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Rising out of the sands of the Syrian Desert, Palmyra built its hegemony on trade and commerce. Defend your caravans and raid your enemies with swift camelry bred in the harsh desert.
—Description[1]

The Palmyrans are a playable civilization introduced in Age of Empires: The Rise of Rome based on the inhabitants of the ancient city of Palmyra which prospered in the 1st - 3rd centuries AD. They gained prominence under Roman rule in the Levant and would establish their own empire during the tumultuous Crisis of the Third Century, encompassing much of Rome's eastern territories.

Characteristics[]

Civilization bonuses[]

Team bonus[]

Technologies researched 30% faster.

Missing technologies[]

Metallurgy, Tower Shield, Craftsmanship, Irrigation, Logistics, Aristocracy, Engineering, Mysticism, Polytheism, Monotheism, Medicine*

Missing units[]

Long Swordsman, Elephant Archer, Cataphract, Helepolis, Centurion, Catapult Trireme*

Overview[]

This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it.

They are primarily an aggressive civilization, but they are also an economic civilization with many economic bonuses involving trade, tribute, and Villager efficiency. However, one of their major cons is expensive Villagers which cost 75 food (as opposed to the usual 50 food) which can hamper their progress early in the game. Palmyrans are mostly effective in random map and are most powerful in the Bronze Age, but they can also be effective on other Ages as well if handled properly.

Changelog[]

RomeIcon The Rise of Rome[]

  • Foragers, Hunters, Stone and Gold Miners work 44% faster, Woodcutters work 36% faster, Fishermen work 33% faster (but stated 20%).
  • Coinage, Heavy Transport, and Plow are not available.
  • The player starts with standard resources.
  • Trade ships return +100% gold.

Age of Empires Definitive Edition icon Definitive Edition[]

  • Start the game with +50 food. With update 38862, they start with +75 food.
  • Villagers work 25% faster for all tasks (including builders and repairers).
  • Coinage and Heavy Transport are available.
  • With update 38862, Plow is available.

AoE2Icon-ReturnRome Return of Rome[]

Campaign appearances[]

The The Year of the Four Emperors and the Odaenathus, Lord of Palmyra scenarios from the Imperium Romanum and Enemies of Rome campaigns respectively are played as the Palmyrans. The Palmyrans appear as enemy AI players in:

The Rise of Rome[]

Imperium Romanum[]

RoR Trajan Trajan[]

AI player names[]

Although the civilization is based on the kingdom of Palmyra in classical antiquity, only 4 AI player names actually represent leaders from there, while the rest of the AI names represent leaders from Pontus, Numidia and other lands to the east of the Roman Empire. This could be because these leaders share the trait of being important opponents and allies of Rome hailing from "exotic" desert kingdoms.

  • Zenobia - Queen of the Palmyrene Empire 267-272
  • Odaenathus - King of Palmyra and the Palmyrene Empire c. 260-267, husband of Zenobia
  • Vaballathus - King of the Palmyrene Empire 267-272, son of Zenobia and Odaenathus
  • Zobdas - Misspelling of Zabdas, a Palmyrene general under Zenobia
  • Syphax - King of Western Numidia 3rd century BC
  • Massinissa - First King of Numidia 202-148 BC
  • Jugurtha - King of Numidia 160-104 BC
  • Mithridates - Name of several rulers in Parthia, Pontus, Iberia and others. Most notably Mithridates VI the Great, king of Pontus 120-63 BC
  • Pharnaces - Name of rulers in Phrygia and, most notably, Pontus. King of Pontus 2nd century BC (Pharnaces I); 97-47 BC (Pharnaces II)
  • Temurides - Unknown, possibly fictional, or possibly a reference to the Timurid dynasty founded by Timur Leng, whose bold conquests reshaped much of the Near Eastern region where Palmyra lay. Babur, a scion of the dynasty, would later leave the region to found the Mughal Empire.

History[]

Main article: /History

Palmyra was an ancient settlement near the Eqfa spring in the Syrian desert, founded ca. 2000 BC. The Palmyrans themselves were a mix of Amorites, Arameans and Arabs, and spoke Palmyrene, an Aramic dialect and used Greek as their commercial and political language.

Initially a petty sheikhdom, the city grew rapidly in importance thanks to its strategic position as an oasis, which made it an important stop for merchants traveling in the silk road from China and India, as well as for local caravans trading in the region. Growing in wealth, the city prospered more and more by taxing the passing by caravans who stopped to rest, and grew to become one of the strongest trading powers in the region by trading with the many rare commodities from the far east such as silk, spices and perfumes. The Palmyrenes used this wealth to build grandeous monuments, colonnades and impressive tombs, and to design Greco-Roman and Persian influenced funerary reliefs for the high class citizens of the city.

Not going unnoticed by the Romans, it was declared a Roman colonia in the 2nd century and its royals and nobility were granted Roman citizenship under the reign of Septimius Severus and many adopted the Septimii's surname as a sign of loyalty and gratefulness to the Romans.

Septimius Odaenathus was the first Palmyrene to be granted the title of king, and he and his wife, Queen Zenobia, fought off two major invasions coming from the east and the north by Persians and Goths respectively, and were granted many honorary titles and privileges by the Romans, who would've been crushed had not the east been defended by the now prospering Palmyrans.

Odaenathus was murdered in 267 after a successful campaign in Asia Minor against Goths raiding there, and was succeeded by his son. The real power in Palmyra, however, was his mother, Queen Zenobia, who ruled as a regent and held de facto power in the kingdom. She rebelled against Rome and conquered all of Rome's eastern provinces, establishing the Palmyrene Empire that spanned from the Black Sea to the Nile, and included the previous Roman provinces of Asia Minor, Mesopotomia, Syria, Arabia, as well as Upper and Lower Egypt. Declaring herself Augusta, the Romans, slowly recovering from the crisis of the third century, promptly returned to Palmyra, and defeated Queen Zenobia in 272, taking her back to Rome where she was paraded in chains, and later in 273, sacked Palmyra and ended its civilization. It ceased to become a major power and never recovered, subsequently falling into Byzantine, Persian, and later Arab rule and never became the power it was again.

Nowadays, the ruins and monuments left by the Palmyrans are located in the Tadmur district of present-day Syria.

Trivia[]

  • Despite being a Mesopotamian people, they have the Roman architecture, although their buildings historically resembled the Mesopotamian set much more. This is likely because the Palmyrans reached their historical apex as a Roman client state, and briefly took control of Rome's eastern territories during the Crisis of the Third Century.
  • The civilization crest (icon) introduced in Return of Rome portrays two crossed cornucopiae, the symbol of plenty and abundance, and on top a symbol found in many Palmyran coins and tesserae, associated with Bel, a term used for various Mesopotamian gods where one such was the chief god of Palmyra, Syria.[2]
  • Some AI players are named after Parthian and Numidian rulers.
  • The Palmyrans are the only civilization to lack Logistics.
  • In the early Chinese version, Palmyrans were incorrectly translated to 希伯来 (Hebrews, aka Israelites/Israelis/Jews/Jewish).
  • Before Return of Rome, the Palmyrans had the largest amount of civilization bonuses, numbering 5.
  • The Palmyran UI emblem artwork depicts a camel from a limestone relief excavated at the ruins of Palmyra.

Gallery[]

References[]

Civilizations in Age of Empires categorised by architecture set
East Asian architectureChoson AOE DE ROR icon Choson · Lac Viet AOE DE ROR icon Lac Viet · Shang AOE DE ROR icon Shang · Yamato AOE DE ROR icon Yamato
Egyptian architectureAssyrian AOE DE ROR icon Assyrians · Egyptian AOE DE ROR icon Egyptians · Hittite AOE DE ROR icon Hittites
Greek architectureGreek AOE DE ROR icon Greeks · Minoan AOE DE ROR icon Minoans · Phoenician AOE DE ROR icon Phoenicians
Mesopotamian architectureBabylonian AOE DE ROR icon Babylonians · Persian AOE DE ROR icon Persians · Sumerian AOE DE ROR icon Sumerians
Roman architectureCarthaginian AOE DE ROR icon Carthaginians · Macedonian AOE DE ROR icon Macedonians · Palmyran AOE DE ROR icon Palmyrans · Roman AOE DE ROR icon Romans
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