Each Greek faction (Sparta, Athens, Thebes, Corinth, Argos, Eretria, Syracuse and Pergamon) chooses its government system at the start of the campaign (it cannot be changed later) between three options.

Rule by a single king, where authority passes through noble blood and power rests in one guiding hand.

• Royal Guard: 2 Royal Guard units and 1 Royal Cavalry available at all times. Gain 1 extra unit for every 4 settlements you own. These units appear in the capital, and will reappear there when they are destroyed (at a maximum rate of 1 unit of each type per turn).
• Royal Barracks: +2 experience for every infantry unit recruited in the settlement.
• An army of dissidents appears at the start of the campaign near the capital.

A council of the wealthiest and most influential citizens governs, favouring stability and the interests of the few.

• Merchant Colony (requires Port): +15% trade and +0.5% population growth in the settlement.
• Mercenary Recruitment Office: allows the recruitment and retraining of local mercenaries in the settlement.

Every free citizen has a voice in the assembly, where debate and vote determine the course of the state.

• Bouleuterion: +10% hapiness and +2 morale for all units recruited in the settlement.
• The following units cost half to maintain:
  • Peasants
  • Militia Hoplites
  • Hoplites
  • Greek Peltasts
  • Militia Cavalry
• Faction Heir is randomly chosen and cannot be changed.