Byzantines

The Eastern Roman or Byzantine Empire is an Eastern European civilization in Age of Empires II situated in the Balkan peninsula and Asia Minor, along the eastern seaboard of the Mediterranean in the modern countries such as Greece, Turkey, Bulgaria and Romania. They are a defensive civilization, and rely on their Cavalry, Naval Vessels and Archers.

As the medieval stage of Roman empire—though speaking Greek rather than Latin—they retain characteristics of their Roman (Roman and Palmyran) RoR counterparts, such as their unique unit, the Cataphract, a type of heavy cavalry that happened to be present in the original game. The Cataphract is one of the few true counter units to infantry. However, it is slightly weaker than Knights. Their Imperial Age unique technology is Logistica, referring to the Byzantines' strong military tactics which grants their Cataphracts trample damage to attack multiple enemies at once. The Byzantines had a head start over their European neighbors and arguably reached their zenith while the rest of Europe were in the Dark Age. As a result, they pay less to advance to the Imperial Age.

The Byzantines were best known for having deflected many invasions implemented by barbarians, Slavs and Arabs and the famed doubled walls that surround their capitol of Constantinople almost stood for over a millennium until overran by Ottoman Turks. To reflect this achievement, the Byzantines attain a theme of a defensive civilization and have tougher buildings as the age progresses. Due to carrying on many of the traditions of Rome such as their naval prowess and being the inventors of Greek fire, an ancient napalm rumored to be able to ignite even on water, their Fire Ships attack faster and their Castle Age unique technology is Greek Fire, granting Fire Ships +1 Range. As a defensive civilization, they also get cheaper counter units and Town Watch upgrades for free. Being the bastion of Greek Orthodoxy, their Monks heal faster to keep with their defensive theme.

Overview
The Byzantines (in Age of Empires II) are the only civilization to have access to all standard technologies available, except for the Blast Furnace. This makes them unpredictable to play against in multiplayer. Their bonuses grant them advantages for Camels, Spearmen/Pikemen/Halberdiers, and a team bonus for Monks. In addition, their unique unit is a heavy cavalry unit which deals bonus damage towards infantry. Thus, Byzantines are likely to go for cavalry and anti-cavalry, but, again, their access to the full tech tree make them unpredictable to play as and against.


 * Unique Unit: Cataphract (anti-infantry cavalry)
 * Unique Technologies: Logistica (Cataphracts cause trample damage), Greek Fire (Range of Fire Ship get increased by one)

Civilization Bonuses

 * Buildings gain +10% HPs in Dark Age, +20% Feudal Age, +30% Castle Age, +40% Imperial Age
 * Camels, Skirmishers and the Spearman line are 25% cheaper
 * Fire Ships attack 20% faster
 * Advance to Imperial Age costs 33% less ( and instead of the usual  and )
 * Town Watch technology free
 * Team Bonus:  Monks heal 50% faster

In-game dialogue language (Medieval Latin)

 * Aen? (Yes?)
 * Impero? (I command?)
 * Presto (I'm ready)
 * Salve! (Hello!)
 * Correctus (Right)
 * Ago (I do)
 * Sane (Certainly)
 * Caedo (I cut [tree])
 * Pabulo (I forage)
 * Venatus (Meat, hunter)
 * Capto (I catch [fish])
 * Colo (I cultivate)
 * Fodio (I dig/extract)
 * Condo (I build)
 * Reficio (I repair)
 * Deleo! (I destruct!)
 * Comitta! (Commit! or Comita! Follow!)
 * Pugno! (I fight!)
 * Porro! (Forward!)

Language
Medieval Latin isn't pronounced as Romans spoke it (rolled r, French gn, Italian c) and many misspellings appear, as for 'hunter'. Moreover, the Byzantines spoke Greek for the larger part of their history, considering their existence during Middle Ages, Latin being kept only in some fields such as administration.


 * 1) Impero? The wanted meaning was 'command?'. Then, the word should be imperium?;
 * 2) Presto. Praesto in classical Latin, from praestare. It means something like "I am available for you" or "I serve you", or simply "Ready"
 * 3) Correctus. It means 'corrected, fixed', while it should be recte.
 * 4) Venatus. This noun means 'hunt'. 'Hunter' must be translated by venator.
 * 5) Pabulo. It's pabulor.

Civilization name
Historically, they referred to themselves as "Romans", due to them being the Eastern branch of the Roman Empire, and were known as "Greeks" in Western Europe due to the language they spoke. The term "Byzantines" was coined in the late 16th century after the fall of their empire to the Ottoman Turks and its usage in the game is historically inaccurate.