Academy

The Academy helps the development in terms of production, construction and military operation. The higher its level, the more technologies it can research. One academy can only conduct one research at a time. However, several academies in your cities can perform multiple researches at the same time. Technologies can be shared in all your cities so long as their academies reach the required level.

In an Academy, you primarily spend Gold to research particular technologies. If you have a second city, it will need an Academy of the same level to "share" the already completed technologies. Construction Research is the one exception. The time reduction from Construction will apply to all cities, regardless of their Academy status.

History
An academy was a school for advanced learning. Though China, Egypt, and India had such institutes earlier, the term "academy" was first applied to the Athenian school of philosophy, founded by Plato in approximately 390 BC. The academy was an important asset for a city as it attracted both brilliant scholars and the children of wealthy or noble parents, who sometimes decided to settle in the city. The academy provided a broad, general education, or it may have concentrated on mathematics, art, natural philosophy, or even the martial arts. Even today many institutions use the name "academy."

Upgrading
All upgrades to the Academy increases the Lord's prestige.