1.1 The game consists of the following components:
A. Core Rulebook (this book) and Scenario Handbook.
B. The mapboard covering the Mediterranean Sea to India.
C. Eighteen player mats.
D. Eighteen sets of playing pieces, plus an extra set for barbarian tokens and pirate cities.
E. Eighteen sets of civilization advancement cards.
F. Five sets of credit tokens, to represent credits earned purchasing prior civilization advancements.
G. Eighteen civilization advancements quick charts.
H. Eighteen civilization advancements credit quick charts.
I. Deck of 286 commodity cards.
J. Deck of 48 calamity cards.
K. Eighteen calamity quick charts.
2.1 The mapboard contains a map that represents the ancient civilized world from Spain to India and also holds a number of charts and tables including the A.S.T. (Archaeological Succession Table). The actual map has been divided into areas for purposes of population and movement. These areas contain significant features central to the play of the game, while the tables off to the sides help players keep track of their progress.
2.2 Map Areas
2.2.1 All green and brown-colored territory indicates land. All areas containing land are called land areas. White lines on green and brown-colored territory are called land borders.
2.2.2 All blue-colored territory indicates water. All areas containing water are called water areas. White lines on blue-colored territory are called water borders.
2.2.3 All areas containing only water are called open sea areas.
2.2.4 Most water areas also contains land, and are thus also land areas. Those that can trace a path strictly over water to an open sea area are called coastal areas.
2.2.5 Two areas sharing a border is considered adjacent to each other. If they share a land border, they are adjacent by land, and if they share a water border they are adjacent by water.
2.2.6 The map areas containing the A.S.T. and the trade card stacks are not in play. Areas adjacent to these areas are considered to be adjacent to the map edge.
2.2.7 All areas containing tokens belonging to a specific civilization are considered to be within that civilization. An area can be within more than one civilization.
2.2.8 All areas adjacent to an area within a specific civilization are considered to be adjacent to that civilizati
2.2.9 Two civilizations are considered adjacent to each other if they have units in the same area, or in two different areas adjacent to each other.
2.3 Map Geographical Features
2.3.1 Volcanoes are represented by white triangles. A volcano may be located in a single area or may straddle two areas.
2.3.2 Flood plains are represented by dark green coloring. Any area that contains such dark green coloring is considered to be on a flood plain.
2.3.3 City sites are represented by small squares. Most city sites are black. White city sites are on flood plains and are vulnerable to floods. Black city sites are not affected by flood, even if they are in dark green flood plains. Units in such an area would be vulnerable to flood, however.
2.4 Other Map Features
2.4.1 A number enclosed in a colored circle indicates the population limits of land areas. These numbers indicate the maximum number of tokens that the area can accommodate. To ease identification, each value has its own color.
2.4.2 All other map features are included for aesthetic purposes only and have no impact on play.
2.5 Archaeological Succession Table (A.S.T.)
2.5.1 The Archaeological Succession Table (A.S.T.) contains a horizontal track for each civilization. Each player's succession marker moves along his civilization's track from left to right. There are a total of sixteen spaces on each track, including the finish square.
2.5.2 The A.S.T. is divided into five epochs by shading. The five epochs are the stone age, the early bronze age, the late bronze age, the early iron age, and the late iron age. Not all civilizations enter the same epoch at the same time.
2.6 Other Charts
2.6.1 The census track is used to hold each civilization's census marker. After population expansion has occurred, players determine how many of their tokens are on the board and their census markers are moved to the appropriate number on the census track.
2.6.2 Trade card stacks are used to hold the various trade cards during play. There are two blocks of trade card stacks, used when the trade cards are split between The East and The West. Each block consists of nine stacks, one for each level of trade cards. The number of players will determine how many trade cards are in play (see 10.3).
3.1 There are eighteen sets of playing pieces, each with a distinctive color. Each set contains 55 square tokens, nine round cities, four rectangular ships, one small square census marker bearing a number, and one small square succession marker. The extra white set of playing pieces only contains square tokens and round cities and is used to represent barbarians and pirates.
3.2 Tokens are square, and are used to represent rural populations. When the term token is used, this does not include ships or cities.
3.3 Cities are round, and are used to represent urban populations.
3.4 Ships are rectangular, and are used to move tokens across water areas as well as fight battles (with the Naval Warfare advancement).
3.5 "Units" is a term used to refer to tokens and cities, but not ships.
3.6 "Unit points" is a term used to refer to the value of tokens and cities, usually in the context of resolving calamities. Each city has a value of five unit points and each token has a value of one unit point.
4.1 All tokens, cities and ships not currently in play on the board are held on the player mat. These are referred to as stock and are kept in the stock area of the player mat. When tokens, cities and ships are removed from the board they are placed in stock and may be returned to play at a later time. No playing piece is ever permanently removed from the game.
4.2 When tokens are placed in the treasury area of the player mat they become a currency that may be used to purchase civilization advancements, trade cards and, in some cases, mitigate the effects of calamities. It is important not to mix tokens in stock with tokens in treasury, as they serve separate functions. To maintain this distinction, tokens placed in treasury should be inverted.
5.1 Civilization advancements represent 51 important aspects of civilization. There are five groups of civilization advancements, each identified by its own color and symbolic shape. Some advancements belong to two groups. The groups are: art (blue-triangle), civic (red-hexagon), craft (orange-square), religion (yellow-star), and science (green-circle).
5.2 The attributes of the various civilization advancements are summarized on the civilization advancement cards. They contains no new information and is presented for ease of reference.
6.1 Credit tokens come in five different sets, one each for the five groups of civilization advancements (i.e. art, civic, craft, religion, and science). Each of these colored tokens come in denominations of 5, 10, 20 and 40.
6.2 As players acquire civilization advancements they will permanently acquire these credit tokens applying them to all future civilization advancements purchases of the appropriate group.
7.1 The calamity quick charts sets out the effects of each calamity. They contains no new information and are printed separately for ease of reference only.
7.2 The civilization advancements quick charts allows players to quickly compare the benefits and drawbacks of the different civilization advancements. They contains no new information and are printed separately for ease of reference only.
7.3 The civilization advancements credit quick charts allows players to easily see the credits granted by various civilization advancements. They contains no new information and are printed separately for ease of reference only.
8.1 There are two types of trade cards - commodity cards and calamity cards. The term trade card is used in the rules to refer to both commodity and calamity cards. Rules that refer specifically to commodity or calamity cards apply only to that type of card.
8.2 Commodity Cards
8.2.1 There are 286 commodity cards. The cards in each deck (number of each card is in parentheses)
Deck 1
Clay(7), Ochre(7), Hides(7), Flax(7), Bone(8)
Deck 2
Iron(8), Papyri(7), Stone(7), Furs(8), Wax(8)
Deck 3
Fish(8), Fruit(9), Salt(9), Timber(8), Ceramics(8)
Deck 4
Oil(8), Wool(7), Cotton(7), Sugar(8), Grain(8)
Deck 5
Wine(6), Textiles(7), Livestock(7), Lacquer(6), Glass(6)
Deck 6
Copper(6), Tin(5), Silver(5), Bronze(6), Lead(6)
Deck 7
Resin(5), Incense(6), Spice(6), Jade(5), Herbs(6)
Deck 8
Gemstones(5), Marble(4), Dye(4), Tea(5), Obsidian(4)
Deck 9
Gold(5), Ivory(4), Silk(4), Pearls(5), Amber(4)
The following cards are used when playing with 5-11 players. Cards with an * are only used in games with 8-11 players:
Deck 1 Clay, Hides, Bone*
Deck 2 Iron, Stone, Wax*
Deck 3 Fish, Salt, Ceramics*
Deck 4 Oil, Cotton, Grain*
Deck 5 Wine, Livestock, Glass*
Deck 6 Copper, Silver, Lead*
Deck 7 Resin, Spice, Herbs*
Deck 8 Gemstones, Dye, Obsidian*
Deck 9 Gold, Silk, Amber*
The following cards are used in 12-18 player games. Cards designated "East" are used by players on the eastern end of the map. "West" cards are for players in the west. Cards marked "S" are used only in games of 15-18 and are divided evenly between the East and West decks.
Deck 1
W: Clay, Ochre; E: Hides, Flax; S: Bone
Deck 2
W: Iron, Papyri; E: Stone, Furs; S: Wax
Deck 3
W: Fish, Fruit; E: Salt, Timber; S: Ceramics
Deck 4
W: Oil, Wool; E: Cotton, Sugar; S: Grain
Deck 5
W: Wine, Textiles; E: Livestock, Lacquer; S: Glass
Deck 6
W: Copper, Tin; E: Silver, Bronze; S: Lead
Deck 7
W: Resin, Incense; E: Spice, Jade; S: Herbs
Deck 8
W: Gemstones, Marble; E: Dye, Tea; S: Obsidian
Deck 9
W: Gold, Ivory; E: Silk, Pearls; S: Amber
8.3 Calamity Cards8.3.1 There are 24 different calamity cards, two of each for a total of 48 cards. The duplicate calamity cards are used when playing with twelve or more players. The following table sets out the trade card stack in which each calamity is placed as well as its severity and trade status:
Deck 2
Volcanic Eruption or Earthquake Major Non-tradable
Treachery Major Tradable
Squandered Wealth Minor Tradable
Deck 3
Famine Major Non-tradable
Superstition Major Tradable
Tempest Minor Tradable
Deck 4
Civil War Major Non-tradable
Slave Revolt Major Tradable
City in Flames Minor Tradable
Deck 5
Flood Major Non-tradable
Barbarian Hordes Major Tradable
City Riots Minor Tradable
Deck 6
Cyclone Major Non-tradable
Epidemic Major Tradable
Coastal Migration Minor Tradable
Deck 7
Corruption Major Non-tradable
Civil Disorder Major Tradable
Tribal Conflict Minor Tradable
Deck 8
Tyranny Major Non-tradable
Iconoclasm & Heresy Major Tradable
Minor Uprising Minor Tradable
Deck 9
Regression Major Non-tradable
Piracy Major Tradable
Banditry Minor Tradable