Romans (Age of Empires)

This article is about the civilization in Age of Empires: The Rise of Rome. For other uses, see Romans.

Civilization	Technology tree	Strategy	History

“	Draw your gladius and emulate the tactical brilliance of Caesar and Trajan as you lead the fabled Roman legions from humble beginnings to mastery of Europe and the Mediterranean world.	”
—Description^[1]

The Romans are a playable civilization in Age of Empires: The Rise of Rome. The Romans controlled the empire from the city of Rome in modern day Italy, which was once one of the largest cities in the world. At its highest peak the empire extended across most of Europe, some of North Africa, Asia Minor, and much of Mesopotamia.

The Romans reappear in Age of Empires II with the expansion and merger Return of Rome. Their eastern half and spiritual continuation, the Byzantines, were introduced in The Age of Kings, and also appear in Age of Empires IV: The Sultans Ascend.

Characteristics[]

Civilization bonuses[]

Buildings cost -10% (except for towers, walls and Wonders).
Towers cost -40%.
Swordsmen attack 50% faster.^{[note 1]}
Ballistae and Helepolises have +1 range.*

Team bonus[]

Priests +50% heal speed.

Missing technologies[]

Guard Tower, Irrigation, Alchemy, Conscription, Astrology, Afterlife

Missing units[]

Composite Bowman, Chariot Archer, Horse Archer, Elephant Archer, Heavy Cavalry, War Elephant, Camel Rider, Fire Galley

Overview[]

The Romans in the game are primarily an aggressive civilization but they also work well under defensive strategies due to their cheaper cost of constructing buildings and fortifications. Due to their access to powerful Iron Age technologies, they are able to field formidable armies in most games since they produce some of the finest infantry from the Barracks.

Changelog[]

The Rise of Rome[]

Buildings cost -15%.
Towers cost -50%.

Definitive Edition[]

With update 9, buildings cost -10%.
With update 38862, towers cost -40%.

Return of Rome[]

Team bonus added.
Ballista and Helepolis get +1 range.

Campaign appearances[]

The Romans appear as AI players in:

The Rise of Rome[]

This campaign is played as the Romans.

1. The Birth of Rome
- Campanians - Enemy
- Samnites - Enemy
- Etruscans - Enemy
- Umbrians - Enemy
- Veiians - Enemy
- Gauls - Enemy
6. Mithridates
- Rome - Ally (only before the Definitive Edition)

Ave Caesar[]

This campaign is played as the Romans.

1. Caesar's Revenge
- Cilician Pirates - Enemy
The Battle of Pharsalus
- Metellus Scipio - Enemy
- Pompey - Enemy

Imperium Romanum[]

This campaign is played as the Romans.

1. The Battle of Actium
- Marc Antony - Enemy
2. The Year of the Four Emperors
- Rome - Ally
- Galba - Enemy (since the Definitive Edition)
- Vitellius - Enemy (since the Definitive Edition)
- Otho - Enemy (since the Definitive Edition)

Enemies of Rome[]

The third scenario of this campaign is played as the Romans.

1. Crossing the Alps
- Vilagers - Enemy (only before the Definitive Edition)
- Romans - Enemy
- Roman Army - Enemy
2. Third Macedonian War
- Pergamum - Enemy (only before the Definitive Edition)
- Roman Army - Enemy
- Roman Army - Enemy
3. The Revolt of Spartacus
- Freed Slaves - Ally
- Crassus - Enemy (since the Definitive Edition)

The First Punic War[]

1. Struggle for Sicily (in The Rise of Rome and since Return of Rome)
- Roman Army - Enemy
1. The Battle of Agrigentum (only in the Definitive Edition)
- Romans - Enemy
- Romans - Enemy
2. Battle of Mylae
- Romans - Enemy
- Syracuse - Enemy (only in The Rise of Rome)
3. Battle of Tunis
- Regulus - Enemy
- Romans - Enemy
- Consul's Guard - Enemy

Trajan[]

This campaign is played as the Romans.

1. Legates and Legions
- Emperor Domitian - Ally
- Roman Legions - Ally
- Rebel Raiders - Enemy
- Saturninus - Enemy
2., 3., 4. & 5. Roman Repute, Heads Will Roll, An Old Enemy and Blood in the Water
- Hadrian - Ally

Pyrrhus of Epirus[]

3. Pyrrhic Victories
- Samnites - Ally
- The Roman Army - Enemy
- Roman Raiders - Enemy
- Asculum - Enemy
4. Savior of the Greeks
- Mamertines - Enemy
5. Sisyphus
- Samnites - Ally
- The Roman Army - Enemy
- Beneventum - Enemy
- Mamertines - Enemy

AI player names[]

When playing a random map game against the computer, the player may encounter any of the following Romans AI characters.

Caesar - The cognomen of a branch of the gens Julia, the Julii Caesares. A prominent member was the Roman general, consul and dictator, Gaius Julius Caesar 100-44 BC. The name would eventually become a title used by many other Roman rulers.
Vespasian (Vespasiānus) - Roman Emperor 69-79
Trajan (Trāiānus) - Roman Emperor that brought the empire to its greatest territorial extent, culminating with the conquest of Mesopotamia. Ruled 98-117 AD
Nero (Nerō) - Roman Emperor 54-68
Claudius - Roman Emperor 41-54
Domitian (Domitiānus) - Roman Emperor 81-96
Marcus Aurelius - Roman Emperor 161-180
Sulla - Roman general, consul and dictator, lived 138-78 BC
Octavian (Octavianus) - Julius Caesar's adopted inheritor who also titled himself as Caesar but is better known as Augustus, the first Roman Emperor 27 BC-AD 14

History[]

Main article: /History

The city of Rome was founded several thousand years ago and became a Republic in 509 BC. It quickly became a major power and controlled much of the Mediterranean after defeating Carthage. After several power struggles Rome became an Empire with the first Roman emperor being Augustus Caesar. The Roman Empire had the strongest and the most disciplined army in its time and was the dominant power in the area. One major feat of the Empire besides defeating Carthage was defeating Greece who were a major military power, one of the reasons the Romans thought they were descendants of the people of Troy, which was a city that was sacked and had most of its population massacred by the Greeks around 1200 B.C. At its height it was a vast empire that ruled most of Europe, North Africa and the Middle-East at its pinnacle between 44 BC and 180 AD, often known as Pax Romana, or Roman Peace. The Roman Empire eventually began to decline as its bureaucrats became very ineffective, invasions from various Germanic tribes and the Huns increased and numerous civil wars began across the empire. The Roman Empire was split into an Eastern and Western half by Emperor Diocletian in 293 as the empire was seen as too big for one person to rule. A second capital was made in Byzantium. The Western Empire fell in 476 while the Eastern Half, self-named Romania (called the Byzantine Empire by scholars since the late modern period), survived another thousand years. The Byzantines were toppled by the Turks in 1453.

Trivia[]

The civilization's icon introduced in Return of Rome portrays a typical rectangular Scutum (shield) design which saw use in the Roman Empire starting from about 40 AD. In Roman symbolism, the red signifies power, the wings signify Eagles which was a prominent military and quasi-religious symbol, and the zig-zag lines represent lightning bolts of Jupiter, the Roman counterpart of Zeus.
- Similarly, the user interface image also depicts the eagle, the lightning bolts, and the inscription of SPQR, which stands for Senatus PopulusQue Romanus ("The Senate and the People of Rome").
- The Scutum appears in the Tower Shield icon.
The Romans are the only civilization introduced in The Rise of Rome having no access to either camel or elephant units.
The Team bonus of Priests healing faster is most likely a reference to the team bonus of the Byzantines in Age of Empires II.
The music theme features a Graeco-Roman bagpipe-like instrument in the beginning called an Aulos/tibia. This theme is shared with the Romans of Age of Empires II.

Gallery[]

Notes[]

↑ As of DE CU11, the bonus actually makes every second blow of Short Swordsmen line commence twice as fast, as if the rate of fire (RoF) was 0.75 seconds instead of 1.5 seconds like a generic Short Swordsman; however, every first attack's RoF is set to normal 1.5 sec. It also counts in the attack delay (AD) of a Short Swordsman (0.75 sec., unchanged for Romans), so the first two blows of the initial attack (after the AD) are dealt with RoF of 0.75 sec. Thus, Roman Short Swordsman, after reaching its target (the animation of the attack has just started), deals damage with the following cooldowns (every "→" means the damage is dealt): 0.75 sec. delay because of AD → 0.75 sec. delay due to increased RoF mitigating AD → 0.75 sec. because of increased RoF bonus → 1.5 sec. generic delay → 0.75 sec. → 1.5 sec. → 0.75 sec, which combines for 5.25 sec.; generic civilization would have 8.25 sec. instead. This lead to a slightly higher actual bonus RoF for the first blows.

References[]

↑ https://www.forgottenempires.net/age-of-empires-definitive-edition

v • d • e Civilizations in Age of Empires categorised by architecture set
East Asian architecture	Choson · Lac Viet · Shang · Yamato
Egyptian architecture	Assyrians · Egyptians · Hittites
Greek architecture	Greeks · Minoans · Phoenicians
Mesopotamian architecture	Babylonians · Persians · Sumerians
Roman architecture	Carthaginians · Macedonians · Palmyrans · Romans

[2] As of DE CU11, the bonus actually makes every second blow of Short Swordsmen line commence twice as fast, as if the rate of fire (RoF) was 0.75 seconds instead of 1.5 seconds like a generic Short Swordsman; however, every first attack's RoF is set to normal 1.5 sec. It also counts in the attack delay (AD) of a Short Swordsman (0.75 sec., unchanged for Romans), so the first two blows of the initial attack (after the AD) are dealt with RoF of 0.75 sec. Thus, Roman Short Swordsman, after reaching its target (the animation of the attack has just started), deals damage with the following cooldowns (every "→" means the damage is dealt): 0.75 sec. delay because of AD → 0.75 sec. delay due to increased RoF mitigating AD → 0.75 sec. because of increased RoF bonus → 1.5 sec. generic delay → 0.75 sec. → 1.5 sec. → 0.75 sec, which combines for 5.25 sec.; generic civilization would have 8.25 sec. instead. This lead to a slightly higher actual bonus RoF for the first blows.

[ref-1] ttps://www.forgottenempires.net/age-of-empires-definitive-edition

[1]

[note 1]