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The earliest known civilization of human beings is Egypt in Northern Africa around 3100 B.C.E. This civilization marked the beginning of numerous groups of humans coming together to form their own societies. From here, all civilizations fought to grow and expand their reign to become stronger and more likely to survive in a battling world.
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The Persians were a large group of Indo-Europeans from around 800 B.C.E. to around 300 B.C.E. The Persians, united under Cyrus the Great, set out on various military campaigns and seized control of much of the Ancient Near East. They were the largest empire in the world for quite some time as a result of their military prowess.
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Rome started off as a small Italian city in the middle of nowhere, but it soon became one of the strongest empires of all time. Rome was completely surrounded by enemies all around them. Driven by a mutual sense of fear of these enemies, the Romans banded together to fight to protect their city; they worked together to defeat all of their enemies and they grew to become quite the powerful, envious empire.
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Alexander the Great became a successful leader after coming to power following his father and leading his army into many successful battles. Alexander was wise, strategic, and determined, and these characteristics helped him win battles and spread his reign throughout Ancient Western Civilization.
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Charlemagne, or Charles the Great, became the ruler of the Carolingian Empire after his father's death in 768. He was a wise, determined, and fierce warrior in battle, and he enabled the Carolingians to vastly expand their empire.
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The Vikings first invaded Europe in 793. They were a brave and curious bunch of people, so they often travelled by boat to different lands. In fact, they were one of the first groups to travel to the Americas, even before the Europeans did through Christopher Columbus.
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The English Crusades of the High Middle Ages started off as battles sought out to preserve the legacy of Catholicism and expel the Muslim beliefs. However, over time, the Crusades became less about religious protection and more about taking over foreign peoples and seizing land for English control.
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Genghis Khan should be remembered for his great success in spreading his reign throughout much of the world. After uniting the feuding tribes that he was native to, he became the leader of a powerful army and took over most of Asia.
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Columbus set sail towards the unknown Western world after gaining the support of Spanish Queen Isabella. Columbus intended to find a new travel route that could be used to access India for trade, but he actually came across an entirely new continent that the Europeans had no idea even existed prior to that voyage.
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A European voyage of explorers, led by Ferdinand Magellan, set out to become the first group of men to travel all the way around the entire globe. After three years and suffering heavy losses in men and boats, the final boat of the voyage still afloat returned to Europe to finish the first circumnavigation of the globe.
