Tower Shield

This article is about the technology in Age of Empires: The Rise of Rome. For the technology in Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition, see Tower Shields.

Tower Shield
Availability
Introduced in	Age of Empires: The Rise of Rome
Civilization	See table
Age	Iron Age
Research
Researched at	Storage Pit
Prerequisite(s)	Iron Shield
Food	250
Gold	400
Research time	100 seconds
Effect
Infantry and Slingers +1 pierce armor

Tower Shield is a technology in Age of Empires: The Rise of Rome that can be researched at the Storage Pit once the Iron Age is reached and Iron Shield is researched. Once researched, it increases the pierce armor of all infantry units and Slingers by +1. In essence, it affects all Barracks and Academy units.

Availability chart

Available	Unavailable
Carthaginians Greeks Hittites Macedonians Minoans Persians Phoenicians Romans Shang	Assyrians Babylonians Choson Egyptians Lac Viet Palmyrans Sumerians Yamato

Affected units

• Clubman
• Axeman
• Short Swordsman
• Broad Swordsman
• Long Swordsman
• Legionary
• Slinger
• Hoplite
• Phalangite
• Centurion

Team bonuses

• Palmyrans: Researching Tower Shield is 30% faster.

History

“	The Romans adopted a tall rectangular shield that gave them advantages in battle when used properly. The size of the shield protected more of the body. The Romans fought in tight rectangular formations of approximately 100 men called maniples. The shields of the men in the maniple presented a continuous front, or shield wall, which protected them greatly from missile fire. They developed a formation variant called the Testudo (or turtle). In this formation, the shields covered all four sides and the heads of the men, allowing them to advance under missile fire. This was useful when advancing toward a gap in an enemy wall.	”
—The Rise of Rome manual

Trivia

• The technology icon shows a Scutum, a rectangular shield which saw use in the Roman Empire starting from about 40 AD and is the Romans' crest (icon) since Return of Rome.