for the king. The plebe-
ians, the lower class citizens that made up
95% of Rome, had no rights or power to
inuence the Etruscan king. When the pa-
tricians overthrew Etruscan rule, and be-
came a republic, only they were allowed
to take part in the government, not the
plebeians. Eventually the plebeians re-
belled. As stated by Frey, Angry over
their lack of power, the plebeians
marched out of the city and camped on a
nearby hill. They refused to come back un-
til the patricians met their demands
(Frey 319). Rome was falling apart with-
out the plebe-
ians, who
made up
95% of the
population,
and the patri-
cians had lit-
tle choice but
to meet the demands of the plebeians.
They allowed the plebeians to have two
tribunes, who could speak for all the ple-
beians and veto laws they didnt like. Al-
exandrians will learn from this mistake
that the Romans made. They will give
everyone in the civilization the right to
participate in government. Not just the
rich will be able to take part in the govern-
ment, but the poor will as well. This will
12
This is an example of the Plebeians
camping on a nearby hill.
http://www.guernicamag.com/Secession-Plebians-575.JPG
make Alexandria a better civilization. Eve-
rything will run smoothly, and hopefully,
no one will rebel.
Lesson #3: Restrictions in govern-
ment
There are many important restrictions in
government that can be made based on
what happened in ancient Rome. In the
case of councils, less people are better for
some things, like they have deeper discus-
sion, but in some cases they can be unfair.
Spartas Council of Elders had 500 men
over 30. Their highest rulers were 30 peo-
ple that included 2 kings and 28 men over
60. Everyone had to be rich, and from
high ranking familys. As stated by Frey,
To be elected to the Council of Elders,
men had to be at least 60 years old and
from a noble family (Frey 265), so when
they suggested the laws, they didnt
know where other people in the civiliza-
tion were coming from. Based on what
happened in the past, Alexandria should
have a council of 200 people, so that they
do not have to many people, but they
have enough different people to generate
good ideas. The people of Alexandria will
be a democracy like Athens, unlike the oli-
garchy that Sparta had. However, while
Athens had a Council of 500 made of men
over 30 to suggest laws, Alexandria will
have a group of 24 people, women and
men, older than 24 to determine the laws.
The laws will then be determined by all
of the people that are citizens of Alexan-
13
dria, by voting. Citizens of Alexandria are
all people that are over 18 who were born
in Alexandria, including women and
slaves. People can become citizens by
passing a special test created for the pur-
pose of determining if non-citizens can be-
come citizens.
Code of Laws
The three major threats in the civilization
of Alexandria are property, relationships,
and health/safety. Resources in Alexan-
dria such as stone are limited. Many pre-
cious jewels and valuable items are rarely
found in homes. If any such item is sto-
len, there must be laws to make sure that
the items are returned, and the thief is
punished. Relationships between friends,
enemies, and even family can sometimes
get out of hand. Laws need to be in place
to prevent people from ghting, to pun-
ish the people that are involved in a ght.
Health and safety is important wherever
people go, but in Alexandria it is espe-
cially important because medicine is lim-
ited. Alexandria needs to have many laws
to protect people from harm.
It is written in that all people shall
follow these
laws:
I. If a person
kills another,
they shall be
put to death
II. If a person
14
The laws are written in the Alexandrian
Government Building
is found guilty of robbery, they shall
spend as many years in prison as they
have lived
III. If any item is stolen from another per-
sons home, the thief will return the item,
pay the owner 1,000, and will spend 5
years in jail
IV. If a person breaks any of the laws of
Alexandria they are sentenced to a life-
time of solitary connement
V. If any person hurts another, and the
hurt person needs medical attention, the
person who hurt them will pay all of their
medical bills and they will give the hurt
person an additional 150
VI. If anyone in Alexandria gets sick with
a deadly disease the whole city will go un-
der quarantine, no one is allowed in, and
no one is al-
lowed out
The laws that
have been writ-
ten all serve a
purpose in pro-
tecting the peo-
ple of Alexan-
dria. Law I and
law V are laws
that have to do
with relation-
ships. One person killing another is a
kind of relationship, and so is one person
15
This is a statue of Julius Caesar
http://media.npr.org/programs/morning/features/2007/dec/blogging/cae
sar200-18062911c348e746d848e78aef3d7725f28ef571-s6-c30.jpg
hurting another. Law I and law V have
been written down as laws for Alexandria
to prevent any terrible things like death
from happening. Law II has to do will
property. It is in place to insure that noth-
ing is stolen, and everything is kept in or-
der between people. (Not nished)
Political Leadership of Julius Cae-
sar
Based on Julius Caesars rule, leaders
should make sure that they dont become
too big, or in other words, arrogant, be-
cause they will become unpopular with
the people they took power from. Julius
Caesar was made a dictator in 45 B.C.E.
There were many things that made Cae-
sar popular with the people, but there
were also many things that made him un-
popular with elected leaders. One of the
things that made elected ofcials mad
was that Caesar chose his own leaders
and ofcials. For example, The aristo-
crats of Rome and many Senators feared
that if [Julius] Caesars power continued,
the republican government would never
be restored and Caesar would hand
down his leadership to an heir (Julius
Caesars
Rule as Dicta-
tor). As a re-
sult of this,
Julius Caesar
was stabbed
to death 23
times. The
16
Julius Caesar was stabbed 23 times
http://sbceo.org/~vms/carlton/Rome/julius4.jpg
main thing that will make a leader un-
popular is if they start to become to arro-
gant, and demand to many things, or take
power from elected ofcials. If a leader
takes power from a senate, or any elected
ofcials, they will get upset. Elected of-
cials will not be happy if leaders choose
their own people to rule with them, and
elected ofcials will feel that the republic
is threatened. If people get worried that
the original way to rule may be compro-
mised, they will take drastic measures to
make sure that it gets back to normal. If a
leader takes power from people that have
been elected, things will not end well for
them.
The Decline of the Western Ro-
man Empire
Part 1:
The main reason for the decline in the
Western Roman Empire were the lack of a
good emperor. Romans never found a
good way to nd new Roman emperors.
After one Roman emperor died, the Prae-
torian Guard would have to nd out who
would be the new emperor. As stated in
the Decline of the Western Roman Em-
pire, Gradually, the Praetorian Guard
gained complete authority to choose the
new emperor and in 186 C.E., the army be-
gan the practice of selling the throne to
the highest bidder. If there is not a good
emperor, the success of a civilization will
17
not be as high, and because the Roman
emperor was someone who had the most
money, and not someone who would be
wise, the emperors were not solving the
problems of Rome. The lack of a good Ro-
man emperor caused the success of the
civilization started to decline.
Another reason that Rome fell was be-
cause a lot of
Roman
money was
going to-
wards the
Western Ro-
man army. Be-
cause most of
the Roman
money was going towards a big army,
and the army was not made up of com-
pletely reliable people, the army would
not do a very good job of protecting the
civilization, and the civilization could be
overtaken. If more money is going to-
wards a big army, The emperors [are]
forced to raise taxes frequently which in
turn [leads] to ination (Decline of the
Western Roman Empire). Also, if the peo-
ple get taxed more because of military
spending, they will get angry. This could
be the cause of a rebellion, which will
weaken the empire. The excessive
amount of military spending led to the de-
cline of the Western Roman Empire.
Part 2:
18
This is an example of an unreliable ro-
man army ghting.
http://lh5.ggpht.com/_uuSFdDYNAc4/RzgAkilSHrI/AAAAAAAABTc/0tP
cKLw8P3c/s800/roman-army-10.jpg
Another problem that the people must
solve is how
to nd a
good em-
peror. To
solve this
problem, the
leader of Al-
exandria
will be cho-
sen by the people. The law that will re-
gard to this problem is that every year,
there will be an election to determine
whether the leader will stay as the leader,
or whether there will be a new leader. No
one has the power to change this law, not
even the leader, and each leader is only al-
lowed to rule for ten years. As stated in
the Decline of the Western Roman Em-
pire, The Romans never created an ef-
fective system to determine how new em-
perors would be selected. The law of Al-
exandria will solve this problem because
there will not be ghting. The emperor
will be good if the people choose the one
that they think will solve the problem,
and not one that has the most money. If
Alexandria follows this law, the civiliza-
tion will prosper, and nding a good em-
peror will not be a problem.
The civilization of Alexandria will do as
many things as possible to solve the prob-
lem of military spending. To solve this
problem, there will be a law that every
man over 24 will have to ght for the civi-
19
People voting for new emperor
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9ozYORlwor4/ToV6J8DZ2aI/AAAAAAAAAlE/U758
a8BkFQA/s1600/92%2BPraetorians%2Bvs%2BCitizens.jpg
lization of Alexandria. This will make
sure that the people of Alexandria will
not have to nd soldiers that are unem-
ployed, or not living in Alexandria. As
stated in the Decline of the Western Ro-
man Empire, Such an army was not
only unreliable, but very expensive. This
law will prevent military spending be-
cause money will not have to be spent on
the army. If one man from each family
goes to ght, it will not be expensive, and
the army will be reliable because if people
want to keep their homes, they will ght
for them. With this law, excessive
amounts of military spending will not be
a problem to the civilization of Alexan-
dria.
20
Laws are written on tablets in the center of the government
building

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Alexandria

THE ANSWER TO WHAT MAKES A SUCCESSFUL

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