Larry Schaefer's history of civility is a succinct summary of the implicit and evolving definitions of civility over 2500 years of civilization. Beginning with the Romans and the root word "civitas," meaning the rights and duties of citizenship, civility appears in classical literature as integral to the roots of democracy in the context of assembly. In the middle ages, civility referred to proper conduct and later became a courtly term then moved into the Renaissance as a focus on communities and the social celebration of human achievement. This researched overview of the history of civility constructs a broad definition of the term through historical phases and establishes civility as a universal human characteristic. [This talk was presented at the NAMTA conference titled "Grace, Courtesy, and Civility Across the Planes," Portland, OR, March 13-16, 2014.]