Byzantines - C7-Game/pedia GitHub Wiki

Traits: Scientific & Seafaring

Starting Technologies: Bronze Working & Alphabet

Unique Unit: Dromon

Constantine the Great envisioned Byzantium as the heart of his empire—One Emperor, One God, One Empire. Known for its stubborn resistance during the Roman Civil Wars, Byzantium’s natural defenses made it an ideal capital when Constantine relocated it eastward in the fourth century AD. This move allowed the Romans to monitor the frontiers of Dacia and Persia while better administering the wealthy eastern provinces. Once a minor Greek polis, Byzantium was transformed into the New Rome, later known as Constantinople. For a thousand years, it withstood invasions by the Huns, Avars, Bulgars, Arabs, and Persians until the Turks, led by Mehmet the Conqueror, seized it in 1453. With gunpowder, they ended the last remnant of classical civilization.

The Byzantine Empire reached its territorial and imperial apex under Emperor Justinian and Empress Theodora. Often considered the last true Roman Emperor and the first true Byzantine Empress, they entrusted the great general Belisarius with both defense and conquest. Belisarius achieved remarkable victories in North Africa and Italy, securing the first Roman triumph in over a century and reviving the phrase Mare Nostrum—“Our Sea”—as a symbol of restoration. This marked a new era for the Eastern Romans following the fall of the Western Roman Empire to Germanic invasions in 476 AD. For centuries, the Byzantines waged war against their old rivals, the Persians, until the rise of Islam reshaped the region. The Muslim conquests reduced Persia to a vassal state and stripped Byzantium of North Africa and Egypt. The fall of Alexandria, their second city, transformed the empire from a superpower into a regional power. However, Byzantium saw periods of resurgence, notably under the Macedonian Dynasty, reaching its height under Basil II, who reconquered the Balkans and pushed the eastern frontier into Syria.

The greatest blow since Alexandria’s fall came in 1071 at the Battle of Manzikert, where the Byzantines suffered a catastrophic defeat, losing nearly all of Asia Minor. Their emperor was captured, and the Roman military’s prestige was shattered. Internal strife allowed the Turks to consolidate Anatolia, but Emperor Alexios I Komnenos initiated the Komnenian Restoration. Seeking Western aid against the Turks, he inadvertently sparked the Crusades. While Catholic and Muslim forces clashed over the Holy Land, the Byzantines reclaimed parts of Anatolia. However, the Crusades ultimately proved disastrous. In 1204, during the Fourth Crusade, Catholic armies sacked Constantinople, achieving what Persians, Turks, and Caliphates had failed to do. The Empire was divided into The Latin states, while Byzantine remnants struggled for survival. The empire was restored under Michael VIII Palaiologos in 1261, briefly reclaiming territories along the Black Sea and in Greece. Yet Byzantium continued to weaken, gradually losing ground to the Turks until its final collapse in 1453 when Mehmed the Conqueror seized Constantinople.

Can you lead the Second Rome to greater heights than the first? Can you expand the empire and inspire your people throughout the ages, against old and new enemies alike? Can you build a civilization that can stand the test of time?