wooden empires Overview Empires through history depended on strong navies and efficient merchant fleets, and until relatively recently all those ships were made of wood. Although fuel and building materials consumed much of the ancient forests, shipbuilding required huge amounts of prime timber. Access to all that timber was a strategic need of a long series of empires. Objectives Encourage students to develop some sense of the strategic importance of wood in the history of civilization. Procedure Students should try to find as many civilizations as possible that depended on strong naval fleets to secure their power (e.g. Mycenaean, Greek, Macedonian, Roman, British, etc.). These can be arranged on a time-line in chronological order, showing: Major enemy or enemies. Which civilization (if any specific) finally overcame them. Source of wood for their ships/civilization (if possible). The ways they used wood. References/Links Use the Forests Through Time section of this site as a jumping off point. Encyclopedias, Internet search, the book "A Forest Journey - The Role of Wood in the Development of Civilization," by John Perlin, 1989 Harvard University Press ISBN: 0674308921 is also an excellent reference. return to the teachers' area