Athenians

Civilization	Technology tree

“	Our constitution does not copy the laws of neighboring states; we are rather an example to others than imitators ourselves. Its administration favors the many instead of the few; this is why it is called a democracy.	”
—From Pericles's funeral oration, quoted in Thucydides 2.35-46^[1]

The Athenians are a European civilization in Chronicles: Battle for Greece. They correspond with some of the Greeks from Age of Empires.

Characteristics[]

Civilization bonuses[]

Policy style can be changed between Economic, Naval, and Military at the Town Center.
- The player starts with the Economic Policy activated (not mentioned in-game).
- Changing Policy becomes progressively more expensive, up to a maximum of 150 gold.
Lumberjacks generate 1 food for every 9.75 wood.
Hoplites move 15% faster.

Unique unit[]

Strategos: Infantry unit which grants +1 attack to nearby units (does not stack).

Unique technologies[]

Taxiarchs: Strategoi give an additional +1 attack to nearby infantry and cavalry, and their aura is 33% larger.
Iphicratean Tactics: Skirmishers deal +4 charged attack over 40 seconds.
Eisphora: Hoplites cost +10 food, -10 gold.
Delian League: Bowmen and Gastraphetoroi move 10% faster.

Policies[]

The Athenians can choose one policy out of three at any Town Center which provides an additional bonus to the player. Players start with the Economic Policy by default, and can switch their policies at a starting cost of 50 gold, with the next change costing 100 gold, and then capping at 150 gold for all further changes.

Economic Policy: Villagers work 7% faster.
Military Policy: Melee units train faster and generate 3 gold per kill.
Naval Policy: Foot archers (except Gastraphetoroi) and warships train 15% faster and cost -15% gold.

Team bonus[]

Shipyard technologies research 50% faster (-33.33% time taken).

Overview[]

The Athenians have decent military options in all regards, with above-average infantry, decent archers, serviceable cavalry, decent siege, a powerful navy, and strong Priestesses. They focus on faster-moving units, with a speed bonus for infantry and a speed buff for archers from a unique technology. Their policies are very powerful; even leaving it at the default Economic Policy for the full match is not a poor choice.

Campaign appearances[]

The Athenians are playable in the middle eight (8–15) scenarios of the Battle for Greece grand campaign.

Battle for Greece[]

Greeks Bearing Gifts
- Aristagoras (as Ionians) - Ally
- Naxos (as Greeks) - Enemy
The Ionian Revolt
- Oracle (as Ionians) - Ally
- Rebel Towns (as Ionians) - Enemy
- Aristagoras's Army (as Ionians) - Enemy
- Aristagoras (as Ionians) - Enemy
A City Ablaze
- Aristagoras (as Ionians) - Enemy
Chasing Smoke
- Artemisia - Ally
- Aristagoras (as Ionians) - Enemy
- Ephesus (as Ionians) - Enemy
- Aristagoras' Army (as Ionians) - Enemy
- Athenian Fleet - Enemy
Death to Traitors
- Artemisia (as Achaemenids) - Ally
- Aristagoras (as Ionians) - Enemy
- Didyma (as Ionians) - Enemy
- Myous (as Ionians) - Enemy → Potential ally
- Mercenaries (as Ionians) - Enemy → Potential ally
- Pyrrha (as Ionians) - Enemy → Ally → Potential enemy
Earth and Water
- Dionysius (as Greeks) - Enemy
- Carystos (as Eretrians) - Enemy
- Naxos (as Greeks) - Enemy
- Paros (as Greeks) - Enemy
- Tenos (as Greeks) - Enemy
- Andros (as Greeks) - Enemy
The Battle of Marathon
- Greek Cities (as Attic Towns) - Ally
- Mercenaries (as Mercenaries) - Ally
- Oracle - Ally
- Athens - Ally
- Eretria (as Eretrians) - Ally
- Bandits (as Greeks) - Enemy
Raise the Sails
- Athens → Mines of Laurion - Ally
- Eretria (as Eretrians) - Neutral → Potential ally
Divine Salamis
- Oracle - Ally
Across the Wine-Dark Sea
- Salamis (as Cypriots) - Neutral
- Paphos (as Cypriots) - Neutral
Wrath of the Regent
- Greek Navy (as Greeks) - Ally
The Fruits of Empire
- Naxos (as Greeks) - Ally → Enemy
- Carystos (as Eretrians) - Ally → Enemy
- Andros (as Greeks) - Ally → Enemy
- Syros (as Greeks) - Ally → Potential enemy
- Kythnos (as Greeks) - Ally → Potential enemy
Within the Long Walls
- Oenoe & Plataea (as Greeks) - Ally
- Athenians - Ally
- Oracle (as Greeks) - Ally
- Salamis - Ally
- Aegina (as Greeks) - Enemy
I am Brasidas
- Athenians - Enemy
Pyres on the Coast
- Athenians - Ally
- Helot Rebels - Neutral
- Athenians - Enemy
Speeches and Spears
- Acanthus (as Greeks) - Enemy → Ally → Potential enemy
- Dium (as Greeks) - Enemy → Ally → Potential enemy
- Torone (as Greeks) - Enemy → Ally → Potential enemy
- Scione (as Greeks) - Enemy → Ally → Potential enemy
- Perdiccas (as Macedonians) - Enemy → Potential ally → Enemy
- Athenians - Enemy
To the Wall!
- Athenian Navy - Enemy
- Athenian Army - Enemy
Blood and Gold
- Priene (as Ionians) - Enemy
- Notium (as Ionians) - Enemy
- Milesian Democrats (as Ionians) - Enemy
- Ionian Towns → Athenian Navy (as Ionians) - Enemy
- Milesian Oligarchs (as Ionians) - Enemy → Ally
The Fall of Athens
- Athenian Navy - Enemy
- Athens - Enemy
- Salamis - Enemy
- Oenoe & Plataea (as Greeks) - Enemy
- Eleusis (as Greeks) - Enemy
- Aegina (as Greeks) - Enemy

In-game dialogue language[]

The Athenians speak Greek (Ἑλληνική), which includes all oral and written dialects of the Greek language family from the ninth century BCE to the fourth century BCE. At the end of the third century BCE, Attic Greek (used by Athenians) gradually became the Lingua Franca in the Hellenic region and later developed to Koine Greek in Alexander's conquests.

The in-game units use somewhat reconstructed Classical Attic pronunciation with aspirated plosives /tʰ//kʰ/ pronounced as fricatives /θ//x/ in some lines. Note that "ει" is incorrectly pronounced as as a diphthong, rather than as the long vowel /eː/, likely due to the influence of the erroneous Erasmian pronunciation.

The Athenians' voice lines are also spoken by the Spartans (who spoke Doric-Laconian Greek historically) with a different voice, with a few words pronounced differently because of their dialects. An example is that the long vowel in "η" can be pronounced as /ɛː/ in Attic (e.g. Θηρῶ/Thērō̂) and /aː/ in Doric (e.g. Θηρῶ/Thārō̂).

Villager

Military

Priestess: Note: The Athenian and Spartan Priestesses shares their voice files.

AI player names[]

When playing a random map game against the computer, the player may encounter any of the following Athenian AI characters.

Themistocles: An Athenian politician and general, one of a new breed of non-aristocratic politicians who rose to prominence in the early years of the Athenian democracy. He is best known for his military implication in Greco-Persian Wars, notably in the battle of Salamis.
Aristides: Nicknamed "the Just", he was an Athenian statesman who flourished at the beginning of Athens' Classical period and is remembered for his generalship in Greco-Persian Wars.
Pericles: A prominent and influential politician and general during the Golden Age of Athens. He turned the Delian League into an Athenian empire and led his countrymen during the first two years of the Peloponnesian War.
Miltiades: An Athenian statesman known mostly for his role in the battle of Marathon, as well as for his downfall afterwards.
Cleon: An Athenian general during the Peloponnesian War, personifying an early representative of the commercial class in Athenian politics; which during the early Peloponnesian war was coming into prominence.
Nicias: An Athenian politician and general during the period of the Peloponnesian War.
Cimon: An Athenian strategos and politician, son of Miltiades. He played a major role in putting an end to Greco-Persian Wars and turning the Delian League into the Athenian Empire.
Demosthenes: An Athenian statesman and orator. His orations constitute a significant expression of contemporary Athenian intellectual prowess and provide insight into the politics and culture of ancient Greece during the 4th century BC.
Thucydides: An Athenian historian and general. Dubbed as father of "scientific history" by his contemporaries, he is known for his History of the Peloponnesian War, recounting the eponymous war between Sparta and Athens until the year 411 BC.
Iphicrates: An Athenian general, who flourished in the earlier half of the 4th century BC. He is credited with important infantry reforms that revolutionized ancient Greek warfare by regularizing light-armed peltasts.

Portrayal[]

“	By any measure, ancient Athens was a remarkable place. An extraordinary proportion of ancient Greece’s most famous figures dwelt in the city at one point or another: philosophers including Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle; statesmen like Solon, Cleisthenes, and Pericles; the historians Herodotus, Thucydides, and Xenophon; the tragic playwrights Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides, and the comic playwrights Aristophanes and Menander. The cultural life of Athens was inseparable from its civic life, with many of its great intellectual figures also serving as generals, politicians, and priests. It should be noted that the democracy which spawned such a vivid cultural scene was also capable of immense idiocy, most notably when the Athenians voted to execute six of their foremost admirals at the height of the Peloponnesian War (a crushing naval defeat followed shortly after). Athenian military power was closely tied to the city’s navy. When a rich vein of silver was struck in 483 BCE, the statesman Themistocles encouraged the Athenians to spend it on a fleet of 200 warships. After using this new armada to help repel a Persian invasion, the Athenians established an empire, in which tribute from their smaller subjects was used to finance the navy that kept them under control. When the Peloponnesian War broke out between Athens and Sparta in 431 BCE, the Athenian strategy was to rely entirely on their navy: they brought their whole population within the city walls, knowing that they could be supplied indefinitely by sea. You can experience many of these events directly in the Battle for Greece campaign!	”
—^[1]

Trivia[]

The icon and emblem of the Athenians is the Owl of Athena. The name of Athens comes from the goddess Athena and her symbol, the owl, was adopted by them as proof of allegiance.
The Athenians have access to faster-moving Hoplites, and can also make them cheaper via a unique technology. This combination is also a civilization bonus for the Greeks in Age of Empires.
The hero units in the game themed on the Athenians are Aristides, Cleon, Miltiades, Themistocles, and the warship form of Themistocles.