Persians (Age of Empires)

This article is about the civilization in Age of Empires. For their appearance in Age of Empires II, see Persians (Age of Empires II).

Civilization	Technology tree	Strategy
Persians (Age of Empires) This artistic manuscript depicts an image of a Persian palace under Faravahar. This spirit above the palace is the symbol of their official religion, Zoroastrianism. Civilization information Introduced in Age of Empires Architecture Babylonian Continent Central Asia Features War Elephants and Elephant Archers move 25% faster Villagers hunt food 30% faster Trireme rate of fire +25% Farming production -30% Personality Offensive Maps Land, water “ Whether men lie, or say true, it is with one and the same object ” —Darius Persia refers to an ancient Middle-Eastern kingdom ruled by the inhabitants, known as the Persians which was primarily based on the Achaemenid Empire located roughly in present-day Iran, but also represent the Parthian and Sassanid Empire in the same region. The civilization reached its peak under Persian king Xerxes, but slowly fell apart following the conquest of Alexander the Great which occurred just after the Persian naval defeat at Salamis in an attempt to conquer the Greek city states. The Persians are a playable civilization in Age of Empires and are strictly an offensive civilization which reflects their rapid expansion of their empire under Cyrus the Great. They can train a variety of elite units and have the best cavalry units in the game. They have the ability to train all archers (except Chariots), though their archers can suffer from poor range and lack of accuracy. Although the Persians have a fast economy from the beginning of the game, their economic power becomes less prominent once the game progresses. Most of the areas where the Persians located were full of wild animals and hunting became a common practice among them, being reflected in their fast-working hunters. Their rapid expansion allowed them to be feared even in naval battles where they could easily overwhelm their Greek enemies, which is reflected in their fast-firing triremes. Achaemenid, Parthian and Sassanid Persia controled some areas around the Indus river and could recruit some Indian mahouts which brought the use of war elephants on several occasions. To reflect this, their elephant units move faster. Features Babylonian style Triremes attack +25% faster War Elephants and Elephant Archers move 25% faster Villagers hunt food 30% faster Farming production -30% (Before The Rise of Rome) Changelog Age of Empires Farming production -30%. War Elephants and Elephant Archers have +56% speed. Wheel, Artisanship and Coinage are not available. Triremes attack 38% faster Plow is not available. Rise of Rome Farming penalty eliminated. Definitive Edition War Elephants and Elephant Archers have +20% speed. With update 38862, War Elephants and Elephant Archers have +25% speed. Triremes attack 25% faster Wheel, Artisanship and Coinage are available. With update 38862, Plow is available. AI Player Names Names shown in italics are only used in the original game, names shown in bold are used in both the original game and its expansions. Cyrus (𐏂𐎢𐎽𐎿𐏃; کوروش) - Cyrus I, king of Anshan c. 600-580 BC Darius (𐎭𐎠𐎼𐎹𐎺𐎢𐏁) - Darius (I) the Great, king of Persia 522-486 BC Cyrus II (𐎤𐎢𐎽𐎢𐏁) - Cyrus the Great, king of Persia 559-530 BC Darius II - King of Persia 423-405 BC Xerxes (𐎧𐏁𐎹𐎠𐎼𐏁𐎠; خشایار شاه) - King of Persia 486-465 BC Xerxes II (𐎧𐏁𐎹𐎠𐎼𐏁𐎠) - King of Persia 424 BC Cyrus III - Did not exist in Persia Cambyses (𐎣𐎲𐎢𐎪𐎡𐎹; کامبیز) - King of Anshan 580-559 BC (Cambyses I); King of Persia 530-522 BC (II) Datis - Median admiral under Darius I, leader of Persian forces during the Persian Wars Bessus - King of Persia 330-329 BC Mardonius (𐎶𐎼𐎯𐎢𐎴𐎡𐎹; مردونیوس) - Persian military commander during the Persian Wars, lived ?-479 BC, died in *Battle of Plataea Spitamenes - Sogdian warlord, leader of the Sogdian and Bactrian uprising against *Alexander the Great, lived 370-328 BC Artaphernes - Brother of Darius I and satrap of Sardis; His son, also Arthaphernes, was military commander under Darius I, leader of Persian forces during the Persian Wars