Bari are two campaigns in Age of Empires II, one in The Forgotten, and a drastically overhauled and expanded one in the Definitive Edition. They depict a few historical events of its namesake, the Italian city of Bari. The campaign is centered around a fictional Greek Nautikos family, where the surname "Nautikos" shows that the ancestors were sailors (Greek: ναύτης, Latin: nauta).
Definitive Edition[]
“ | 400 years after the fall of Rome, Italy remains viciously contested as Byzantines, Lombards, Normans, and Muslims covet the southern Italian port of Bari. Experience this chaos through the eyes of a Byzantine family, rising from the common soldiery to the nobility, and preserve the legacy of the Romans! | ” |
—In-game campaign description |
In the Definitive Edition, the campaign has been completely re-designed and now has five scenarios, and the player's color is now purple.
The Forgotten[]
“ | 400 years after the collapse of the Roman Empire[sic], Italy is still up for grabs. In the deep south, Byzantines, Goths, Normans, and Muslims all vie for control of the port city of Bari. Relive the tale of the city from the point of view of a Byzantine family, rising from the common soldiery to the nobility. But beware, for not only Bari is at stake, but also control of Southern Italy. | ” |
—In-game campaign description |
The The Forgotten version of the campaign consists of three scenarios. The player plays as the Byzantines, and the player color is blue.
- Arrival at Bari (Panos Nautikos)
- The Rebellion of Melus (Michael Nautikos)
- The Great Siege (Andreas Nautikos)
Trivia[]
- In the original version, all the three main characters of the campaign are technically renamed versions of La Hire. This is not the case in the Definitive Edition.
- With only three scenarios, the original Bari campaign is the shortest campaign in Age of Empires II and expansion packs. However, the original one is considered to be the most difficult if playing normally, as the ages and development is largely confined.
- The Bari campaign is the only campaign in Age of Empires II in which the protagonists (the Nautikos family) are purely fictional. In the Definitive Edition, however, the two new scenarios feature a real historical figure as the protagonist, catapan Basil Boioannes.
- The Bari campaign covers the longest timeframe of all the campaigns, spanning for 205 years from 866 to 1071.
- This is one of the four campaigns which have not been named after a campaign character, the others being El Dorado (removed in the Definitive Edition), The Grand Dukes of the West, and The Hautevilles.
- With the release of the Lords of the West expansion, the Normans are represented by the Sicilians civilization (renamed to Normans in the scenarios using triggers).
- The icon of the original version represents the coat of arms of the Hautevilles family, which was entitled to its own campaign much later. It is also similar to the Serjeant's shield.
- It was replaced in the Definitive Edition by an Eastern European helmet, which might have been worn by the early Varangian Guard, and a heater shield with the Palaiologos dynasty imperial logo.
- The Bari and The Hautevilles campaigns have the highest number of scenario protagonists at four, with Basil Boioannes and Bohemond being protagonists of more than one scenario.