Great People

9:57 Great People in Civilization 4 are one-use units born in a city when it has collected enough Great People points, which come from specialists, wonders and some civics; the first Great Person costs 100 points, the second 200, and so on, per the base manual (p. 91). The base game has five kinds: the Great Prophet, Great Artist, Great Scientist, Great Merchant and Great Engineer. Warlords added the Great General, earned in combat, and Beyond the Sword the Great Spy. Each can discover a technology, join a city as a "super-specialist", or help start a Golden Age, and each type has abilities of its own, from building a religion's shrine to finishing an early wonder in one turn.

Quick facts

Where Great People come from

Each city keeps its own pool of Great People points, and when the pool reaches the current cost a Great Person appears there. The cost escalates through the game: "the first great person costs 100 great people points, the second costs 200, and so forth", and the numbers differ at Quick and Epic speed (base manual, p. 91).

Specialists are the main source. Every specialist except the plain Citizen makes 3 Great People points a turn toward its own type, per the base manual's specialist list:

Sources: Civilization 4 manual, p. 56; Beyond the Sword manual, p. 18.

The mix of points decides which type is born. "If all of your specialists in a city are priests, when that city generates a great person, he or she will be a great prophet. If half the specialists are merchants and the other half artists, you'll have a fifty-fifty chance", and rolling over the city's Great Person bar shows the odds of each type (base manual, p. 91). Buildings open specialist slots (a Library allows two Scientists, a Temple one Priest), and the Caste System civic allows unlimited Artists, Merchants and Scientists; see Cottages and Specialists.

Wonders add points too. Each world wonder gives +2 Great People points a turn and favors one type, Stonehenge and the Oracle the Prophet and the Pyramids the Engineer, per the base manual (pp. 97-98). In Beyond the Sword, national wonders give +1 point instead of +2 and some wonders give Great Spy points (Beyond the Sword manual, p. 46). See Wonders.

Speeding up births

Several things raise the Great People birth rate, the speed at which points build up. The base manual and the Warlords manual list them:

Sources: Civilization 4 manual, pp. 90, 97-98, 159; Warlords manual, pp. 25, 29, 135. Pacifism also costs 1 more gold per military unit.

Philosophical leaders double their birth rate everywhere. Their Warlords-era holders are Alexander, Elizabeth, Frederick, Gandhi and Peter (Warlords manual, pp. 21-30).

Free Great People from technologies

"The first civilization to discover certain technologies will also receive a free great person in their capital city. For example, the first civ to discover Music receives a Great Artist", per the base manual (p. 91). The manual names no other technology; the Technologies page and the in-game Civilopedia show which ones carry the bonus.

What every Great Person can do

10:27 All Great People share three abilities, and each is spent when it uses one (base manual, p. 92):

• Discover a technology. The tech is usually in the Great Person's field ("prophets will usually discover religious technologies"), but not always; once the cheap techs are gone, a Great Person may only cut the time to the next one.
• Start a Golden Age, together with Great People of other types (see below).
• Settle in a city as a "super-specialist" that adds its output every turn for the rest of the game; a settled Great Prophet adds 2 production and 5 gold.

The five original Great People

The Great Prophet is the only way to build a religion's shrine, and only in that religion's Holy City (base manual, p. 93). A shrine earns its owner one gold per turn for every city in the world with that religion. Settled, a Prophet gives a large commerce and small production boost. See Religions.

11:07 The Great Artist can create a Great Work, which "immediately gives that city +4000 culture points" and can end resistance in a captured city at once (base manual, pp. 48, 93). The manual suggests it when a city is "under cultural threat from a neighbor (or if you wish to culturally attack the neighboring cities!)". Great Works are a staple of the culture victory.

The Great Scientist can build an Academy, a building that boosts a city's research (+50% in the Warlords chart, p. 129) and its culture. Settled, a Scientist gives a large research and small production boost.

The Great Merchant can conduct a trade mission for "a whole bunch of gold", but only in a foreign city: the farther from your capital and the wealthier the target, the more it pays (base manual, p. 93). Settled, a Merchant gives a large commerce and small food boost. 2K's launch press release called this type the "Tycoon".

The Great Engineer hurries whatever its city is building: "most early wonders can be completed in a single turn by Great Engineers, and later ones can be sped up dramatically" (base manual, p. 93). Settled, an Engineer gives a large production and small research boost.

Great People and corporations

In Beyond the Sword, corporations are founded by spending a Great Person of a set type, with the Corporation tech plus one more (Beyond the Sword manual, pp. 20-22):

See Corporations for what each one does.

The Great General (Warlords)

The Great General is earned in battle rather than in cities. Your units' experience points fill the Combat Experience Track on the Military Advisor screen (F5), and when it is full a Great General appears in one of your cities; each one costs more than the last (Warlords manual, p. 10). It moves 2 and is destroyed if an enemy catches it alone, if its ship sinks or if its city falls. Imperialistic leaders get Great Generals twice as fast, and Beyond the Sword raised the experience needed (Beyond the Sword manual, pp. 11, 45).

A Great General has three uses (Warlords manual, p. 11):

• Lead a unit as a Warlord, splitting 20 experience points among the units on its tile. The led unit upgrades for free, keeps all its experience when it upgrades, and can take Warlord-only promotions such as Leadership (+50% experience from combat) and Morale (+1 movement). See Promotions.
• Join a city as a Great Military Instructor: new units built there get +2 experience.
• Build a Military Academy: +25% production of military units in that city. In Beyond the Sword the Academy needs Military Science.

The Great Spy (Beyond the Sword)

The Great Spy is born from Spy specialists, whom the Courthouse, Jail, Intelligence Agency, Security Bureau and Kremlin allow, and from some buildings and wonders (Beyond the Sword manual, p. 18). It is "invisible to all other units, including enemy spies and Great Spies". It can explore rival land, be spent in a rival city for "a massive Espionage Point bonus" against that civilization, join a city as a super-specialist adding science and espionage, or build the Scotland Yard national wonder, which only a Great Spy can build. See Espionage.

Golden Ages

A Golden Age adds +1 production to every worked tile that already produces production and +1 commerce to every one that produces commerce, for 8 turns (base manual, p. 94). It starts in one of two ways: building the Taj Mahal, or spending Great People of different types, two for the first Golden Age, three for the second "and so on". A second Golden Age started during the first adds its 8 turns to the end, for 16 in all.

Golden Ages began as their opposite. Soren Johnson writes in the base manual's afterword (p. 178) that Civilization 3's Golden Ages "originally began life as Dark Ages", until the team "flipped the concept around" because decline "wasn't a whole lot of fun".

Why Great People exist

Great People were new in Civilization 4, built on stronger specialists. Johnson's afterword (base manual, p. 179) says the team had "always wanted to experiment" with figures "like Einstein and Plato and Michelangelo", grouped them into five categories and made specialists "the backbone" of the system: "If your city had focused on artists, you might end up with Beethoven. If the focus was merchants, Marco Polo might appear." He called them "powerful, one-use units which could change the course of the game".

Frequently asked questions

How do you get Great People in Civ 4? In Civilization 4 a city earns Great People points from specialists (3 each per turn), wonders and some civics, and gives birth to a Great Person when its points reach the cost: 100 for the first, 200 for the second and so on. The first civilization to discover certain techs, such as Music, also gets a free one.

What does a Great Prophet do in Civ 4? A Great Prophet is the only Civilization 4 unit that can build a religion's shrine, and only in its Holy City; the shrine pays one gold per turn for every city with that religion. It can also discover a tech, settle in a city or help start a Golden Age.

What does a Great Engineer do? A Civilization 4 Great Engineer hurries its city's current build, and most early wonders finish in a single turn. It can also settle as a super-specialist for extra production.

What does a Great Merchant do in Civ 4? A Civilization 4 Great Merchant conducts a trade mission in a foreign city for a lump of gold that grows with the city's distance and wealth. In Beyond the Sword it also founds Cereal Mills or Sid's Sushi Co.

How do you get a Great General in Civ 4? In Civilization 4 (with Warlords or Beyond the Sword) a Great General appears when your units' combat experience fills the Combat Experience Track on the Military Advisor screen. Imperialistic leaders get them twice as fast.

What does a Great Spy do? The Great Spy, added in Beyond the Sword, is invisible to every unit in Civilization 4; it can scout rival land, be spent in a rival city for a large espionage bonus, settle in a city or build Scotland Yard.

How long does a Golden Age last in Civ 4? A Civilization 4 Golden Age lasts 8 turns, and one started during another adds 8 more. The first costs two Great People of different types, the second three, or the Taj Mahal starts one.

Sources

• Sid Meier's Civilization IV manual (Steam-hosted PDF), 2K/Firaxis Games, 2005, read Oct 21, 2026
• Civilization IV: Warlords manual (Steam-hosted PDF), 2K/Firaxis Games, 2006, read Oct 21, 2026
• Civilization IV: Beyond the Sword manual (Steam-hosted PDF), 2K/Firaxis Games, 2007, read Oct 21, 2026
• Sid Meier's Civilization IV Now Shipping (archived press release), 2K Games, Oct 25, 2005
• How to play your first game of Civilization 4, Suede, Jul 5, 2025 (video)