Civilization

A civilization or civilisation (from Latin "civilis", related to "civitas", city) is a society with an advanced level of development, relative to some other societies.

The word has more specific meanings, such as the first civilizations being considered civilizations after the appearance of cities and/or writing. However, when discussing the decline and fall of a civilization, this usually does not mean that cities and writing completely disappeared, but that the level of development of the society is seen as drastically declining.

See also

• Ancient Rome - The fall of the Roman civilization has been much discussed.
• Dysgenics: Pessimism regarding the future of Western civilization
• Noble savage
• Prehistory‎‎
• Race and intelligence: Historical societies
• Sea Peoples - Associated with the Bronze Age collapse.
• Whig history