Byzantium - Exploration Age Civilization
Got some free time, so I figured I might as well put together a run-down on the choices here. An artist's statement of sorts, going through the concept ability by ability.
I'm starting here to get across the general intention of the design. Eastern Rome has a lot of different directions you could take it, but I settled on a religious warfare focus because that's perhaps what it is most famous for and it's also the direction the developers have taken in the past. There is some extra flexibility, though, now that Faith is no longer its own yield or attribute. In VII, Religion is tied to Happiness, which itself seems to be somewhat tied to the Diplomatic attribute (based on Norman.) The added flexibility of unique civics and policy cards was already something I wanted to use to represent the importance of Byzantine bureaucracy and foreign relations, so that in addition led to me to pick Diplomatic over Cultural, Economic, or Expansionist. The concept leans into this by encouraging you to befriend City States and levy their armies in order to fight your strongest opponents: other players. I also wanted to make sure that the Militaristic abilities have offensive and defensive uses, because I like versatility and Byzantium has famously experienced a lot of both. Such bonuses will also prove useful if the AI is any better at bullying you back this game.
Councils of Nicaea: Select a Reliquaries belief immediately upon founding your Religion. Additional Influence from Relics.
While the focus of the civ isn't going to be wholly cultural, given the Cultural Victory ties to the Religion system in VII and the vastness of Byzantine culture and traditions, I figured roping the Exploration Great Works into things wouldn't hurt. Named for councils which clarified the practices of Christian Orthodoxy, this ability lets you define your own Religion faster. Byzantium is famous for its religious artwork and of course collected actual relics, so it's thematically appropriate for your free belief to be a Reliquaries belief specifically. The Influence from Relics is mostly just a gameplay deal to tie things together, but having enhanced relics is appropriate enough and one could probably argue the Empire's vast cultural wealth affected foreign relations.
Domed Church: Unique Happiness Building. Happiness adjacency from Quarters. Unlocks the ability to found a Religion, and has an additional Relic Slot.
Unfortunately couldn't come up with a much better name, Basilica was already taken by Rome Rome and none of the defining features of the layout of Orthodox churches made for satisfying names. The dome is important and recognizable, so we're calling the unique church the Domed Church. I don't want to talk about it. The Happiness from Quarters is because placing it in the center of an urban area makes it easier to access and draws more patrons. They contain both religious artwork and literal relics, so the relic slot goes on top.
Theodosian Wall: Unique Influence Building. Fortifies a District like a wall, but takes up a building slot. Generates a small amount of additional Influence when a unit is Garrisoned, or a large amount when a Commander is garrisoned.
This one's a bit on the weirder side, but hear me out. The Theodosian Walls are of course very famous and recognizable, and they get across the theme of a civilization focused on preservation. It becomes an Influence building not only because gameplay mechanics, but because as a defensive building and a show of power they represent Byzantine foreign relations. Making yourself a difficult target gives you extra sway with your neighbors. The Garrison bonus is an extension of this: if the walls are intimidating to your neighbors, the walls patrolled by your elite forces are even more so.
There's also a little bit of inefficiency in placing it together with the Domed Church, which I think is something the devs want: for there to be ups and downs to choosing to build your Unique Quarter over maximizing the use of the buildings. You want the Domed Church at the heart of your city, but strong walls you are encouraged to garrison would serve you better on the edges, so you can actually keep people out of your cities with them.
See: Unique Quarter. If a City, this Settlement converts to your founded religion and gains the bonuses of a Holy City.
A See is the jurisdiction of a religious authority, but can also refer to the specific area in which that authority lives. The idea made a little more sense when the Theodosian Wall was going to be a bureaucratic building, but I still think the combination works: religious infrastructure + large dedication to defense of the infrastructure that is also a source of influence which retroactively indicates a level of importance of the area = seat of religious power in the area.
The bonus is based on an idea that will come up later in the civics, one which is very important to the Orthodox church: while there is a sort of Pope equivalent who focuses on relations between churches, the Ecumenical Patriarch, he doesn't have any special authority over the other Archbishops. All Archbishops, in theory, have equal power. Thus, by creating a center of religious power in an area, that area gains the same authority as your original center of religious power. This also somewhat ties into your domination abilities, letting you create religious as well as defensive strongholds in the lands you take.
Primus Inter Pares
- Tier 1: Increased Garrison Strength in the Holy City. Unlocks the Domed Church building.
- Tradition - Oikoumene: Levied and Cavalry units have increased Combat Strength against Fortified Districts in foreign Cities following your Religion
- Tier 2: Additional Influence from Happiness Buildings in the Holy City. Unlocks the Hagia Sophia.
"Primus Inter Pares" is the concept behind the See ability. It's a phrase pertaining to the Ecumenical Patriarch meaning "first among equals." By researching it, you gain influence and strength in your center of religious authority, which becomes center
s once you get your infrastructure online. Your capital came first, and is likely your most important city, but all of your other religious strongholds are its equals and are treated as such.
Oikoumene is the Greek term spelled Ecumene in American English, from which we get "Ecumenical Patriarch" (hence its place in this Civic.) It referred to the known world in antiquity, but became a way of describing the global Christian community over time. For civ, this felt like a good spot to bring back VI's bonus towards conquering cities following your religion. They're a part of your Ecumene, so why shouldn't they be part of your empire?
Themata
- Tier 1: Increased Settlement Capacity. +1 Food on Farms and Plantations. Unlocks the Theodosian Wall building.
- Tradition - Varangian Guard: Levied units have additional Combat Strength when their origin City State follows your religion.
- Tier 2: Garrisoned units add a small amount of Happiness, Garrisoned Commanders add a medium amount of Happiness.
- Tradition - Pronoia: Increased Influence towards the Levy Unit action. Increased Gold towards purchasing Cavalry. Lowered maintenance cost for Levied units and Cavalry.
Themata, romanized (an ironic word in this context) as Themes, were the Byzantine system of dividing military and administration into different regions. Efficient systems of managing land increase the capacity of your empire to hold land, so it boosts the Settlement Capacity. This also felt like a good place to sneak in a farming bonus, which is honestly an idea you could build an entire, less aggressive Byzantium concept around. The Theodosian Wall is just a thematic choice here: you're figuring out methods of controlling land, here's a tool to defend it. More on the military side of Themes, we have our near-mandatory reference to the Varangian Guard. Given the Diplomatic-Militaristic focus I settled on, bonuses towards levied units were a given, and the Guard is the poster child of foreign soldiers in the Byzantine army.
Tier two is an increased focus on controlling and defending your Themes. Defending your cities now makes your people happier, and Pronoia (a system of collecting funds from late Byzantium) lets you raise up an army and keep it running quickly in a pinch. This tier isn't mandatory on the offense, but once you've got the settlement count you want or an enemy starts marching towards you, you'll likely want to pick it up.
Orbis Romanus
- Tier 1: Increased Settlement Capacity. Gain Culture in the City Center of the Holy City for each active Trade Route and Treasure Fleet.
- Tradition - City of Wealth: Additional Influence from Imported Resources. +1 Combat Strength to Levied and Cavalry units for every two Empire Resources.
Representing the global influence of the Eastern Roman Empire, this civic is where I get to include a reference to the Silk Road! Byzantium was its last stop, after all. Several Emperors attempted to style Constantinople as a bastion of wealth, so let's roll those ideas together! You get culture from being a trade hub in all cities with religious infrastructure, and with the City of Wealth tradition active you get political influence from obtaining resources and your primary units get stronger the more wealth you amass in your Capital.
The Civic Trees are mostly combat bonuses, and this was intentional. Your military is how you keep your empire expanding in your good times and surviving in bad times, and the Byzantine systems of bureaucracy were a large part of why the Empire stood for so long. Add on the fact that it's nice to have some versatility, and activating the war machine being something you have to dedicate your government to just feels right.
Tagma:
- Unique Cavalry unit.
- Bonus Combat Strength for every two adjacent Levied units. This bonus is for every adjacent Levied unit while Garrisoned.
I considered the Dromon as a way to bring in the navy (fitting for Exploration) and show off Greek Fire, but come on, it's the Tagma! It's also much easier to use them to defend against assaults on your cities than boats, which is something Byzantium should be able to do. Though Greek Fire
would be a great Tradition a'la the Mayan Miracle of the Twins, if there was room. The levied unit bonus is partially to encourage levies further and partially to give you an advantage when you have control over positioning on the battlefield, such as when you're setting up a settlement to defend from an oncoming attack.
Strategos:
- Unique Army Commander unit.
- Gains a Missionary Charge when trained and when promoted.
- Command radius increases by one while Garrisoned.
A merchant or missionary could have been fun, but a Commander felt the most synergistic with the rest of the kit and with the sources of inspiration for the rest of the abilities. Strategoi were of course deeply connected to the Theme system, so it synergizes with the
Themata civic through better capabilities to hold cities, encouraging you to make use of the Theodosian Wall and
Themata tier 2 bonuses. The Missionary Charge is just religious flavor, for funsies. Helps to speed up conquest if you have
Oikoumene slotted and further connects religious and militaristic abilities. A unique commander with special gameplay also makes a Rome -> Byzantium route fun: special commanders all the way! All around, it's a nice little microcosm of the greater idea of this civ concept: a Religious and Militaristic civ that tries to develop and defend the land it takes.
Hagia Sophia: +100% Production towards Happiness buildings. Happiness buildings provide a Culture adjacency to all other buildings in Cities.
Religious wonders are a bit less useful now that Religion is primarily an Exploration deal, so for the Hagia Sophia (the obvious pick for Byzantium) we're looking at the building itself! While it's known for its religious influence, the Hagia Sophia is also a marvel of Byzantine architecture that was greatly influential in that field. Thus, building the Hagia Sophia influences religious architecture throughout your civ, making it faster to build those religious buildings and giving them additional cultural impact. This wonder will be nice for civs that like to build up Specialists and Happiness, being a strong pick for the Enlightenment victory condition. I considered associating it with Relics, but the House of Wisdom already took that niche.
Overall, Byzantium uses bureaucracy to convert and establish roots in the lands it finds itself in, making allies with the little fish to beat back the big fish before they dare to so much as LOOK at your beautiful cities. If worst comes to worst, these bonuses are just as strong when you're on the back foot. You can hunker down and chase the Cultural victory path knowing your walls and allies can keep you safe while you get a head start on Relics, establish your strongholds in the Distant Lands to get the Domination victory path, or even make use of the Hagia Sophia and the extra yields you can get on your Theodosian wall from your Commanders to take a shot at the Enlightenment. While you don't get any bonuses towards doing it, getting Distant Land resources under your control can help boost your civic bonuses even further.
