This article is about the civilization in Age of Empires II. For the civilization in Age of Empires, see Persians (Age of Empires). |
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The Persians' civilization music theme in the Definitive Edition The Persians are a Middle Eastern civilization in Age of Empires II. They focus on cavalry. The Persians are based on the large number of Persian dynasties that existed throughout the Middle Ages. Although their design and description were largely inspired by the Sasanian Empire, they are supposed to represent all Persian factions that existed during the Middle Ages (As can be noticed in the Persian AI player names). They were best known for their rivalry with the Roman Empire and gradual adoption of Islam following the Arab invasions. They would grow to become a major hub and center of the Islamic world, contributing much to Islamic art and culture. Like their predecessor in the original game, the Persians specialize in cavalry and navy. Since BC, the region of Persia has been known as the place where various large empires like Parthia and Sassanid once stood. In addition, the region of Persia was also part of international trade routes between India, Far East, and the Middle East. This is reflected by two of their bonuses: They start the game with more food and wood, and their Town Centers possess higher HP and working speed. To ensure the safety of traveling ships in the Persian Gulf, the ruling empires stationed their military (including naval vessels) in the region. Therefore, Persian Docks also possess higher HP and work faster. The Persians were known to employ powerful armored cavalry on the battlefield. This is reflected by their virtually complete Stable. The borders of the Sassanian Empire were often raided by various nomadic tribesmen; by Arabs to the south and by Central Asians to the north and east. Using neighboring vassal states (e.g. the Lakhmid Kingdom of Arab) as a buffer zone was one of the methods used by the Sassanian to stop these raids. To reflect this, the Persians have a team bonus which increases the attack of their Knights against archers. During the Sassanian, Ghaznavid, and Timurid era, war elephants were part of the Persian military force. This is reflected by their unique unit, the War Elephant. The riders of elephants were known as Mahouts, and this name is used as one of the Persians unique technologies, which increases the War Elephants' movement speed. The Sassanian Empire was also known to build complex fortification lines along their borders. Thus, their former second unique technology, Boiling Oil, provides Castles with additional attack against rams. During the Sassanian era, the Persians fielded elite archers, who often fought intermingled with heavy cavalry, creating a deadly formation that greatly vexed their Roman opponents. These archers give their name to the new Persian unique technology, Kamandaran, which removes the Gold cost from Archer-line units. ContentsOverview[edit | edit source]The Persians are a cavalry civilization. They are in fact the only civilization to have access to the complete cavalry technology tree including the Blacksmith upgrades (bar the Battle Elephant and Steppe Lancer as those are semi-unique units to the Southeast Asian and Central Asian civilizations respectively). This also benefits their unique unit, the War Elephant. Their infantry and archer units are not very prominent as important upgrades such as Bracer, Two-Handed Swordsman, and Arbalester are missing. Still, the Persians can utilize fully upgraded Hand Cannoneers and Halberdiers. They also have access to a large variety of siege weapons, but they lack Siege Engineers. Their navy is overall strong, but the lack of Shipwright can be unfavorable in longer games, and the lack of Bracer hurts their Galleons as well. Their Monks are among the weakest of all civilizations, especially the lack of Heresy is unfortunate as the Persians rely on expensive units that are prone to conversion (Paladin, War Elephant). The defensive structures are also weak for the Persians as they cannot even upgrade their Stone Walls. Still, their Castles get all upgrades and the additional Boiling Oil (Note: In the Definitive Edition, Boiling Oil has been replaced with Kamandaran). Their economy is simply excellent; they get all economy technologies as well as a head start with the additional resources given at the game start that is further bolstered by their faster working Town Centers. Campaign appearances[edit | edit source]The Persians have a scenario devoted to their civilization: Bukhara from the Battles of the Forgotten campaign. They also appear in: Saladin[edit | edit source]
Genghis Khan[edit | edit source]
Barbarossa[edit | edit source]
Attila the Hun[edit | edit source]
El Cid (in the original edition)[edit | edit source]
Alaric[edit | edit source]All 4 scenarios from the original campaign:
Prithviraj[edit | edit source]
In the Definitive Edition remake:
Francisco de Almeida[edit | edit source]
Characteristics[edit | edit source]Unique unit[edit | edit source]
Unique technologies[edit | edit source]
Civilization bonuses[edit | edit source]
Team bonus[edit | edit source]Changelog[edit | edit source]The Age of Kings[edit | edit source]
The Conquerors[edit | edit source]
The Forgotten[edit | edit source]
The African Kingdoms[edit | edit source]
Rise of the Rajas[edit | edit source]
Definitive Edition[edit | edit source]
In-game dialogue language[edit | edit source]In-game, Persian units speak Persian (Persian : فارسی, Farsi). It is a pluricentric language predominantly spoken and used officially within Iran, Afghanistan and Tajikistan.
AI player names[edit | edit source]When playing a random map game against the computer, the player may encounter any of the following Persian AI characters:
History[edit | edit source]The Persian Empire had existed for many centuries when the Middle Ages began. It had been reassembled following the conquest by Alexander in the fourth century BC and the subsequent breakup of his empire in later centuries. The Persians had been fighting the Romans since the third century AD. The Persian Empire stretched from Mesopotamia to India and from the Caspian Sea to the Persian Gulf, encompassing the modern nations of Iraq, Iran, and Afghanistan. They fought the Romans, and later the Byzantines, for control of modern Syria, Turkey, Palestine, Israel, Egypt, and Arabia. The capital of the Persian Empire was Ctesiphon, called Baghdad today. During the third and fourth centuries, the Romans made several attempts to subdue the Persians. In 364 a peace treaty was signed between the two that allowed the Persians to consolidate their power to the east and north. Beginning with the sixth century, the Persians began attacking the Byzantine Empire in Syria, Palestine, Egypt, and modern Turkey. The war between the two powers went back and forth. In 626 the Persians besieged Byzantium itself without success, and the Byzantines were able to invade Persia the following year. Peace was made between the two exhausted empires in 628. The Persians were unprepared for the fury of the Islamic Arabs in the seventh century. The Sassanid dynasty of Persia ended in battle in 636. The Persians did not have a capital with defenses comparable to those of Constantinople. Muslim conquest of Persia was complete by 651.[1] Trivia[edit | edit source]
Gallery[edit | edit source]The Wonder of the Persians, the Taq-i Kisra Palace The Middle Eastern architecture set the Persians share with the Berbers, Byzantines, Saracens, and Turks The Persian user interface A Persian town, as seen in The Horde Rides West Persian buildings under attack in the Definitive Edition Add a photo to this gallery Video overview[edit | edit source]References[edit | edit source]
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