[CAMPAIGN] New Emergent Factions Mechanic
*Note: Thus far, not even half of the new sub factions and new factions have been added to this list. I will continue to update it over the course of the next week. While many are merely subfactions of already existing cultures, many others will be entirely new states that existed in the ancient world. More importantly, I am looking for feedback and critical responses. None of this is set in stone. Some of it can most definitely be improved (faction names, icon ideas etc.).
*Video by FrozemanSS | Total War Zone*
In Game Screenshots Troublesome tribes of the Insubres were replaced by a more reasonable Ligures Confederation:
[img]i.imgur.com/ESz95UY.png[/img]
The Syracusans are conquered, and a new complient King is put in control:
Troublesome tribes of the Insubres were replaced by those more ammicable to Roman interests:
New Factions and Icons
New Factions and Old Factions with New Icons
Aetolian LeagueIt is uncertain when the League of the Aetolians (Koino ton Aetolon) was founded. There are suggestions of the year 367 B.C. It has also been suggested that it may have been founded by Epaminondas. Grainger believes that it was founded much later – around the time of the rise of Philip II of Macedon. After Philip's victory of Chaeronea (338 BC), Aetolia was granted Naupaktos, which the Aetolians garrisoned – a level of organization that suggests some formal government rather than the loose alliance of earlier times. During the Peloponnesian War, the Aetolians were initially neutral, but they later fought against the Athenians, who tried to invade Aetolia in 426 BC, but were forced to retreat. The region of Aetolia emerged as one of the most important Greek states after the formation of its League at the second half of the 4th century BC. Its capital city, administrative and religious center was Thermo. In the period following the death of Alexander the Great, the Aetolian League revolted against Antipatros (323 BC) and succeeded in maintaining its independence. As of 290 BC, the League had expanded over its neighboring regions. In 279 BC, they were victorious in battle against the Gauls, who had invaded Greece and were threatening the sanctuary of Delphi. After their win, they earned the appreciation of the rest of the Greeks and they were admitted as a new member into the Amphictyonic League. In the First Allied War (220-217 BC), the Aetolian League fought against the Kingdom of Macedonia. Philip V of Macedon invaded Aetolia and sacked the city of Thermo as a response to the Aetolians' invasion at the city of Dodoni in Epirus. The league was the first Greek ally of the Roman Republic, siding with the Romans during the First Macedonian War (215-205 BC), and helping to defeat Philip V of Macedon at the Battle of Cynoscephalae in 197 BC, during the Second Macedonian War. However, it grew increasingly hostile to Roman involvement in Greek affairs and only a few years later sided with Antiochus III, the anti-Roman king of the Seleucid Empire, during the Roman-Syrian War. The defeat of Antiochus in 189 BC robbed the league of its principal foreign ally and made it impossible to stand alone in continued opposition to Rome. The league was forced to sign a peace treaty with Rome that made it a subject ally of the republic. Although it continued to exist in name, the power of the league was broken by the treaty and it never again constituted a significant political or military force. This faction is located in Pharsalus.
This faction icon was created by Nighthawk.
BoiiThe Chatti (also Chatthi or Catti) were an ancient Germanic tribe whose homeland was near the upper Weser. While Julius Caesar was well informed about the regions and tribes on the eastern banks of the Rhine, he never mentioned the Chatti by name. He did make note of the Suebi, and suggested that they had previously driven out the Celts to the south of the Hesse-Kassel region in the prior centuries BC. Pliny the Elder, in his Natural History grouped the Chatti and Suebi together with the Hermunduri and the Cherusci, calling this group the Hermiones, which is a nation of Germanic tribes mentioned by Tacitus as living in inland Germany. Some commentators believe that Caesar's Suebi were possibly the later Chatti, a branch of the Suebian movement of people who had become more clearly identifiable. A practice, rare among the other German tribes, and simply characteristic of individual prowess, has become general among the Chatti, of letting the hair and beard grow as soon as they have attained manhood, and not till they have slain a foe laying aside that peculiar aspect which devotes and pledges them to valour. Over the spoiled and bleeding enemy they show their faces once more; then, and not till then, proclaiming that they have discharged the obligations of their birth, and proved themselves worthy of their country and of their parents. The coward and the unwarlike remain unshorn. The bravest of them also wear an iron ring (which otherwise is a mark of disgrace among the people) until they have released themselves by the slaughter of a foe. Most of the Chatti delight in these fashions. The Chatti successfully resisted incorporation into the Roman Empire, joining the Cheruscan war leader Arminius' coalition of tribes that annihilated Varus' legions in 9 AD in the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest. Germanicus later, in 15, raided their lands in revenge, but Rome eventually responded to the Chatti's belligerent defense of their independence by building the limes border fortifications along the southern boundary of their lands in central Hesse during the early years of the first century. A major raid by the Chatti into Germania Superior was defeated decisively by the legions in 50 AD. The Chatti eventually became a branch of the much larger neighboring Franks and were incorporated in the kingdom of Clovis I, probably with the Ripuarians, at the beginning of the sixth century. This faction can be established in Lupfurdum. The Chatti will take the place or serve as the Suebi in our Grand Campaign.
This faction icon is the work of the Europa Barbarorum II team.
Chatti
This faction icon is the work of Melcor and the Haegemonia team.
ColchisThe Dacians were an Indo-European people, part of or related to the Thracians. Dacians were the ancient inhabitants of Dacia, located in the area in and around the Carpathian Mountains and west of the Black Sea. The Dacians spoke the Dacian language, believed to have been closely related to Thracian, but were somewhat culturally influenced by the neighbouring Scythians and by the Celtic invaders of the 4th century BC. From roughly 500 BC (the second Iron Age), the Dacians developed a distinct civilization, which was capable of supporting large centralised kingdoms by 1st BC and 1st AD. Since the writings of Herodotus in the 5th century BC, Getae/Dacians are acknowledged as belonging to the Thracian sphere of influence. Despite this, they are distinguished from other Thracians by particularities of religion and custom. Geto-Dacians and Thracians were kin people but they were not the same. Around 150 BC, La Tène material disappears from the area. This coincides with the ancient writings which mention the rise of Dacian authority. It ended the Celtic domination, and it is possible that Celts were driven out of Dacia. Alternatively, some scholars have proposed that the Transylvanian Celts remained, but merged into the local culture and thus ceased to be distinctive. Dacian states arose as a tribal confederacy that included the Getae, the Daci, the Buri, and the Carpi[dubious – discuss] (cf. Bichir 1976, Shchukin 1989), united only periodically by the leadership of Dacian kings such as Burebista and Decebal. This union was both military-political and ideological-religious. The following are some of the attested Dacian kingdoms: The kingdom of Cothelas, one of the Getae, covered an area near the Black Sea, between northern Thrace and the Danube, today Bulgaria, in the 4th century BC. The kingdom of Rubobostes controlled a region in Transylvania in the 2nd century BC. Gaius Scribonius Curio (proconsul 75-3 BC) campaigned successfully against the Dardani and the Moesi, becoming the first Roman general to reach the river Danube with his army. His successor, Marcus Licinius Lucullus, brother of the famous Lucius Lucullus, campaigned against the Thracian Bessi tribe and the Moesi, ravaging the whole of Moesia, the region between the Haemus (Balkan) mountain range and the Danube. In 72 BC, his troops occupied the Greek coastal cities of Scythia Minor (the modern Dobruja region in Romania and Bulgaria), which had sided with Rome's Hellenistic arch-enemy, king Mithridates VI of Pontus, in the Third Mithridatic War. Greek geographer Strabo claimed that the Dacians and Getae had been able to muster a combined army of 200,000 men during Strabo's era, the time of Roman emperor Augustus. The Dacian kingdom reached its maximum extent under king Burebista (ruled 82 - 44 BC). The capital of the kingdom was possibly the city of Argedava, also called Sargedava in some historical writings, situated close to the river Danube. The kingdom of Burebista extended south of the Danube, in what is today Bulgaria, and the Greeks believed their king was the greatest of all Thracians. During his reign, Burebista transferred the Geto-Dacians' capital from Argedava to Sarmizegetusa. Burebista's Dacian state was powerful enough to threaten Rome, and Caesar contemplated campaigning against the Dacians. Despite this, the formidable Dacian power under Burebista lasted only until his death in 44 BC. The subsequent division of Dacia continued for about a century until the reign of Scorilo. This was a period of only occasional attacks on the Roman Empire’s border, with some local significance. The unifying actions of the last Dacian king Decebalus (ruled 87–106 AD) might have been perceived as dangerous by Rome, despite the fact that the Dacian army could now gather only some 40,000 soldiers. In the Romans’ eyes, the situation at the border with Dacia was out of control, and Emperor Domitian (ruled 81 to 96 AD) tried desperately to deal with the danger through military action. But the outcome of Rome's disastrous campaigns into Dacia in AD 86 and AD 88 pushed Domitian to settle the situation through diplomacy.[185] Emperor Trajan (ruled 97–117 AD) opted for a different approach and decided to conquer the Dacian kingdom, partly in order to seize its vast gold mines. The effort required two major wars (the Dacian Wars), one in 101–102 AD and the other in 105–106 AD. The Daci are located in Pelendava in our Grand Campaign. It was added by CA in the Imperator Augustus campaign map.
This faction icon was created by Melcor and the Haegemonia team.
Daci
This faction icon was created by the Europa Barbarorum II team, their Getae faction.
GalatiaThe Massylii or Maesulians were a Berber federation of tribes in eastern Numidia, which was formed by an amalgamation of smaller tribes during the 4th century BC. They were ruled by a king. On their loosely defined western frontier was the powerful rival, the kingdom of the Masaesyli. To their east lay the territory of the rich and powerful Carthaginian Republic. Their relationship to Carthage resembled that of a protectorate. Carthage maintained its dominance over the Massylii by skillful diplomatic manoeuvering, playing off local tribal and kingdom rivalries. The principal towns of the Massylii were Cirta, Tébessa and Thugga. In 218 BC war broke out between the Carthaginians and the Romans. The Massylii and the Masaesyli who both possessed a strong and proficient cavalry force were allied to the Carthaginian cause and performed valuable service for them in Iberia and Italy. In 206 BC a Massylian prince called Masinissa defected to the Romans. When the Romans finally defeated the Carthaginians in 202 BC they amalgamated the territory of the Massylii and the Masaesyli into one kingdom and gave it to Massinissa who ruled it until his death in approximately 148 BC. This faction is located in Capsa in the Grand Campaign after previously being added in Hannibal at the Gates.
This faction icon was created by Noif.
Iceni
This faction icon was created by the Europa Barbarorum II team.
Macedon
This faction icon was created by Noif.
Massylii
NamnetesOsroene, and sometimes known by the name of its capital city, Edessa (modern Sanliurfa, Turkey), was a historical kingdom located in upper Mesopotamia, which enjoyed semi-autonomy to complete independence from the years of 132 BC to AD 244. It was a Syriac-speaking kingdom. Osroene, or Edessa, acquired independence from the collapsing Seleucid Empire through a dynasty of the nomadic Nabatean tribe called Orrhoei from 136 BC. The name Osroene is derived from Osroes of Orhai, a Nabatean sheik who in 120 BC wrested control of this region from the Seleucids in Syria. It was one of a multitude of tiny states that gained their independence in the wake of the dissolution of the Hellenistic empire. Most of the kings of Osroene are called Abgar or Manu who settled in urban centers. Under its Nabatean dynasties, Osroëne became increasingly influenced by Aramaic culture and was a centre of national reaction against Hellenism. The kingdom's area, the upper course of the Euphrates, became a traditional battleground for the powers that ruled Asia Minor, Persia, Syria, and Armenia. On the dissolution of Seleucid Empire, it was divided between Rome and Parthia. At this time Osrhoene was within Parthian suzerainty. However, the Romans later made several attempts to recover the region. Osroene was absorbed into the Roman Empire in 114 as a semi-autonomous vassal state, after a period under Arsacid (Parthian) rule, incorporated as a simple Roman province in 214. There is an apocryphal legend that Osroene was the first state to have accepted Christianity as state religion. This faction can be established in Edessa, and is also in use in our Imperator Augustus campaign from the start.
This faction icon was created by Melcor and the Haegemonia team.
Kingdom of the Cimmerian Bosporus
This faction icon is the work of Melcor and the Haegemonia team.
Kingdom of Osroene
Kingdom of PergamonThe Semnones were a Germanic tribe which was settled between the Elbe and the Oder in the 1st century when they were described by Tacitus in Germania: "The Semnones give themselves out to be the most ancient and renowned branch of the Suevi. Their antiquity is strongly attested by their religion. At a stated period, all the tribes of the same race assemble by their representatives in a grove consecrated by the auguries of their forefathers, and by immemorial associations of terror. Here, having publicly slaughtered a human victim, they celebrate the horrible beginning of their barbarous rite." In the 3rd century, the Semnones shifted southwards and eventually ended up as part of the Alamanni people. This faction is located in Setidava in our Grand Campaign thanks to our use of the EE map. This faction had been added previously to the Imperator Augustus campaign by CA.
This faction icon was created by the Europa Barbarorum II team.
Seleucid Empire
This faction icon was created by the Europa Barbarorum II team.
Semnones
This faction icon was created by Melcor and the Haegemonia team.
SinopeThe city proper was re-founded as a Greek colony from the city of Miletus in the 7th century BC. Sinope flourished as the Black Sea port of a caravan route that led from the upper Euphrates valley. It issued its own coinage, founded colonies, and gave its name to a red earth pigment called sinopia, which was mined in Cappadocia for use throughout the ancient world. Sinope escaped Persian domination until the early 4th century BC. It was ruled by Scydrothemis from 301 to 280 BC. In 183 BC it was captured by Pharnaces I and became capital of the Kingdom of Pontus. This occurred after 40 years after the initial attempt to take the city by Mithridates II in 220. The Roman general Lucullus conquered Sinope in 70 BC, and Julius Caesar established a Roman colony there, Colonia Julia Felix, in 47 BC. This faction is located in Sinope.
This faction icon was created by LegalosGreenleaf
ThyniThe Thyni were a Thracian tribe that lived in south-eastern Thrace, later they, along with the Bithyni, migrated to the lands that would later be known as Thynia and Bithynia in Anatolia. Each respective region got its name, presumably, from the Thracian tribe that was more prominent in the area. Xenophon (Anabasis VII, 2) praises the Thyni: "Teres, with a large army, was said to have had his baggage train taken from him by the natives, who are called Thyni and are supposed to be the most dangerous of all the tribes, especially at night fighting." The Thyni included clubs amongst their weapons. The Thyni often joined the ranks of organized armies as mercenaries or volunteers. This faction is located in Antheia.
Volcae TectosagesVolcae Tectosages (whose territory included that of the Tolosates) lived among the Aquitanians; the territories were separated by the Hérault River (Arauris) or a line between the Hérault River and the Orbe River (Orbis). Strabo says the Volcae Tectosages came originally from the region near modern Toulouse, in France, and they were a sept or clan of the Volcae, but were among the successful raiders of the Delphi expedition and were said to have transported their booty to Tolosa. A significamt part of these raiders however did not return and crossed the Bosporus instead. As a result, Tectosages was also the name of one of the three great communities of Gauls who invaded and settled in Asia Minor in the country called after them Galatia. From the 3rd century BC, the capital city of the Volcae Tectosages was Tolosa (modern Toulouse). When the Cimbri and Teutones invaded Gaul, the Tectosages allied themselves with them, and their town Tolosa was sacked in retribution by Quintus Servilius Caepio in 106 BC. Tolosa was incorporated into the Roman Republic as part of the province of Gallia Aquitania with the conquest of Gaul by Julius Caesar in 52 BC. The Roman conquest of Tolosa ended the cultural identity of the Volcae Tectosages. This faction is located in the new region of Narbo.
This faction icon was created by LegalosGreenleaf
Yuezhi ConfederationShortly before 176 BCE, led by one of Modu's tribal chiefs, the Xiongnu invaded Yuezhi territory in the Gansu region and achieved a crushing victory. A large group of the Yuezhi fled from the Tarim Basin towards the Northwest circa 165 BCE,[35] first settling in the Ili valley, immediately north of the Tian Shan mountains, where they confronted and defeated the Sai (Scythians): "The Yuezhi attacked the king of the Sai who moved a considerable distance to the south and the Yuezhi then occupied his lands" (Han Shu 61 4B). The Sai then undertook their own migration, which was to lead them as far as Kashmir, after travelling through a "Suspended Crossing" (probably the Khunjerab Pass between present-day Xinjiang and northern Pakistan). The Sakas ultimately established an Indo-Scythian kingdom in northern India. This faction will be a new addition to the Imperator Augustus campaign.
This faction icon was created by the Europa Barbarorum II team, for their Sauromatae faction.
Anatolia
New Faction Icons
Pamphylian City-StatesSide is an ancient Greek city on the southern Mediterranean coast of Turkey. It is located on the eastern part of the Pamphylian coast, which lies about 20 km east of the mouth of the Eurymedon River. Strabo and Arrian both record that Side was founded by Greek settlers from Cyme in Aeolis, a region of western Anatolia. This most likely occurred in the 7th century BC. Its tutelary deity was Athena, whose head adorned its coinage. Possessing a good harbour for small-craft boats, Side's natural geography made it one of the most important places in Pamphylia and one of the most important trade centres in the region. Next Side came under Lydian and Persian sovereignty until Alexander the Great occupied itwithout a struggle in 333 BC. Alexander left only a single garrison behind to occupy the city. This occupation, in turn, introduced the people of Side to Hellenistic culture, which flourished from the 4th to the 1st century BC. After Alexander's death, Side fell under the control of one of Alexander's generals, Ptolemy I Soter, who declared himself king of Egypt in 305 BC. The Ptolemaic dynasty controlled Side until it was captured by the Seleucid Empire in the 2nd century BC. Yet, despite these occupations, Side managed to preserve some autonomy, grew prosperous, and became an important cultural centre. In 190 BC a fleet from the Greek island city-state of Rhodes, supported by Rome and Pergamum, defeated the Seleucid King Antiochus the Great's fleet, which was under the command of the fugitive Carthaginian general Hannibal. The defeat of Hannibal and Antiochus the Great meant that Side freed itself from the overlord-ship of the Seleucid Empire. The Treaty of Apamea (188 BC) forced Antiochus to abandon all European territories and to cede all of Asia Minor north of the Taurus Mountains to Pergamum. However, the dominion of Pergamum only reached de facto as far as Perga, leaving Eastern Pamphylia in a state of uncertain freedom. Between 188 and 36 BC Side minted its own money, tetradrachms showing Nike and a laurel wreath (the sign of victory). In the 1st century BC, Side reached a peak when the Cilician pirates established their chief naval base and a centre for their slave-trade until the consul Servilius Vatia defeated these brigands in 78 BC and later the Roman general Pompey in 67 BC, bringing Side under the control of Rome and beginning its second period of ascendancy, when it established and maintained a good working relationship with the Roman Empire. Emperor Augustus reformed the state administration and placed Pamphylia and Side in the Roman province of Galatia in 25 BC, after the short reign of Amyntas of Galatia between 36 and 25 BC. This faction can be established in Side.
This faction icon is a modidified version of one created by Noif
Sinopian UsurpersThe city proper was re-founded as a Greek colony from the city of Miletus in the 7th century BC. Sinope flourished as the Black Sea port of a caravan route that led from the upper Euphrates valley. It issued its own coinage, founded colonies, and gave its name to a red earth pigment called sinopia, which was mined in Cappadocia for use throughout the ancient world. Sinope escaped Persian domination until the early 4th century BC. It was ruled by Scydrothemis from 301 to 280 BC. In 183 BC it was captured by Pharnaces I and became capital of the Kingdom of Pontus. This occurred after 40 years after the initial attempt to take the city by Mithridates II in 220. The Roman general Lucullus conquered Sinope in 70 BC, and Julius Caesar established a Roman colony there, Colonia Julia Felix, in 47 BC. This faction can be established in Sinope.
Arabia
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Nabataean UsurpersThe Nabataeans, also Nabateans (/ˌnæbəˈtiːənz/; Arabic: الأنباط al-ʾAnbāṭ), were an ancient Arab people who inhabited northern Arabia and the Southern Levant, their settlements in CE 37 – c. 100, gave the name of Nabatene to the borderland between Arabia and Syria, from the Euphrates to the Red Sea. Their loosely-controlled trading network, which centered on strings of oases that they controlled, where agriculture was intensively practiced in limited areas, and on the routes that linked them, had no securely defined boundaries in the surrounding desert. The Nabataeans were allies of the first Hasmoneans in their struggles against the Seleucid monarchs. They then became rivals of the Judaean dynasty, and a chief element in the disorders which invited Pompey's intervention in Judea. Many Nabataeans were forcefully converted to Judaism by the Hasmonean king Alexander Jannaeus. The Roman military was not very successful in their campaigns against the Nabataeans. In 62 BC, Marcus Aemilius Scaurus accepted a bribe of 300 talents to lift the siege of Petra, partly because of the difficult terrain and the fact that he had run out of supplies. In 32 BC during King Malichus II's reign Herod the Great (Roman client King of Judea) started a war against Nabataea, with the support of Cleopatra which led to their subjugation. Trajan conquered the Nabataean kingdom, annexing it to the Roman Empire, where their individual culture, easily identified by their characteristic finely-potted painted ceramics, became dispersed in the general Greco-Roman culture and was eventually lost. An ally of the Roman Empire, the Nabataean kingdom continued to flourish throughout the 1st century. Its power extended far into Arabia along the Red Sea to Yemen, and Petra was a cosmopolitan marketplace, though its commerce was diminished by the rise of the Eastern trade-route from Myoshormus to Coptos on the Nile. Under the Pax Romana they lost their warlike and nomadic habits, and were a sober, acquisitive, orderly people, wholly intent on trade and agriculture. This faction can be established in Charmuthas.
Qidri ConfederationPliny the Elder and other writers identify Petra as the capital of the Nabataeans and the center of their caravan trade. Enclosed by towering rocks and watered by a perennial stream, Petra not only possessed the advantages of a fortress, but controlled the main commercial routes which passed through it to Gaza in the west, to Bosra and Damascus in the north, to Aqaba and Leuce Come on the Red Sea, and across the desert to the Persian Gulf after its founding sometime in the 4th century BC. A period follows in which the dominant civilization combines Greek, Egyptian and Syrian elements, clearly pointing to the age of the Ptolemies. Towards the close of the 2nd century BC, when the Ptolemaic and Seleucid kingdoms were equally depressed, the Nabataean kingdom came to the front. Under Aretas III Philhellene, (c.85–60 BC), the royal coins begin. In 106 AD, when Cornelius Palma was governor of Syria, the part of Arabia under the rule of Petra was absorbed into the Roman Empire as part of Arabia Petraea and became its capital. The native dynasty came to an end but the city continued to flourish under Roman rule. It was around this time that the Petra Roman Road was built. A century later, in the time of Alexander Severus, when the city was at the height of its splendor, the issue of coinage comes to an end. This faction can be established in Petra.
This icon is the work of the Europa Barbarorum II team, their Nabatean faction.
Qidri ConfederationThe Qedarites (also Kedarites/Cedarenes, Cedar/Kedar/Qedar, and Kingdom of Qedar) were a largely nomadic, ancient Arab and Semitic tribal confederation. Described as "the most organized of the Northern Arabian tribes", at the peak of its power in the 6th century BC it controlled a large region between the Persian Gulf and the Sinai Peninsula. Biblical tradition holds that the Qedarites are named for Qedar, the second son of Ishmael, mentioned in the Bible's books of Genesis (25:13) and 1 Chronicles (1:29), where there are also frequent references to Qedar as a tribe. The earliest extrabiblical inscriptions discovered by archaeologists that mention the Qedarites are from the Neo-Assyrian Empire. Spanning the 8th and 7th centuries BC, they list the names of Qedarite kings who revolted and were defeated in battle, as well as those who paid Assyrian monarchs tribute, including Zabibe, queen of the Arabs. It is unclear when the Qedarites ceased to exist as a separately defined confederation or people. Allies with the Nabataeans, it is likely that they were subsumed into the Nabataean state around the 2nd century AD. This faction can be established in Adummatu.
Sabaean UsurpersThe Sabaeans or Sabeans were an ancient people speaking an Old South Arabian language who lived in what is today Yemen, in the south west of the Arabian Peninsula. Sabeans inhabited the Biblical land of Sheba, a trading state that flourished for over a thousand years in modern-day Yemen between 1200 BC and 275 AD with its capital Marib. The Kingdom fell after a long but sporadic civil war between several Yemenite dynasties claiming kingship, resulting in the rise of the late Himyarite Kingdom. After the disintegration of the first Himyarite Kingdom of the Kings of Saba. The Middle Sabaean Kingdom reappeared in the early 2nd century. The Sabaean kingdom was finally conquered by the ?imyarites in the late 3rd century and at that time the capital was Marib. This faction can be established in Marib.
Balkans
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Scordisci ConfederationThe Scordisci was a Celtic tribe formed after the Gallic invasion of the Balkans, or rather a "Celtic political creation" having mixed with the local Thracians and Illyrians. Their tribal name may be connected to the Scordus, the Šar mountain. After their formation c. 278 BC, little is heard of the Scordisci for some time. During Macedon's zenith, the attention of the Scordisci was focussed on Pannonia, consolidating their control of the region. They controlled the various Pannonian tribes in the region, extracting tribute and enjoying the status of the most powerful tribe in the central Balkans (see the tribes of Triballi, Autariatae, Dardanians and Moesians), and they erected fortresses in Singidunum and Taurunum (today's city of Belgrade). From 141 BC, the Scordisci were constantly involved in battles against Roman held Macedonia. In 135 BC they were defeated[16][17] by Cosconius in Thrace.[18] In 118 BC, according to a memorial[19] stone discovered near Thessalonica, Sextus Pompeius, probably the grandfather of the triumvir, was slain fighting against them near Stobi. In 114 BC they surprised and destroyed the army of Gaius Porcius Cato[20] in the western mountains of Serbia, but were defeated by Minucius Rufus[21] in 107 BC. Yet, they did not give up claim over Pannonia, since they are mentioned as having battled in the second siege of Sisak in 119 BC. They still, from time to time, gave trouble to the Roman governors of Macedonia, whose territory they invaded in combination with the Maedi and Dardani. They even advanced as far as Delphi and plundered the temple; but Lucius Cornelius Scipio Asiaticus finally overcame them in 88 BC and drove them across the Danube. After this, the power of the Scordisci declined rapidly before being subjugated by Emperor Tiberius in 15 BC. This faction can be established in Segestica.
Triballi ConfederationThe Triballi were an ancient tribe whose dominion was around the plains of modern southern Serbia. They were a Thracian tribe that received influences from Celts, Scythians and Illyrians. Prior to the third century, they offered stiff resistance to the expansion of the Odryssian Kingdom and Macedon under both Philip and Alexander. About 279 BC, a host of Gauls (Scordisci) under Cerethrius defeated the Triballi with an army of 3,000 horsemen and 15,000 foot soldiers. The defeat pushed the Triballi further to the east. Nevertheless, they continued to cause trouble to the Roman governors of Macedonia for fifty years (135 BC–84 BC). The Triballi were often described as a wild and warlike people (Isocrates), and in Aristophanes, a Triballian is introduced as a specimen of an uncivilized barbarian. This faction can be established in Naissos.
The Thyni were a Thracian tribe that lived in south-eastern Thrace, later they, along with the Bithyni, migrated to the lands that would later be known as Thynia and Bithynia in Anatolia. Each respective region got its name, presumably, from the Thracian tribe that was more prominent in the area. Xenophon (Anabasis VII, 2) praises the Thyni: "Teres, with a large army, was said to have had his baggage train taken from him by the natives, who are called Thyni and are supposed to be the most dangerous of all the tribes, especially at night fighting." The Thyni included clubs amongst their weapons. The Thyni often joined the ranks of organized armies as mercenaries or volunteers. This faction can be established in Antheia.
Brittanic Isles
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CantiaciThe Cantiaci or Cantii were an Iron Age people living in Britain before the Roman conquest, and gave their name to a civitas of Roman Britain. They lived in the area now called Kent, in south-eastern England. Their capital was Durovernum Cantiacorum, now Canterbury. They were bordered by the Regnenses to the west, and the Catuvellauni to the north. Julius Caesar landed in Cantium in 55 and 54 BC, the first Roman expeditions to Britain. He recounts in his De Bello Gallico v. 14: "Of all these (British tribes), by far the most civilised are they who dwell in Kent, which is entirely a maritime region, and who differ but little from the Gauls in their customs". Caesar mentions four kings, Segovax, Carvilius, Cingetorix and Taximagulus, who held power in Cantium at the time of his second expedition in 54 BC. The British leader Cassivellaunus, besieged in his stronghold north of the Thames, sent a message to these four kings to attack the Roman naval camp as a distraction. The attack failed, a chieftain called Lugotorix was captured, and Cassivellaunus was forced to seek terms. Ceasar's withdraw gave them a reprieve, however, and in the meantime they continued to develop to the point where their kings issued coins. They would be conquered in the reign of the Emperor Claudius. This faction can be established in Sleaford, and was originally added in Caesar in Gaul.
Caucuses
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Mushki ConfederationThe Moschi, mentioned by various classic historians, and their possible descendants, the Saspers (who were mentioned by Herodotus), may have played a crucial role in the consolidation of the tribes inhabiting the area. The Moschi had moved slowly to the northeast forming settlements as they traveled. One of these was Mtskheta, the future capital of the Kingdom of Iberian. The Mtskheta tribe was later ruled by a principal locally known as mamasakhlisi (“father of the household” in Georgian). In Greco-Roman geography, Iberia was the name for a kingdom of the Southern Caucasus, centered on present-day Eastern Georgia. Around the first centuries BC and AD the land south of the Greater Caucasus and north of the Lesser Caucasus was divided between Kolchis in the west, Caucasian Iberia in the center and Caucasian Albania in the east. To the southwest was Armenia and to the southeast Atropatene. Iberia, also known in Georgian as Kartli, after its core province, was during Classical Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages a significant state in the Caucasus, either as an independent state or as a dependent of larger empires, notably the Sassanid and Roman empires. Pharnavaz, victorious in a power struggle, became the first king of Iberia (c. 302-c. 237 BC). According to the later Georgian chronicles, after driving back an invasion, he subjugated the neighboring areas, including a significant part of the western Georgian state of Colchis (locally known as Egrisi), and seems to have secured recognition of the newly founded state by the Seleucids of Syria. Some southern parts of Iberia, that were conquered from Kingdom of Armenia, in the 2nd century BC were reunited to Armenia and the Colchian lands seceded to form separate princedoms (sceptuchoi). This close association with Armenia and Pontus brought upon the country an invasion (65 BC) by the Roman general Pompey, who was then at war with Mithradates VI of Pontus, and Armenia; but Rome did not establish her power permanently over Iberia. Nineteen years later, the Romans again marched (36 BC) on Iberia forcing King Pharnavaz II to join their campaign against Albania. While another Georgian kingdom of Colchis was administered as a Roman province, Iberia freely accepted the Roman Imperial protection. This faction can be established in Mtskheta.
PhanagoriaPhanagoria was the largest ancient Greek city on the Taman peninsula, spread over two plateaus along the Asian shore of the Cimmerian Bosporus. The city was a large emporium for all the traffic between the coast of the Maeotian marshes and the countries on the southern side of the Caucasus. It was the Asian capital of the Bosporan Kingdom, with Panticapaeum being the European capital. Strabo described it as a noteworthy city which was renowned for its trade. In the early 4th century BC the burgeoning Bosporan Kingdom subjugated much of Sindica, including the independent polis of Phanagoria. The town's importance increased with the decline of the old capital, Panticapaeum, situated on the opposite shore of the Bosporus. By the first centuries AD, Phanagoria had emerged as the main centre of the kingdom. During the Mithridatic Wars, the town allied with the Roman Republic and withstood a siege by the army of Pharnaces II of Pontus. It was at Phanagoria that the insurrection broke out against Mithridates VI of Pontus, shortly before his death; and his sons, who held the citadel, were obliged to surrender to the insurgents. The loyalty to Rome allowed Phanagoria to maintain a dominant position in the region until the 4th century, when it was sacked and destroyed by the invading Huns. This faction can be established in Phanagoria.
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Siraces ConfederationThe Siraces or Sirakes (Greek: Sirakoi, Latin: Siraci, also Siraceni and Seraci) were a hellenized Sarmatian tribe that inhabited Sarmatia Asiatica; the coast of Achardeus at the Black Sea south of the Caucasus mountains, Siracena is mentioned by Tacitus as one of their settlements. They were said to be relatively small nation but with great moral. They were neighbours to the later enemy tribe of Aorsi. They migrated from the Caspian Sea to the Black Sea region. By the late 4th century, they had occupied lands between the Caucasus mountains and the Don, becoming masters of the Kuban region. They were the first Sarmatian tribe to have contact with the Hellenic groups on the coast of the Black Sea. They were the most hellenized of the Sarmatians, and maintained good relations with the Bosporans. This faction can be established in Siracena.
TanaisThe site of Tanais was occupied long before the Milesians founded an emporium there. Greek traders seem to have been meeting nomads in the district as early as the 7th century BC without a formal, permanent settlement. Greek colonies had two kinds of origins, apoikiai of citizens from the mother city-state, and emporia, which were strictly trading stations. Founded late in the 3rd century BC, by merchant adventurers from Miletus, Tanais quickly developed into an emporium at the farthest northeastern extension of the Hellenic cultural sphere. It was a natural post, first for the trade of the steppes reaching away eastwards in an unbroken grass sea to the Altai, the Scythian Holy Land, second for the trade of the Black Sea, ringed with Greek-dominated ports and entrepots, and third for trade from the impenetrable north, with furs and slaves brought down the Don. The site for the city, ruled by an archon, was at the eastern edge of the territory of the kings of Bosporus. This can be established in Tanais.
This faction icon was created by the Europa Barbarorum II team, for Cimmeria.
Trapezos UsurpersTrapezos (modern Trabzon, Turkey) was a Greek settlement on the southeast coast of the Black Sea that marked the northeastern frontier of the polis culture of the ancient Mediterranean world. In classical antiquity the city was founded as (Trapezous) by Milesian traders (756 BC). It was one of a number (about ten) of Milesian emporia or trading colonies along the shores of the Black Sea. Others include Sinope, Abydos and Cyzicus (in the Dardanelles). Like most Greek colonies, the city was a small enclave of Greek life, and not an empire unto its own, in the later European sense of the word. The city was added to the kingdom of Pontus by Mithridates VI Eupator and it became home port for the Pontic fleet. When the kingdom was annexed to the Roman province of Galatia in 64–65, the fleet passed to new commanders, becoming the Classis Pontica. Trebizond gained importance under Roman rule in the 1st century for its access to roads leading over the Zigana Pass to the Armenian frontier or the upper Euphrates valley. New roads were constructed from Persia and Mesopotamia under the rule of Vespasian. In the next century, the emperor Hadrian commissioned improvements to give the city a more structured harbor. This faction can be established in Trapezos.
Central Asia
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ApasiacaeApasiacae is the name of a nomadic tribe belonging to the Scythian Massagetae. The Apasiacae lived in between of Oxus and Tanais, in the east coast of the Aral Sea, since Tanais indisputably means here the Jaxartes river, or near the Oxus river in the west of Bactria. The Parthian king Arsaces I fled to these people ca. 230 B.C. in the wake of Seleucus II Callinicus's campaigns as the two tribes were strong allies. This faction can be established in Amul.
This faction icon was created by the Europa Barbarorum II team, for their Saka faction.
SogdianaSogdiana or Sogdia was the ancient civilization of an Iranian people and a province of the Achaemenid Empire. This region is listed second after Airyanem Vaejah, "homeland of the Aryans", in the Zoroastrian book of Vendidad, indicating the importance of this region from ancient times. Sogdiana, at different times, included territories around Samarkand, Bukhara, Khujand, Panjikent and Shahrisabz. An independent and warlike Sogdiana[4] formed a border region insulating the Achaemenid Persians from the nomadic Scythians to the north and east. The Sogdian Rock or Rock of Ariamazes, a fortress in Sogdiana, was captured in 327 BC by the forces of Alexander the Great; after an extended campaign putting down Sogdian resistance and founding military outposts manned by his Macedonian veterans, Alexander united Sogdiana with Bactria into one satrapy. The military power of the Sogdians never recovered. Subsequently Sogdiana formed part of the Hellenistic Bactrian Kingdom, founded in 248 BC by Diodotus, for about a century. Euthydemus I seems to have held the Sogdian territory, and his coins were later copied locally. Eucratides apparently recovered sovereignty of Sogdia temporarily. Finally the area was occupied by nomads when the Scythians and Yuezhis overran it around 150 BC. The Sogdians had established a trading network across the 1500 miles from Sogdiana to China. In fact, the Sogdians turned their energies to trade so thoroughly that the Saka of the Kingdom of Khotan called all merchants suli, "Sogdian", whatever their culture or ethnicity.[8] Sogdian contacts with China were initiated by the embassy of the Chinese explorer Zhang Qian during the reign of Wudi in the former Han Dynasty, 141–87 BC. This faction can be established in Maracanda.
This faction icon was created by Noif.
Gaul
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Namnetes ConfederationThe Namnetes were a tribe of ancient Gaul, living in the area of the modern city of Nantes near the river Liger (modern Loire). They were neighbours to the Veneti people (north-west), the Redones (North), the Andecavi (east) and the Pictones (south). In the spring 56 BC during the Gallic wars and according to Caesar, the Namnetes allied to the Veneti to fight against the fleet made by Caesar. Decimus Brutus, leader of the Roman fleet, finally won the battle. This faction can be established in Darioritum.
Sequani ConfederationThe country of the Sequani can be defined by the reports of the ancient writers. The Jura Mountains separated the Sequani from the Helvetii on the east, but the mountains belonged to the Sequani, as the narrow pass between the Rhone and Lake Geneva was Sequanian. On the northeast corner the country of the Sequani touched on the Rhine. Before the arrival of Julius Caesar in Gaul, the Sequani had taken the side of the Arverni against their rivals the Aedui and hired the Suebi under Ariovistus to cross the Rhine and help them (71 BC). Although his assistance enabled them to defeat the Aedui, the Sequani were worse off than before, for Ariovistus deprived them of a third of their territory and threatened to take another third, while subjugating them into semi-slavery. The Sequani then appealed to Caesar, who drove back the Germanic tribesmen (58 BC), but at the same time obliged the Sequani to surrender all that they had gained from the Aedui. This so exasperated the Sequani that they joined in the revolt of Vercingetorix (52 BC) and shared in the defeat at Alesia. Under Augustus, the district known as Sequania formed part of Belgica. After the death of Vitellius (69 CE), the inhabitants refused to join the Gallic revolt against Rome instigated by Gaius Julius Civilis and Julius Sabinus, and drove back Sabinus, who had invaded their territory. A triumphal arch at Vesontio (Besançon), which in return for this service was made a colony, possibly commemorates this victory. This faction can be established in Vesontio.
Treveri ConfederationThe Treveri or Treviri were a Belgic tribe who inhabited the lower valley of the Moselle from around 150 BCE, if not earlier, until their eventual absorption into the Franks. Their domain lay within the southern fringes of the Silva Arduenna (Ardennes Forest), a part of the vast Silva Carbonaria, in what are now Luxembourg, southeastern Belgium and western Germany; its centre was the city of Trier (Augusta Treverorum), to which the Treveri give their name. Celtic in language, according to Tacitus they claimed Germanic descent. Although early adopters of Roman material culture, the Treveri had a chequered relationship with Roman power. Their leader Indutiomarus led them in revolt against Julius Caesar during the Gallic Wars; much later, they played a key role in the Gaulish revolt during the Year of the Four Emperors. On the other hand, the Treveri supplied the Roman army with some of its most famous cavalry, and the city of Augusta Treverorum was home for a time to the family of Germanicus, including the future emperor Gaius (Caligula).This faction can be established in Treverorum.
Vivisci ConfederationThe Bituriges Vivisci was one of the tribes of Gaul. The tribe's capital was at Burdigala, modern-day Bordeaux The Vivisci traded wine which they produced themselves. According to Strabo their territory was surrounded by that of the Aquitanian people, but the Bituriges Vivisci were not themselves Aquitanian and took no part in their political affairs. This faction can be established in Burdigala.
Germania
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Pictones ConfederationThe Pictones were a tribe inhabiting a region along the Bay of Biscay in what is now western France, along the south bank of the Loire. The Pictones minted coins from the end of the 2nd century BC. The tribe was first noted in written sources when encountered by Julius Caesar. Caesar depended on their shipbuilding skills for his fleet on the Loire.[3] Their chief town Lemonum is located on the south bank of the Liger. The political organization of the region was modeled on the royal Celtic system. The Pictones had felt threatened by the migration of the Helvetians toward the territory of the Santones and supported the intervention of Caesar in 58 BC. Though fiercely independent, they collaborated with Caesar, who noted them as one of the more civilized tribes. Duratios was king of Pictones during the Roman conquest, but his power waned thanks to the poor skill of his generals. However, the Pictones frequently aided Julius Caesar in naval battles, particularly with the naval victor of Veneti on the Armorican peninsula. Nevertheless, 8000 men were sent to aid Vercingetorix, the chieftain who led the Gaulish rebellion in 52 BC. This act divided the Pictones and the region was the location of a later uprising, especially around Lemonum. This was later quelled by legate Gaius Caninius Rebilus and finally by Caesar himself. This faction can be established in Liminum.
Rugii ConfederationThe tribal name "Rugii" or "Rygir" is a derivate of the Old Norse term for rye, rugr, and is thus translated "rye eaters" or "rye farmers." Holmrygir and Ulmerugi are both translated as "island Rugii." The Rugii were first mentioned by Tacitus in the late 1st century. Tacitus' description of their contemporary settlement area, adjacent to the Goths at the "ocean", is generally seen as the southern coast of the Baltic Sea, the later Pomerania. Tacitus characterized the Rugii as well as the neighboring Goths and Lemovii saying they carried round shields and short swords, and obeyed their regular authority. Around the mid 2nd century AD, there was a significant migration by Germanic tribes of Scandinavian origin (Rugii, Goths, Gepidae, Vandals, Burgundians, and others) towards the south-east, creating turmoil along the entire Roman frontier. These migrations culminated in the Marcomannic Wars, which resulted in widespread destruction and the first invasion of Italy in the Roman Empire period.[15] Many Rugii had left the Baltic coast during the migration period. It is assumed that Burgundians, Goths and Gepids with parts of the Rugians left Pomerania during the late Roman Age. This faction can be established in Rhougion.
Ubii ConfederationIn 55 BC, Julius Caesar was preparing for an invasion of Britain, when several Germanic tribes, including the Ubii,[6] crossed the Rhine river. This movement included the Usipetes and Tencteri tribes, who wished to relocate to avoid contact with the Suevi. Caesar, concerned that fighting might break out in the region and draw troops away from his planned invasion, marched toward the Rhine. He met with ambassadors from the Germanic tribe and offered them land with the Ubii and an alliance against the Suevi, however, Caesar soon became worried that the tribes were delaying until their cavalry could return. They were transported in 39 BC by Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa to the left bank, apparently at their own request, as they feared the incursions of their neighbors the Chatti. The Ubii remained loyal allies of Rome; they were instrumental in crushing the Batavian rebellion in 70 and, although some of them made part of the invasion of Pannonia in 166, they become foederati supporting Roman troops in the Marcomannic Wars in 166-67. Together with the Batavi, the Ubii furnished soldiers for the Germanic bodyguard, the personal bodyguard of the early Roman emperors. This faction can be established in Uburzus.
Greece
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Aetolian NoblesIt is uncertain when the League of the Aetolians (Koino ton Aetolon) was founded. There are suggestions of the year 367 B.C. It has also been suggested that it may have been founded by Epaminondas. Grainger believes that it was founded much later – around the time of the rise of Philip II of Macedon. After Philip's victory of Chaeronea (338 BC), Aetolia was granted Naupaktos, which the Aetolians garrisoned – a level of organization that suggests some formal government rather than the loose alliance of earlier times. During the Peloponnesian War, the Aetolians were initially neutral, but they later fought against the Athenians, who tried to invade Aetolia in 426 BC, but were forced to retreat. The region of Aetolia emerged as one of the most important Greek states after the formation of its League at the second half of the 4th century BC. Its capital city, administrative and religious center was Thermo. In the period following the death of Alexander the Great, the Aetolian League revolted against Antipatros (323 BC) and succeeded in maintaining its independence. As of 290 BC, the League had expanded over its neighboring regions. In 279 BC, they were victorious in battle against the Gauls, who had invaded Greece and were threatening the sanctuary of Delphi. After their win, they earned the appreciation of the rest of the Greeks and they were admitted as a new member into the Amphictyonic League. In the First Allied War (220-217 BC), the Aetolian League fought against the Kingdom of Macedonia. Philip V of Macedon invaded Aetolia and sacked the city of Thermo as a response to the Aetolians' invasion at the city of Dodoni in Epirus. The league was the first Greek ally of the Roman Republic, siding with the Romans during the First Macedonian War (215-205 BC), and helping to defeat Philip V of Macedon at the Battle of Cynoscephalae in 197 BC, during the Second Macedonian War. However, it grew increasingly hostile to Roman involvement in Greek affairs and only a few years later sided with Antiochus III, the anti-Roman king of the Seleucid Empire, during the Roman-Syrian War. The defeat of Antiochus in 189 BC robbed the league of its principal foreign ally and made it impossible to stand alone in continued opposition to Rome. The league was forced to sign a peace treaty with Rome that made it a subject ally of the republic. Although it continued to exist in name, the power of the league was broken by the treaty and it never again constituted a significant political or military force. This faction can be established in Pharsalus.
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Iberia
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Turdetani ConfederationThe Turdetani were in constant contact with their Greek and Carthaginian neighbors. Herodotus describes them as enjoying a civilized rule under a king, Arganthonios, who welcomed Phocaean colonists in the fifth century BC. The Turdetani are said to have possessed a written legal code and to have employed Celtiberian mercenaries to carry on their wars against Rome. Strabo notes that the Turdetani were the most civilized peoples in Iberia, with the implication that their ordered, urbanized culture was most in accord with Greco-Roman models. After the end of the Second Punic War, the Turdetani rose against their Roman governor in 197. When Cato the Elder became consul in 195 BCE, he was given the command of the whole of Hispania. Cato first put down the rebellion in the northeast, then marched south and put down the revolt by the Turdetani, "the least warlike of all the Hispanic tribes." This faction can be established in Kartuba.
Italia
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SamnnitesThe Samnites were an Oscan-speaking people, who were probably an offshoot of the Sabines. The Samnites formed a confederation, consisting of four tribes: the Hirpini, Caudini, Caraceni, and Pentri. They were allied with Rome against the Gauls in 354 BC, but soon became powerful enemies of the Romans. The Samnite Wars broke out; they won an important battle against the Roman army in 321 BC, and their imperium reached its peak in 316 BC, after further gains from the Romans. By 290 BC, the Romans were able to break the Samnites' power after some hard fought battles. The Samnites were one of the Italian peoples that allied with King Pyrrhus of Epirus during the Pyrrhic War. After Pyrrhus left for Sicily, the Romans invaded Samnium and were crushed at the Battle of the Cranita hills, but after the defeat of Pyrrhus, the Samnites could not resist on their own and submitted to Rome. They joined and aided Hannibal during the Second Punic War. The Samnites were the last tribal group holding out against Rome in the Social War (91–88 BC). By 82 BC, the Roman dictator Lucius Cornelius Sulla conducted an ethnic cleansing campaign against this most stubborn and persistent of Rome's adversaries and forced the remnant to disperse. So great was the destruction brought upon them that it was recorded that "the towns of Samnium have become villages, and most have vanished altogether." This faction can be established in Benevetium.
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Veneti ConfederationThe origins of the Veneti are a much debated topic, with some scholars linking them with the Illyrians. Roman historian Titus Livius (59 BC – AD 17), himself a native of the Veneti town of Patavium, claims that Trojan leader Antenor, together with a large number of Paphlagonians who had been expelled from their homeland by a revolution, migrated to the northern end of the Adriatic coast, where they later merged with indigenous people known as the Euganei. The Greek historian Strabo (64 BC–AD 24), on the other hand, conjectured that the Adriatic Veneti were descendant from Celts who in turn were related to later Celtic tribe of the same name who lived on the Belgian coast and fought against Julius Caesar. During the Second Punic War, they allied with the Romans against the Celts, Iberians, and the Carthaginian expedition (218-203 BC) led by Hannibal. They even sent troops to fight along with the Romans at the battle of Cannae. This faction can be established in Patavium.
Levant, Syria, and Mesopotamia
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Kingdom of OsroeneOsroene, and sometimes known by the name of its capital city, Edessa (modern Sanliurfa, Turkey), was a historical kingdom located in upper Mesopotamia, which enjoyed semi-autonomy to complete independence from the years of 132 BC to AD 244. It was a Syriac-speaking kingdom. Osroene, or Edessa, acquired independence from the collapsing Seleucid Empire through a dynasty of the nomadic Nabatean tribe called Orrhoei from 136 BC. The name Osroene is derived from Osroes of Orhai, a Nabatean sheik who in 120 BC wrested control of this region from the Seleucids in Syria. It was one of a multitude of tiny states that gained their independence in the wake of the dissolution of the Hellenistic empire. Most of the kings of Osroene are called Abgar or Manu who settled in urban centers. Under its Nabatean dynasties, Osroëne became increasingly influenced by Aramaic culture and was a centre of national reaction against Hellenism. The kingdom's area, the upper course of the Euphrates, became a traditional battleground for the powers that ruled Asia Minor, Persia, Syria, and Armenia. On the dissolution of Seleucid Empire, it was divided between Rome and Parthia. At this time Osrhoene was within Parthian suzerainty. However, the Romans later made several attempts to recover the region. Osroene was absorbed into the Roman Empire in 114 as a semi-autonomous vassal state, after a period under Arsacid (Parthian) rule, incorporated as a simple Roman province in 214. There is an apocryphal legend that Osroene was the first state to have accepted Christianity as state religion. This faction can be established in Edessa, and is also in use in our Imperator Augustus campaign from the start.
This faction icon was created from work originally done by Noif.
ThapsacusThapsacus (Ancient Greek: Thapsakos; Hebrew: Tipsah) was an ancient town along the western bank of the Euphrates river that would now lie in modern Syria or Turkey. Thapsacus was the Greek and Roman name for the town. The town was important and prosperous due to its river crossing, which allowed east-west land traffic to pass through it. Its precise location is unknown and there are several different locations identified as the site of Thapsacus. This faction can be established in Thapsacus.
This faction icon was created by Noif.
TyrosThe commerce of the ancient world was gathered into the warehouses of Tyre. "Tyrian merchants were the first who ventured to navigate the Mediterranean waters; and they founded their colonies on the coasts and neighbouring islands of the Aegean Sea, in Greece, on the northern coast of Africa, at Carthage and other places, in Sicily and Corsica, in Spain at Tartessus, and even beyond the pillars of Hercules at Gadeira (Cádiz)." In 539 BC the Achaemenids conquered the city, and kept it under their rule until 332 BC, when Alexander the Great laid siege to the city, conquered and razed it. In 315 BC, Alexander's former general Antigonus began his own siege of Tyre, taking the city a year later. In 126 BC, Tyre regained its independence (from the Seleucids) and was allowed to keep much of its independence, as a "civitas foederata," when the area became a Roman province in 64 BC. Tyre continued to maintain much of its commercial importance until the Christian era. This faction can be established in Tyros.
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Mediterranean
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PanormusIn 734 BC Phoenicians from Tyre established a flourishing merchant colony in the Palermo area. The relationship of the new city with the Siculi, the people living in the Eastern part of the Island involved both commerce and war. The first building in which soon became a great city was called Mabbonath ("lodging" in Phoenician). It was the most important of the three buildings forming the “Phoenician triangle” cited by Thucydides. Between the 8th and the 7th centuries BC, the Greeks colonized Sicily. They called the city Panormus ("All port") and traded with the Carthaginians. The Greek colony of Panormus had two nuclei: the Palepolis ("ancient city"), between the two rivers Kemonia and Papirethos, and the Neapolis ("new city"). Curiously, early Naples was divided in two parts with the same name. In the course of the Punic Wars Palermo was fought over by the Carthaginians and the Romans until, in 254 BC, the Roman fleet besieged the city. It eventually surrendered and the population had to pay a war tribute to save their liberty. Hasdrubal tried to take it back, but the Roman consul Quintus Caecilius Metellus defeated him and imposed a lasting Roman rule over Panormus. In 247, Hamilcar camped with the Carthaginian army on Monte Pellegrino, then called Ercta. However this was in vain, as Panormus remained loyal to Rome. It therefore gained the titles of Praetura, the Golden Eagle, and the right to mint a coin of its own, as one of only five free cities in Sicily. This faction can be established in Panormus.
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RhodosIn the 8th century BC, the island's settlements started to form, with the coming of the Dorians, who built the three important cities of Lindos, Ialyssos and Kameiros, which together with Kos, Cnidus and Halicarnassus (on the mainland) made up the so-called Dorian Hexapolis (Greek for six cities). The Persians invaded and overran the island, but they were in turn defeated by forces from Athens in 478 BC. The cities joined the Athenian League. When the Peloponnesian War broke out in 431 BC, Rhodes remained largely neutral, although it remained a member of the League. In 408 BC, the cities united to form one territory. They built the city of Rhodes, a new capital on the northern end of the island. In 357 BC, the island was conquered by the king Mausolus of Caria, then it fell to the Persians in 340 BC. Their rule was also short. To the great relief of its citizens, Rhodes became a part of the growing empire of Alexander the Great in 332 BC, after he defeated the Persians. Following the death of Alexander, his generals vied for control of the kingdom. Three: Ptolemy, Seleucus, and Antigonus, succeeded in dividing the kingdom among themselves. Rhodes formed strong commercial and cultural ties with the Ptolemies in Alexandria, and together formed the Rhodo-Egyptian alliance that controlled trade throughout the Aegean in the third century BC. The city developed into a maritime, commercial and cultural center; its coins circulated nearly everywhere in the Mediterranean. Its famous schools of philosophy, science, literature and rhetoric shared masters with Alexandria. Throughout the third century BC, Rhodes attempted to secure her independence and her commerce, most especially her virtual control over the grain trade in the eastern Mediterranean. Both of these goals were dependent upon no one of the three great Hellenistic states achieving dominance, and consequently the Rhodians pursued a policy of maintaining a balance of power among the Antigonids, Seleucids and Ptolemies, even if that meant going to war with her traditional ally, Egypt. To this end they employed as leverage their economy and their excellent navy, which was manned by proverbially the finest sailors in the Mediterranean world:"If we have ten Rhodians, we have ten ships." Rhodes successfully carried on this policy through the course of the third century BC, an impressive achievement for what was essentially a democratic state. By the end of that period, however, the balance of power was crumbling, as declining Ptolemaic power made Egypt an attractive target for Seleucid ambitions. In 203/2 BC the young and dynamic kings of Antigonid Macedon and Seleucid Asia, Philip V and Antiochus III, agreed to accept – at least temporarily - one another’s military plans, Philip’s campaign in the Aegean and western Anatolia and Antiochus’ final solution of the Egyptian question. Heading a coalition of small states that checked Philip’s navy but not his superior army and now without a third power to which to turn, the Rhodians appealed in 201 BC to the newest world power, Rome. Despite being exhausted by the titanic struggle against Hannibal (218-201 BC) the Romans agreed to intervene, having already been stabbed in the back by Philip during the war against Carthage. The Senate saw the appeal from Rhodes and her allies as the opportunity to pressure Philip. The result was the Second Macedonian War (200-196 BC), which ended Macedon’s role as a major player and preserved Rhodian independence. Having provided Rome with valuable naval help in her first foray into Asia, the Rhodians were rewarded with territory and enhanced status. In 169 BC, during the war against Perseus, Rhodes sent Agepolis as ambassador to the consul Quintus Marcius Philippus, and then to Rome in the following year, hoping to turn the Senate against the war. Rhodes remained scrupulously neutral during the war, but in the view of hostile elements in the Senate she had been a bit too friendly with the defeated King Perseus. Some actually proposed declaring war on the island republic, but this was averted. In 164, Rhodes became a permanent ally of Rome, ending an independence that no longer had any meaning.[clarification needed] It was said that the Romans ultimately turned against the Rhodians because the islanders were the only people they had encountered who were more arrogant than themselves. This faction can be established in Rhodos.
SardiniaCirca 1000 BC the Phoenicians began visiting Sardinia with increasing frequency, presumably initially needing safe over-night and/or all-weather anchorages along their trade routes from the coast of modern-day Lebanon as far afield as the African and European Atlantic coasts and beyond. The most common ports of call were Caralis, Nora, Bithia, Sulcis, Tharros, Bosa and Olbia. While the Phoenicians stuck to the coastline, their relationship with the Sardinians was peaceful. However, after a few hundred years of habitation, they began expanding inward. They took over valuable natural resources, such as silver and lead mines, and established a military presence in the form of a fortress on Monte Sira in 650 BC. The Sardinians resented these intrusions, and in 509 BC they mounted a series of attacks against Phoenician settlements. The Phoenician settlers called on Carthage for help, and when it arrived they successfully took control of part of the southern part of the island. In 238 BC, the Carthaginians, as a result of their defeat by the Romans in the First Punic War, surrendered Corsica and Sardinia to Rome, and together they became a Roman province. The existing coastal cities were enlarged and embellished, while Coloniae such as Turris Lybissonis and Feronia were founded. These were populated by Roman immigrants. The Roman military occupation brought the Nuragic civilization to an end, except for the mountainous interior of the island, which the Romans called Barbaria, meaning "Land populated by Barbarians." Roman domination of Sardinia lasted 694 years, during which it was an important source of grain for the capital. Roman rule was often challenged by the mountainous inhabitants of its interior. This faction can be established in Aleria.
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North Africa
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Massylii ConfederationThe Massylii or Maesulians were a Berber federation of tribes in eastern Numidia, which was formed by an amalgamation of smaller tribes during the 4th century BC. They were ruled by a king. On their loosely defined western frontier was the powerful rival, the kingdom of the Masaesyli. To their east lay the territory of the rich and powerful Carthaginian Republic. Their relationship to Carthage resembled that of a protectorate. Carthage maintained its dominance over the Massylii by skillful diplomatic manoeuvering, playing off local tribal and kingdom rivalries. The principal towns of the Massylii were Cirta, Tébessa and Thugga. In 218 BC war broke out between the Carthaginians and the Romans. The Massylii and the Masaesyli who both possessed a strong and proficient cavalry force were allied to the Carthaginian cause and performed valuable service for them in Iberia and Italy. In 206 BC a Massylian prince called Masinissa defected to the Romans. When the Romans finally defeated the Carthaginians in 202 BC they amalgamated the territory of the Massylii and the Masaesyli into one kingdom and gave it to Massinissa who ruled it until his death in approximately 148 BC. This faction can be established in Capsa.
MauriMauri (from which derives the English term "Moors") was the Latin designation for the population of Mauretania, the part of Africa west of Numidia, corresponding roughly to the territory of modern Algeria and Morocco. Mauri (Μαῦροι) is recorded by Strabo, who wrote in the early 1st century, as the native name, which was also adopted into Latin, while he cites the Greek name for the same people as Maurusii. The name Mauri as a tribal confederation or generic ethnic desigator thus seems to roughly correspond to the people known as Numidians in earlier ethnography; both terms presumably group early Berber-speaking populations (the earliest Libyco-Berber epigraphy dates to about the 3rd century BC). In AD 44, the Roman Empire incorporated the region as the province of Mauretania, later divided into Mauretania Caesariensis and Mauretania Tingitana. This faction can be established in Siga.
SiwaSiwa is an oasis in Egypt, between the Qattara Depression and the Egyptian Sand Sea in the Libyan Desert and is one of Egypt's most isolated settlements consisting mostly of Berbers. During the Ptolemaid period of Egypt its ancient Egyptian name was "Field of Trees." Greek settlers at Cyrene made contact with the oasis around the same time (7th century BC), and the oracle temple of Amun (Greek: Zeus Ammon), who, Herodotus was told, took the image here of a ram. Herodotus knew of a "fountain of the Sun" that ran coldest in the noontide heat. During his campaign to conquer the Persian Empire, Alexander the Great reached the oasis, supposedly by following birds across the desert. The oracle, Alexander's court historians alleged, confirmed him as both a divine personage and the legitimate Pharaoh of Egypt, though Alexander's motives in making the excursion, following his founding of Alexandria, remain to some extent inscrutable and contested. This faction can be established at Ammonium.
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Ta-MehuLower Egypt was known as Ta-Mehu which means "land of papyrus." It was divided into twenty districts called nomes, the first of which was at el-Lisht. Because Lower Egypt was mostly undeveloped scrubland, undeveloped for human life and filled with all types of plant life such as grasses and herbs, the organization of the nomes underwent several changes. The capital of Lower Egypt was Memphis. This faction can be established in Memphis.
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Ta-SetiTa-Seti (Land of the bow, also Ta Khentit, Borderland) was one of 42 nomoi (administrative division) in Ancient Egypt and into the Ptolemaic period. The main city was referred to as Hu(t)-sekhem, which was abbreviated as Hu. This led to the Arabic name Hiw. In Ptolemaic times the city was called Diospolis Parva (Little Zeus-City) in comparison with Thebes, Egypt, known as Diospolis Magna (Great Zeus-City). This faction can be established in Diospolis.
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Ta-ShemauIn Pharaonic times, Upper Egypt was known as Ta Shemau which means "the land of reeds" for it was the strip of land, on both sides of the Nile valley. It was divided into twenty-two districts called nomes. Under the Ptolemies, Ptolemais Hermiou took over the role of Upper Egypt's capital city.Upper Egypt was represented by the tall White Crown Hedjet, and its symbols were the flowering lotus and the sedge. This faction can be established in Myos Hormos.
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TidamensiIn the 2nd century the city was mentioned by the geographer Ptolemy with the name (Tidamensi), which was probably connected to the name of the ancient Berber tribe of "Tidamensi", a tribe from actual Fezzan. Tidamensi was corrupted by the invading Romans to form the name Cydamus, which in turn gave way to the modern name for the settlement, Ghadames. Cydamus was a Berber village on an oasis located in the caravan route between Sabratha and the Ahaggar mountains of southern Algeria. The settlement was a stronghold of the Garamantes, a Berber people and a regional power at the time. This faction can be established in Cydamus.
TingitanaThe commercial Phoenician city of Thingis, came under Roman rule in the course of the 2nd century BC (146 BC). Later Tingis grew in importance first as a free city under Augustus, and then as a colony under Claudius who made Tingis capital of Mauritania "Tingitana" of Hispania. Indeed around 40 B.C. the city was a Roman Municipium and later,according to Tacitus, under Caligula the former province of Mauretania was divided in Mauretania Caesariensis and Mauretania Tingitana, with Tingis capital of the second. Because of this new administrastive role, Tingis in 42 AD was elevated by emperor Claudius to the highest city-level with the name Colonia Claudia Caesarea Tingi. Tingis (current Tangier in Morocco) was an important Roman Colonia in Berber north-western Africa. Tingis gave the name to Mauretania Tingitana, a province of the Roman Empire of which Tingis was the capital. This faction can be established in Tingis.
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TripolitaniaThe city of Oea, on the site of modern Tripoli, was founded by the Phoenicians in the 7th century BC. It was conquered by the Greek rulers of Cyrenaica, who were in turn displaced by the Carthaginians. The Greek name "three cities" referred to Oea, Sabratha and Leptis Magna. The Roman Republic captured Tripolitania in 146 BC, and the area prospered during the Roman Empire period. The Latin name Regio Tripolitania dates to the 3rd century. This faction can be established in Marcomades/Leptis Magna.
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Persia
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Atropatene UsurpersMedia first appears in the texts of the Assyrian king Shalmaneser III (858–824 bc), in which peoples of the land of “Mada” are recorded. The inhabitants came to be known as Medes. Herodotus credits “Deioces son of Phraortes” (probably c. 715) with the creation of the Median kingdom and the founding of its capital city at Ecbatana while uniting into a kingdom the many Iranian-speaking Median tribes. By the victory in 550 of the Persian chief Cyrus II the Great over his suzerain, Astyages of Media, the Medes were made subject to the Persians. In the new Achaemenian Empire they retained a prominent position; in honour and war they stood next to the Persians, and their court ceremonial was adopted by the new sovereigns, who in the summer months resided in Ecbatana. Alexander the Great occupied Media in 330, and in the partition of his empire, southern Media was given to the Macedonian commander Peithon and eventually passed to the Seleucids, but the north was left to Atropates, a former general of Darius III, who succeeded in founding an independent kingdom, named Atropatene, with its capital at Gazaca. In later times Atropatene came under the control of Parthia, Armenia, and Rome. Southern Media remained a province of the Seleucid empire for a century and a half, and Hellenism was introduced everywhere. About 152 BC, however, Media was taken by the Parthian king Mithradates I, and it remained subject to the Arsacids until about ad 226, when it passed, together with Atropatene, to the Sāsānians. This faction can be established in Eastern Media in Gazaca.
MediaMedia first appears in the texts of the Assyrian king Shalmaneser III (858–824 bc), in which peoples of the land of “Mada” are recorded. The inhabitants came to be known as Medes. Herodotus credits “Deioces son of Phraortes” (probably c. 715) with the creation of the Median kingdom and the founding of its capital city at Ecbatana while uniting into a kingdom the many Iranian-speaking Median tribes. By the victory in 550 of the Persian chief Cyrus II the Great over his suzerain, Astyages of Media, the Medes were made subject to the Persians. In the new Achaemenian Empire they retained a prominent position; in honour and war they stood next to the Persians, and their court ceremonial was adopted by the new sovereigns, who in the summer months resided in Ecbatana. Alexander the Great occupied Media in 330, and in the partition of his empire, southern Media was given to the Macedonian commander Peithon and eventually passed to the Seleucids, but the north was left to Atropates, a former general of Darius III, who succeeded in founding an independent kingdom, named Atropatene, with its capital at Gazaca. In later times Atropatene came under the control of Parthia, Armenia, and Rome. Southern Media remained a province of the Seleucid empire for a century and a half, and Hellenism was introduced everywhere. About 152 BC, however, Media was taken by the Parthian king Mithradates I, and it remained subject to the Arsacids until about ad 226, when it passed, together with Atropatene, to the Sāsānians. This faction can be established in Western Media in Phraaspa.
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SusiaSusia (modern Tus, 25 kilometers northwest of the holy city of Mashad in Iran) was situated in the eastern part of the satrapy of Parthia. Until it was eclipsed by Mashad, Susia was an important city, where the Silk road forked. Coming from Rhagae (Tehran) in the west, one could either go to Margiana and Bactria in the northeast, and from there to China; or to the southeast, to Drangiana and the valley of the river Indus. In the autumn of 330 BCE, the Macedonian conqueror Alexander the Great accepted the surrender of Susia, and for the first time showed himself to his soldiers in an oriental dress. According to Pliny the Elder, Susia was famous for the quality of its hemlock. This faction can be established in Susia.
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ZadrakataAccording to Arrian, this was the largest city of Hyrcania. The term signifies, " the yellow city "; and it was given to it from the great number of oranges, lemons, and other fruit trees which grew in the outskirts of that city. Hence it is by D'Anville, Rochette, and other geographers, identified Saru, which Pietro Della Valle says, in his "Travels", signifies "The yellow city". It is probable that Zadracarta and Saru are the same with the Syringis of Polybius, taken from Arsaces ii. by Antiochus the Great, in his vain attempt to reunite the revolted provinces of Hyrcania and Parthia to the Seleucid Empire. This faction can be established in Zadrakata.
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Raetia et Noricum
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Nori ConfederationNoricum is the Latin name for a Celtic kingdom, or federation of twelve tribes, including most of modern Austria and part of Slovenia. It became a province of the Roman Empire. It was bounded by the Danube to the north, Raetia and Vindelicia to the west, Pannonia to the east and southeast, and Italia (Venetia et Histria) to the south. The old kingdom were founded about 400 BC, and ruled from the royal residence at Virunum on the Magdalensberg. Noricum was incorporated into the Roman Empire in 16 BC. For a long time the Noricans had enjoyed independence under princes of their own and carried on commerce with the Romans. In 48 BC they took the side of Julius Caesar in the civil war against Pompey. In 16 BC, having joined with the Pannonians in invading Histria, they were defeated by Publius Silius, proconsul of Illyricum. Thereafter, Noricum was called a province, although it was not organized as such and remained a kingdom with the title of regnum Noricum, yet under the control of an imperial procurator.[citation needed] Under the reign of Emperor Claudius (41–54) the Noricum Kingdom was ultimately incorporated into the Roman Empire apparently without offering resistance. This faction can be established in Noricum.
Raeti ConfederationThe Raeti was the collective "ethnic" name used by the ancient Romans to denote a confederation of Alpine tribes, whose language and culture may have derived, at least in part, from the Etruscans. From not later than ca. 500 BC, they inhabited the central parts of present-day Switzerland, the Tyrol in Austria, and the Alpine regions of northeastern Italy. The Raeti tribes, together with those of their Celtic-speaking neighbours to the north, the Vindelici, were subjugated by the Imperial Roman army in 15 BC and their territories annexed to the Roman empire. The Roman province of Raetia et Vindelicia was named after these two peoples. The Raeti tribes quickly became loyal subjects of the empire and contributed disproportionate numbers of recruits to the imperial Roman army's auxiliary corps. This faction can be established in Koria.
VindeliciaVindelicia identifies the country inhabited by the Vindelici, a region bounded on the north by the Danube and (later) the Hadrian's Limes Germanicus, on the east by the Oenus (Inn), on the south by Raetia and on the west by the territory of the Helvetii. The material culture of its inhabitants the Vindelici was La Tène. Their language has not survived. The evidence of place-names argues that the Vindelici spoke a Celtic (i.e. Gaulish) language like the Boii and the Celts in the neighbouring Noricum. The name of the Vindelician town of Cambodunum (today Kempten) derives from Celtic cambo dunon and means fortified place at the river bend (see old Irish camb or camm 'crooked' and dún 'fort'). Together with the neighboring tribes they were subjugated by Tiberius in 15 BC. The Augustan inscription of 12 BC mentions four tribes of the Vindelici among the defeated, the Cosuanetes, Rucinates, Licates and Catenates. This faction can be established in Kelheim.
Scythia and Sarmatia
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IastaeA Scythian tribe, whose position must be sought for in the neighbour-hood of the river Iastus. This faction can be established in Sarai.
This faction icon was created by the Melcor and the Haegemonia team.
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