Agricultural Significance withing Civilization IV

Civilization IV presents a realistic interpretation of the importance of agricultural ingenuity to the success of a society or empire within the game, portraying a common truth of historic societies. Without success in agriculture it becomes very difficult to obtain success in any other realm of society, mainly because there can be no specialists or nobility if plentiful food sources can not be obtained from the masses. All of the great empires of the past discovered ways to best use their land and resources for food production, just as players of Civilization IV must attempt to do. According to Heilbroner and Milberg in The Making of Economic Society, Twelfth Edition, it becomes impossible for a nation or empire to industrialize if agricultural success can never be reached, a truth that Civilization IV also portrays. Although most ancient societies never reached the peak of market economy, those who came closest were those who mastered the art of farming and used the excess food the greatest advantage of the empire.

Almost all the great ancient societies were mainly agricultural, according to Heilbroner and Milberg, exemplifying the importance of thriving farming and production within an empire. Furthermore, even the most industrialized modern societies "in a sense....live off the soil." (16) This same truth can be applied throughout the game, no matter what age or time period the nation is in, if agriculture can not be maintained the people will starve and vanquish. Therefore, maintaining strong food sources within one's nation becomes one of the best ways to ensure success throughout the game. In order to advance industrially there must be enough surplus food for specialists to develop the necessary technology and for workers to become industrial instead of agricultural. Basically, a small number of farmers must be able to support a large population before a nation can really advance in any way. Therefore, "all that differentiates an 'industrial' society from an 'agricultural' one is the number of the nonagricultural population that its food growers can support." (16)

Moreover, technological and agricultural success often parallel one another because increased technology allows farmers to produce more food and therefore support more non-agricultural workers, who then create more technology to help the farmer. Therefore, as long as agricultural success increases, technological success is almost sure to follow. This can explain one of the main reasons that nations such as America and England find such great economic success, because they were the first to master and expand on farming, and therefore farmers in these nations could sustain the greatest number of people who then increase technology. This technique can also be applied to the game, first building up the food source, then allowing for technology that will make food production easiest and most successful, which will then further increase the success of the entire nation. By building aqueducts or selecting for other technologies that will enable farmers to produce more food at a quicker rate, I learned that my nation increased it's success and advanced even further. Once again, I feel that initially focusing on agriculture, and ensuring it's success periodically throughout the game, will lead to the greatest and most powerful empires within the game.

Heilbroner and Milberg claim that "all ancient societies were basically rural economies," but these rural economies established the important groundwork for the market economy that we use today. (17) By enabling even a small percentage of people to focus on technology through better farming, some of the best ancient nations developed strong road systems and weapons that enabled them to rise above and beyond the average economic and social position of an empire at that time. However, farmers today live in a very different world and "are very much bound up in the web of transactions characteristic of a market society." (17) All products that they produce are typically sold on the market and all necessary technology that they purchase is typically bought on the market, making them active members in the market economy. Although this was not as typical in ancient societies, they still traded in a more barter-like fashion, enabling farmers to receive necessary supplies through feeding of the masses. Once again, this can be applied to the game, showing the importance and intricacy of food production for a society. Farmers should be glorified and made to prosper, and if they are not then a society is doomed, because without food there can never be success.

Ultimately, I believe that one of the main components of creating a successful empire in Civilization IV is to increase food production to the greatest possible degree. With increased food production a monarchy, and later democracy, can be established and greater happiness will be available to the people living within the empire. In addition, new technologies can be easily developed if enough surplus food is available to maintain those industrial workers and specialists that are not farming. A key factor to winning this game, just as a key factor in historically successful empires, is food production and use of the land to the greatest possible extent.