Ransom at Ctesiphon

Ctesiphon is the third mission of the Pax Romana campaign in Age of Empires: The Rise of Rome. The Romans must recover their treasures from bandits and deliver them to Ctesiphon.

Scenario Instructions
''After some 500 years of gradual recovery from Alexander's conquest and Greek rule, Persia has revived as a world power and now threatens the eastern flank of the Roman Empire. Emperor Valerian, "Restorer of the Orient", set out to conquer the Sassanids, who now rule nearly all the land between Mesopotamia and India. After a brief campaign against the Persian King Shapur I, Valerian was captured and held prisoner in the Persian capital of Ctesiphon.''

''A caravan of gold and precious goods was dispatched to Ctesiphon to ransom Valerian and ease tensions between the Persians and Romans. The cavaran was ambushed, however, and the ransom stolen. Parthian and Palmyran bandits still hold hidden enclaves in the Zagros Mountains. You are to restore order in this area, recover the ransom, and deliver it to Ctesiphon.''

Objectives

 * Recapture the three wagons (Artifacts) and deliver them to the palace (foot of the Wonder) in Ctesiphon.
 * Destroy all Palmyran and Parthian Stables.

Strategy
You start off with a group of soldiers to the northwest, and a cavaran under attack at the center of the map. The caravan will be destroyed in seconds. Take your soldiers south, until you find a Granary and three Villagers. Start building a base.

There's four other players on this map. Sasanian (orange, Persians) are your allies, so fortunately, you won't have to fight them. Parthian (red, Persians), Palmyran (yellow, Palmyrans) and Persian raider (brown, Persians) are your enemies.

Train soldiers. You'll face lots of Horse Archers, so train Cavalry to chase them down. The first relic is the one in your original caravan, found at the center of the map. The second is to the far north, in the red town, and the third is found west of that, protected by brown towers.

You'll have to pass through the enemy towns to get the relics, so take your time and level them, so they won't bother you again. Once you aquire the Artifacts, keep them at the back of your army, with a few guards, and don't let ANYONE, including your ally, capture them before you've delivered them to the Wonder.Art