For the faction in Total War: Attila, see Eastern Roman Empire.
The Eastern Roman Empire is a major playable Roman faction Rome: Total War: Barbarian Invasion.
Description[]
Constantine the Great remade the Roman Empire to suit his own ambitions. He established a new capital in the East at Byzantium, renaming the city Constantinople in his own honour. He established Christianity as the new state religion and, by force of will alone, ruled a united Roman world. Since his death in 337 AD few have been up to the task of ruling the world on their own. The Roman Empire has, by default, been split into two unequal halves.
Centred on Constantinople, the Eastern Roman Empire is rich and powerful, although largely Greek rather than Roman in character. Unlike the West, trade has remaining strong and the tax income of the Eastern Emperors has been sufficient to pay for an efficient military machine. This is just as well, because the Eastern Empire has a border with the Sassanids, a powerful successor to the Persian empire of old. It has not, however, suffered too much from incursions by noisome northern barbarians. It is entirely possible that an ambitious Emperor in Constantinople could one day rule in Rome as well, and reunite the Empire beneath his banners.
Historically, the Eastern Empire survived the fall of Rome and its armies marched 'For the Senate and People of Rome' for another 1000 years. The renamed Byzantine Empire finally fell in 1453 AD.
Historical background[]
The territory of the Eastern Roman Empire (in blue)
The Eastern Roman Empire was the eastern part of the Roman Empire after the one united Roman Empire became too bloated to be ruled by one Emperor, and was divided into an Eastern and Western half. The East based its capital in the city of Constantinople, not Rome. Unlike the Western Roman Empire, its people spoke Greek, not Latin and had a largely Greek culture and identity. The Eastern Roman Empire also encompassed the extremely wealthy provinces, including most of the Aegean sea, Anatolia, Egypt, and part of North Africa, while the West had the old provinces in Gaul, Britannia and Hispania, which had been stagnating.
The Western Roman Empire, less urbanized and less densely populated, experienced an economic decline throughout the late empire after it was split. The East was not so destitute, as Emperors like Constantine the Great and Constantius II had invested heavily in the eastern economy. Combined with greater internal stability and less barbarian invasions due to the declining West, the Eastern Roman Empire had a far better time of the 5th century AD compared to the West.
Thanks to its strong military and wealth, when the Empire did find itself against a barbarian horde they couldn't fight, the Eastern Emperor could just pay them off. Famously, the Huns experienced this when Atilla rolled up to the Empire's borders. So feared was he and his army that the Eastern Roman Emperor kept paying him off to leave the Empire alone, resulting in the Huns invading the Western Roman Empire instead, who could not afford such protection. The Empire could also afford to hire mercenaries to supplement their armies when the need arose, should more men be needed.
The Western Roman Empire fell in 476 AD when the final Emperor, Romulus, was deposed and the remains of the Empire was carved up by various barbarian kingdoms. The Eastern Roman Empire survived strong with its eastern lands, even attempting to retake the fallen west under Justinian and Belisarius, expanding the empire to its greatest extent in 555 AD when they held all of Italia, most of North Africa and even a small part of Hispania. The Empire was eventually renamed the Byzantine Empire and was the continuation of the Eastern Roman Empire during the Middle Ages, though they never stopped seeing themselves as Roman but rather a successor to them. However, plagued by internal and external factors sometimes beyond their control, the Empire declined with the barbarian kingdoms turned into countries like France and England. In 1204, Constantinople was sacked by crusaders during the Fourth Crusade, something they never recovered from. The Byzantine Empire ended its days as a sad city state before being eventually conquered by the Turks in 1453 AD who later became the Ottoman Empire who ended up ruling over all the former Byzantine and Eastern Roman lands.
Overview[]
The Eastern Roman Empire starts off with a large number of provinces, but unlike the West at the start, the empire is strong economically and is quite loyal, with most cities having 80-100+ loyalty. It is one of the stronger factions in the game and starts allied to their fellow Romans in the west. They are far stronger and more stable in terms of money and military which is needed with enemies like the Sassanids on the border and later on the hordes like the Huns. The empire is also more stable than the west in terms of religion, with most if not all of the cities being Christian at the outset of the game, helping even more with internal stability. This still won't prevent the Eastern Roman Rebels from spawning and taking cities with them, especially in the historically problematic region of the Near East and Jerusalem.
Trivia[]
- The Eastern Roman Empire faction colour is inspired by the Tyrian purple dye which was a symbol of imperial status in Rome. However, its widespread use as depicted in game is highly unlikely as it was extremely expensive.
Gallery[]
