In Civilization IV, a 
Golden Age is a sequence of turns in which a civilization gains bonuses to 
Production. Players often abbreviate Golden Age as GA, which is unfortunately the same abbreviation as is used for Great Artists. Which one is meant should be clear from context.
Triggering a Golden Age[]
There are two ways to initiate a Golden Age. One is via building the Taj Mahal, possible with the Nationalism tech. Upon completion of the wonder, a Golden Age commences.
The other way to begin a Golden Age is by using Great People.
- In Beyond the Sword, this requires one Great Person sacrificed for the first Golden Age you trigger using Great People, then 2 Great People, 3 Great People, etc.
- In vanilla Civilization IV and Warlords, the first Golden Age requires two Great People.
They must be of different types. To trigger a Golden Age with Great People, move them together. Then you will see the "Trigger Golden Age" button is active when you select one. You can click it to initiate the Golden Age; note that the effects begin immediately.
A Golden Age can also be triggered by events, such as the completion of a quest.
Duration[]
A Golden Age lasts for 8 turns (on Normal speed), or 12 turns if you own the Mausoleum of Maussollos. The following table shows how many turns a Golden Age lasts on each game speed.
| Speed | Duration |
|---|---|
| Marathon | 16 |
| Epic | 10 |
| Normal | 8 |
| Fast | 6 |
If a second Golden Age is triggered during a Golden Age, additional turns (as per the table above) are added to the ongoing one at the end.
Effects[]
When a civ is in a Golden Age, the following effects apply to it:
- Increased commerce: Any tile that produces at least 1
Commerce will get one bonus 
Commerce. If your civ is Financial, then you get your +1 Commerce on all tiles with Commerce! - Increased production: Any tile that produces at least 1 Hammer will get one bonus Hammer.
- Increased Great Person birthrates: All cities get a +100% bonus to their rate of Great Person point production.
- No anarchy when changing civics.
The player is notified by the message "(Leader name)'s Golden Age has just begun." at the start of a Golden Age, and by the message "(Leader name)'s Golden Age has ended." at its conclusion.
See also[]
- Golden Age in other games