Byzantines (Age of Empires IV)

This article is about the civilization in Age of Empires IV: The Sultans Ascend. For civilization in Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings, see Byzantines (Age of Empires II). For similar civilizations, see Romans, Greeks.

Civilization

Technology tree

Mastery

Civilization

Technology tree

Mastery

Byzantines
Civilization
Civilization information
Introduced in	Age of Empires IV: The Sultans Ascend
Continent	Europe
In-game theme
Difficulty	3/3
Timeframe	330 - 1453 CE
Features/Characteristics
Focus	City planning, mercenaries, and defense
Unique units	Limitanei Cheirosiphon Cataphract Varangian Guard Dromon
Unique technologies	9
Unique buildings	Cistern Aqueduct Olive Grove Mercenary House

“	The Byzantines construct aqueducts, harvest olive oil as a new resource, hire mercenaries from other civilizations, and utilize devastating Greek Fire.	”
—

The Byzantines are a playable European civilization in Age of Empires IV: The Sultans Ascend based on the Byzantine Empire, the common name given to the medieval Eastern Roman Empire.

Their variant civilization is the Macedonian Dynasty.

They are also featured in Age of Empires II under the same name, and can be considered the successors of the Roman Empire and the Greeks of the eastern Mediterranean from Age of Empires (or the Greeks in Age of Mythology).

Civilization bonuses

• Field Stones: Whenever a building is constructed, a small amount of stone is generated, with larger buildings providing a larger bonus. The amount of stone generated per building is given by $2*n^{2}$where n is the length of the building side in tiles. This corresponds to the following stone amounts:
  • 2 x 2 building: 8 stone
  • 3 x 3 building: 18 stone
  • 4 x 4 building: 32 stone
  • 6 x 6 building (Wonder): 72 stone
• Olive Oil: Collect Olive Oil that is used to hire mercenary units.
  • Villagers generate +50% olive oil when gathering from Berry Bushes, +20% from Olive Groves, and +10% from Shore Fish.
  • Fishing Boats generate +20% olive oil.
  • Traders provide +20% olive oil on trades.
  • Olive Oil can be traded at the Market, just like common resources.
• Mercenaries: Purchase contracts or establish control of Trade Posts to recruit unique units from other civilizations with Olive Oil at the Mercenary House.
• Cisterns and Aqueducts: Cisterns provide nearby Villagers with boosted gather rates and an influence that enhances nearby buildings, improving unit production speed, research speed, or building defense. Construct an Aqueduct network and connect them to Cisterns to increase its bonus output.
• Greek Fire: Cheirosiphons along with upgraded Dromons and Trebuchets fling Greek Fire with their attacks, engulfing the area in flames for damage over time.
• Mangonel Emplacements: Outposts and Keeps can be upgraded with the unique Mangonel Emplacement instead of Springald Emplacement, which excel against tightly packed enemies. Stone Wall Towers come equipped with this emplacement by default instead of Springalds.
• Transport Ships temporarily increase the move speed of units when unloading.

Starting resources

200 food, 150 wood, 100 gold, 100 stone, 100 olive oil

Unique units

• Cataphract - Replaces the Knight but has a higher cost; groups of Cataphract are capable of a devastating charge that tramples anything in their path.
• Varangian Guard - Replaces the Man-at-Arms. Imperial bodyguards and powerful elite soldiers that can switch between a sword-and-shield mode and a great two-handed axe mode with their Berserking ability. When using the two-handed axe, the Varangian Guard trades armor for a significantly increased burst of damage.
• Cheirosiphon - Replaces the Battering Ram, sprays jets of Greek Fire; these flames remain over time, leaving burning ground that deals damage to anything caught in the blaze.
• Limitanei - Replaces the Spearman. Equipped with a shield wall ability, which when active drastically reduces incoming ranged damage at the cost of movement and attack speed.
• Dromon - Replaces the springald ship. Can spread lingering but temporary Greek Fire over an area of water to damage enemy ships in the area.

Unique buildings

• Cistern - Starts an Aqueduct network, boosting Villager gather rates in range of the Cistern, and providing various enhancements to buildings within influence.
• Aqueduct - Can be connected to multiple Cisterns, improving the water level in all the connected Cisterns to increase their effectiveness.
• Olive Grove - Replaces the Farm, also produces Olive Oil alongside food.
• Mercenary House - Used to hire military units from other civilizations.

Unique technologies

• Teardrop Shields (Blacksmith) - Cataphract: +1 armor, Limitanei: +15% move speed, Varangian Guard: +15% attack speed.
• Expilatores (Stable) - Horseman: +2 damage vs. Workers. Workers killed by Horsemen award +30 gold.
• Numeri (Stable) - Enemy units damaged by Cataphract Trample receive +15% damage for 12 seconds.
• Trapezites (Stable) - Scouts increase the torch damage of nearby units by 25%.
• Greek Fire Projectiles (Siege Workshop - replaces Geometry) - Counterweight Trebuchet: +30% damage; their projectiles spread Greek Fire, dealing area damage.
• Border Settlements (House) - House: +7 tiles Line of Sight, +500% build speed.
• Ferocious Speed (Barracks) - Varangian Guard: +30% move speed while Berserking
• Heavy Dromon (Dock - replaces Springald Crews and Swivel Cannon) - Dromons leave burning Area of Effect with attack. Man the Sails cooldown reduced to 20 seconds.
• Liquid Explosives (Dock) - incendiary ship: Deal full damage to all enemies within explosion radius.

Landmarks

Dark Age

• Grand Winery - Acts as a Mill and Monastery. Provides a +60% Olive Oil production boost to farming Villagers within a 6.25 tile radius. Garrisoned Relics generate Olive Oil instead of Gold.
• Imperial Hippodrome - Acts as a Stable. Produces "Supply Points" every 30 seconds, up to a maximum of 45. Supply Points can be spent to activate the unique Triumph ability for one second per point collected. Triumph boosts the move speed and damage of all cavalry, while also granting them regeneration.

Feudal Age

• Cistern of the First Hill - Acts as a Cistern. Provides a powerful healing effect via the Pilgrim Flask ability.
• Golden Horn Tower - Automatically recruits unlocked mercenaries at no cost, but with a longer training time.

Castle Age

• Foreign Engineering Company - Allows the training of siege engines not normally available to the Byzantines by purchasing them with Olive Oil. Also provides unique upgrades to mercenaries from their original civilizations.
• Palatine School - Has a 30% chance to generate an additional, free unit from the core Byzantine roster of unique units when they are trained elsewhere.

Civilization overview

“	The Byzantines bolster their forces by using Olive Oil, a fifth resource unique to this civilization, to hire a vast array of mercenary forces. The civilization gains access to Olive Oil over time by gathering from the unique Olive Grove that replaces the standard Farm. With access to such a broad roster of units and mercenaries, the Byzantine's highly varied army is capable of adapting to whatever they encounter. Additionally, networks of Aqueducts and Cisterns provide water to all corners of the Byzantines' empire, providing a variety of enhancements to all nearby Villagers and buildings. As more Cisterns are connected, the water level increases, improving their effectiveness. Engulf your opponents in fire and flame by spreading Greek Fire with Trebuchets, Dromons, and Cheirosiphons. First invented by the Byzantines in 672, the Cheirosiphon was a hand-held Greek Fire projector used to great effect on both water and land, creating lasting patches of sticky burning ground wherever it landed.	”
—

History

“

The Byzantines are a new civilization available with The Sultans Ascend Expansion for Age of Empires IV. The Byzantines come equipped with three unique aspects: an Aqueduct network, access to mercenaries, and powerful Greek Fire. The civilization constructs sprawling Aqueduct networks that boost the productivity of their empire and aids in the generation of Olive Oil, a unique fifth resource used to hire mercenaries. From a militaristic standpoint, the Byzantines have capable command over the battlefield, pairing a broad roster of units and mercenaries with powerful Greek Fire that can have lasting effect on an impacted area. In Age of Empires IV, the civilization of the Byzantines covers roughly early 9th century CE to mid-15th century CE. The Eastern Roman Empire (now commonly called the Byzantine Empire) was created in an administrative split with the Western Roman Empire in 285 and lasted over a thousand years – surviving the fall of their Western counterpart and providing the shining center of medieval civilization in their capital of Constantinople, while beset by enemies on all sides. At their height, the Byzantines commanded a sprawling Empire that spread throughout the eastern Mediterranean.

”

In-game dialogue

The units of the Byzantines speak Medieval Greek. It does not change across Ages.

Changelog

• With patch 9.1.370, the Byzantines' starting stone was increased from 50 to 100.

Trivia

• Their crest symbol is the Chi Rho - the symbol adopted by Emperor Constantine the Great after his conversion to Christianity. The symbol is formed by superimposing the letters Χ (Chi) and Ρ (Rho), the first two letters of the word Christ in Greek.
• The units' shield uses the post-Byzantine Restoration Palaiologos family crest (1261-1453).
• The time span of the civilization begins in 330, with the designation of Constantinople as the new capital of the Roman Empire, and ends in 1453, with the fall of Constantinople at the hands of the Ottomans.

Gallery

Image of the Byzantine civilization.

Byzantine overview

The Imperial Hippodrome, a Feudal Age Landmark, along with Aqueducts and a Cistern in their corner, and some units

Varangian Guards fighting Japanese cavalry

Cheirosiphons attacking a Japanese Landmark (Koka Township)

Cataphracts

Varangian Guards

Limitanei

A Cheirosiphon with some Limitanei beside it

A Cistern built in the Dark Age

The Grand Winery, a Feudal Age landmark with some earlier age Limitanei are on the right.

The Golden Horn Tower, a Castle Age landmark

Foreign Engineering Company, an Imperial Age landmark