Era
CULTURES
The Great Tapestry
In Humankind, every Civilization begins as a Nomadic Tribe seeking little more than survival in a brutal world. Yet, by the game's end--if you're still around--you will have taken the mantle of many Cultures. Which will see you prosper? What military forces will see you victorious? What specialist district will best serve you? The wise leader chooses carefully.
Cultures
Neolithic Era
Nomadic Tribe
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Nomadic Tribe
A society of nomadic hunter-gatherers living in temporary settlements.
N/A
N/A
Ancient Era
Assyrians
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Assyrians
A culture ready for war, the Assyrians are a fierce, military-focused people with martial prowess driven by the noble classes who seek land and riches.
Babylonians
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Babylonians
With their hearts and minds immersed in their great heaving metropolises, the Babylonians are among the era's great builders, thinkers, and mathematicians.
DLC
Bantu
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Bantu
This vibrant and ever-expanding culture is one born of assimilation. Bantu languages and customs are almost beyond number, yet still their urge to spread knows no bounds.
DLC
Caralans
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Caralans
For the Caralans, urban life is born of the hard work of the farmer and the fisherman, ensuring none go hungry, whatever the season.
Egyptians
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Egyptians
A culture of divine-touched pharaohs, fertile lands, and dreams of immortality. Unparalleled architects and administrators capable of transforming the land.
Harappans
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Harappans
The Harappans are city planners without peer, cultivating peas and sesame, cotton and barley, by ingeniously channeling the flood waters of the monsoon season for their own benefit.
Mycenaeans
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Mycenaeans
Behind the great palatial walls of their fortresses, the Mycenaeans jealously guard their vast stores of artefacts. Militaristic and austere, their champions fight for the gods and glory.
Nubians
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Nubians
Masters of trade, the Nubians exist at the crossroads of the world, where luxuries like incense, ivory, and ebony are exchanged under the watchful eye of skilled archers.
Olmecs
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Olmecs
Exploiting the fertile lands around coastal waters and inland lakes, the Olmecs will use their bounties to build striking city complexes brimming with monuments and ceremonial sites.
DLC
Zhou
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Zhou
Under the mandate of heaven, the Zhou will oversee an era of social, philosophical, and cultural growth the likes of which the world has never seen.
Classical Era
Achaemenid Persians
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Achaemenid Persians
Expansionist to their core, the Persians understand that an empire can stand the test of time if it embraces its citizens' religious and cultural diversity.
Aksumites
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Aksumites
A culture enjoying great natural wealth—living, mineral, and elemental—with territory from rainy, fertile plateaus to dry, hot seaports, the Aksumites are a trading powerhouse.
Carthaginians
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Carthaginians
The Carthaginians harbor dreams of a sprawling seaport with quays too numerous to count and wares too marvelous to comprehend. Not many would wager against them.
DLC
Garamantes
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Garamantes
An ingenious desert people, the Garamantes can coax life from the driest ground—and have mighty cavalry with which to defend their oases.
Goths
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Goths
A valorous culture who regard the crucible of the battlefield as the true measure of a person, the Goths are nevertheless spiritual, venerating their traditions.
Greeks
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Greeks
The Greeks strive for great advances in the higher virtues of civilization. Art, philosophy, drama, and mathematics are ripe to flourish.
DLC
Han
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Han
Part of a flourishing scientific tradition, the Han combine devotion to discovery with a robust imperial military.
Huns
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Huns
Ferocious warriors of the wild steppes, the Huns are a nomadic, raiding culture who live for the thrill of battle.
Maya
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Maya
A heritage born of fertile, humid lowlands with healthy harvests of corn and beans, the Mayans are bold explorers of the limits of sculpture, astronomy, and obsidian.
DLC
Nazca
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Nazca
Skilled artisans, the Nazcans fire ceramics and weave baskets with unparalleled craft, yet their military ferocity should not be forgotten.
Romans
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Romans
Master engineers and soldiers, the Romans bind strong laws and hardy institutions into an enduring framework, tying the many provinces of their lands together.
Medieval Era
Aztecs
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Aztecs
Opulent jaguar warriors who stalk the highlands and cloud forests, the Aztecs possess impressive temples and obsidian blades. Religious rituals, including human sacrifice, ensure the sun's renewal.
DLC
Bulgarians
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Bulgarians
Known to all as uncommonly fierce warriors, the Bulgarians also rely on their merciless negotiation tactics to achieve their aims.
Byzantines
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Byzantines
In Byzantine markets fines silks are exchanged for precious metals, while in the palaces the influential discuss how they might reprise—and surpass—the achievements of antiquity.
English
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English
Beset by many threats, the English unite under the fluttering flag, the holy verses, and the law of the land. Obedience and dedication to lord and liege are paramount.
Franks
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Franks
Guided by their faith and strengthened by their codes of honor, the Franks aim to restore imperial power and leave their mark on the world.
Ghanaians
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Ghanaians
In their gold-rich paradise, the Ghanaians stand at a strategic crossroads of the world where they can become unrivaled masters of trade.
Khmer
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Khmer
Peerless in urban planning, the Khmer's cities and temple complexes are the envy of the world, the towers of their shrines spearing high over the surrounding lands.
Mississippians
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Mississippians
Often settling near waterways, the Mississippians are a spiritual people who draw their strength from the power of their rivers.
Mongols
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Mongols
With their hearts set on conquering vast swathes of land—from icy mountains to windblown steppes—the Mongols are an equestrian culture with deadly ambitions.
DLC
DLC
Taíno
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Taíno
For the Taíno, the paucity of the lands are no impediment to a thriving agriculture, much to the envy of their neighbors.
Teutons
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Teutons
United under their faith, the Teutons believe they can be a flaming torch that spreads light into the dark corners of the world.
Umayyads
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Umayyads
With many influences of science and literature from both inside and outside the caliphate, the Umayyads are perfectly placed to blend religious conviction with philosophical study.
Early Modern Era
Dutch
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Dutch
Striking for the high seas with a growing merchant fleet financed by wealthy backers, the Dutch are well placed to found thriving trading posts across the globe.
Edo Japanese
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Edo Japanese
In the feudal culture of the Edo Japanese, the daimyos carry out the shogun's will through steely diplomacy and, if needed, by the samurai's blade.
Haudenosaunee
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Haudenosaunee
An alliance of Native American tribes joined in spiritual harmony by their great binding law, the Haudenosaunee are a communal culture who know the land intimately.
DLC
Inca
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Inca
Skilled at thriving in diverse landscapes, from lowlands to mountainsides, the Inca are hungry to expand their great empire.
Joseon
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Joseon
With a healthy respect for philosophical enquiry, the Joseon are an inquistive, meritocratic culture always willing to examine their beliefs in the light of new evidence.
DLC
Maasai
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Maasai
Proudly living off the land, the Maasai are as skilled with the spear as they are at caring for their herds.
Ming
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Ming
Their beautiful blue-and-white porcelain might speak to timeless crafts, but the far-flung explorations of Zheng He and others mean the Ming are on the cusp of transformation.
Mughals
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Mughals
Inspired by the universal great empires, in the Mughals' splendid cities, peoples of many traditions mingle under monuments of grand design.
Ottomans
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Ottomans
With ambitions set on far horizons, the Ottomans are eager to bring the world's riches home and see their borders span continents.
Poles
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Poles
A people who know well the primeval forests of the continent, the Poles understand that the shadows offer both shelter and threats, and only military strength underpins security.
Spanish
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Spanish
The truths that galvanize the Spanish to cross the great oceans are that the world is full of natural riches to be excavated and religious converts to be found.
DLC
Swiss
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Swiss
Legendary soldiers, the Swiss are united by a promise to defend their lands—and excel at keeping the peace.
Venetians
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Venetians
Merchants with a flair for careful diplomacy, the Venetians take great pride in their political intrigues and maritime control, and are open to ideas that come from other cultures.
Industrial Era
DLC
Austro-Hungarians
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Austro-Hungarians
From grand opera houses to exuberant coffee houses, the Austro-Hungarians enjoy lively debate on matters philosophical, musical, and literary, powering their society.
British
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British
A culture of inventors and artists energised by migration, the British are hungry to bring their ideas to the world—while bringing the world to their shores.
DLC
Ethiopians
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Ethiopians
With its skilled soldiers and indomitable defenses, progress and power are the twin pillars upon which Ethiopian culture is built.
French
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French
Politics and art are never far from French minds, but it is in the sciences that this culture truly excels, producing world-leading chemists, bacteriologists, and physicists.
Germans
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Germans
Industrialization is at the forefront of German culture, whose ambition is to bring the fruits of progress and enlightenment to the rest of the world—by any means necessary.
Mexicans
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Mexicans
The culture of the Mexicans is one of endurance and resistance, revolutionaries and intellectuals, and a deep bond with the land of their ancestors.
Persians
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Persians
Reprising the great civilizations of their past, the Persians aim to blend their modern political know-how with traditions of nomadic resilience.
DLC
Scots
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Scots
Innovative thinkers across every domain, the Scots are on the cutting edge of an intellectual revolution with far-reaching consequences.
Siamese
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Siamese
Fiercely independent, the Siamese are skilled negotiators who cleverly play the game of thrones so that their magnificent temples stand unsullied.
Zulu
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Zulu
A culture based on martial prowess and ancient traditions, the Zulus will fight to the death to preserve their way of life from invading powers.
Contemporary Era
Americans
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Americans
Blessed with unquenchable spirit, the Americans are a young, ambitious culture who plan to leave their mark on everything from running tracks to outer space.
Australians
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Australians
Stepping out of the shadow of their commonwealth history, confident Australians are recognizing all their roots and building a vibrant, outward-looking society.
Brazilians
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Brazilians
In a culture famed for its flamboyance and self-expression, it is the vast natural resources from sugar cane to gold, coffee beans to timber, that fuel Brazilian growth.
DLC
Cubans
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Cubans
Independent thinking is the bedrock of society for the Cubans, who prize self-knowledge for its transformative effects.
Egyptians
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Egyptians
Drawing, both literally and metaphorically, on the riches of their magnificent past, the Egyptians blend cultural knowledge both old and new.
Indians
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Indians
A dizzying culture of a thousand contradictions where entire worlds collide, Indians are masters at steering the chaotic into the productive.
Japanese
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Japanese
A culture born of honor and respect, the Japanese combine the creativity of dreams with cold hard science to produce technological marvels.
DLC
Nigerians
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Nigerians
Masters of working the land, the Nigerians grow produce beyond compare—in both quantity and diversity.
DLC
Singaporeans
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Singaporeans
Nimble and independent, Singaporeans create a unique space for their modern city-state to grow.
Soviets
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Soviets
Nurturing a deep-held belief that the fruits of a society's labor should be shared by all, the Soviets aim to spread their ideology to all corners of the planet.
Swedes
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Swedes
Underpinned by a culture of cooperation and social progress, the Swedes possess leading welfare systems, personal freedoms, and scientific discoveries.
Turks
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Turks
Still seeking a unifying mythology to bring their culture closer together, the Turks draw strength from the land to balance tradition and modernization.