[worik]

> Europeans civilization are 1000s of years old

Not really. The Greeks, the Arabs, yes. But 2,000 years ago the Europeans were were not "civilised" in the sense that we think of.

[Lio]

There’s a Roman town near where I live that’s roughly 2000 years old.

The Romans built roads, aqueducts, houses with central heating and massive great walls across the landscape.

They might have been violent but it’s hard to claim they weren’t a civilisation.

[arinlen]

> * But 2,000 years ago the Europeans were were not "civilised" in the sense that we think of.*

That really depends on what's your definition of "Europeans" and "civilized". The Catholic church exists for around 2 thousand years,is still alive and well, has its capital in Italy, and has defined western society for centuries.

[morelisp]

> The Catholic church exists for around 2 thousand years

And even by the most forgiving measure, took three centuries to become anything you might historically call "European".

[umanwizard]

Sure it wasn’t modern but the Roman Empire, which did exist 2,000 years ago, was in many ways the prototype for European law, culture, politics, etc.

[throwaway894345]

There were still lots of tribal federations, but the Roman Empire was still in full swing.