How did you (EBII historians) model what didn't happen?

[MeiguoJinjang]

Okay, I am playing Rome now.

Rome did become an empire, and may have ruled 50% of humanity with the other great empire being the Han in China.

But you have factions here who got subjugated, and yet you must provide a play path that potentially allows them to dominate the ancient West. How did you arrive at historic paths for things which did not happen? (buildings, policies, characters, events)

I am very curious.

Thanks.

PS: I realize there are scripts running that a pushing history/game in a certain directions, but the game is not on rails. Since there would be no play value if one could not alter outcomes.

[Shoebopp]

I don't know the modding process to answer your question directly, but you raise an interesting question that many other fans have discussed, which is (correct me if I'm misunderstanding you) roleplaying actual history vs alternative history. EBII has a mix of those two, biased towards actual history, with many historical events hard-scripted into the mod, and a few events simulating "what if" scenarios. It would be easier to list the alternative history scenarios and assume that everything else is an attempt by EBII modders to simulate actual history


Alternative history events, and my guess on what the EBII historians intended:
1. Nabatu Hellenistic Reforms: In 106AD, Nabatu was annexed into the Roman Empire. It never expanded beyond the Sinai Peninsula, and certain never into regions that had significant Hellenistic presence (The reforms require controlling at least 3 Hellenistic Poleis). The Hellenistic Reforms, which can be achieved in 222BC at the earliest, may represent the burgeoning Nabataeans' attempt at adopting Achaemenid traditions to better rule such as vast empire in the Middle East. The Hellenistic requirements are a nod to the fact that nomadic peoples tend to adopt the cultures of their settled victims in order to help endear them to the local population. This is a pretty plausible alternative history scenario IMO.
2. Makedonian Imperial/Revival Reforms: Makedonia historically never achieved the ambitions of Antigonus One-Eyed, which included controlling Ipsos and Antiocheia, let alone Babylon. These reforms, which are more like "bonus unlockables", may be a way of incentivizing Makedonian players to expand east just as old One-Eyed intended. In addition, the first Imperial Reform unlocks the Satrapy government, and we all know that satrapies are an ancient form of federalized "state" governments that are good for ruling local territories.
3. Sabai Imperial Reforms: the opening popup-scroll literally informs the Sabai player that Saba never became an empire due to the defensive system of alliances of southern arabian states. Your job is to spit in the face of this NATO equivalent, and conquer them all. The other requirements of this faction's reform might be a nod to urbanization - decreasing the Eastern Tribal States "culture" means more urban centers, and the post-reform governments require pretty expansive farms possible only in heavily urbanized areas.
4. Epeirote Centralization/Federalization: historically, King Pyrrhus's kingship over the Epeirote territories was "nominal at best", and he used the tried-and-true method of "distracting people's local squabbles by instigating foreign wars" to unite them. Once he died historically, the Epeirote kingdom fragmented and never posed a regional threat ever again. HOWEVER, EBII's reforms represent a plausible outcome of if
1. Pyrrhus succeeds in controlling Sicily, holding onto the Macedonian Throne, and gaining international street cred by installing a hated exiled king back onto the Spartan throne. This fans the stokes of nationalism in the Epeirote peoples and justifies the creation of an Epeirote kingship, represented by the post-reform Guardianship and Dynastic Administration governments
2. Pyrrhus and his demon spawn all die off before these objectives can be completed, BUT enough territory in western greece has been united. In this case, a "federalized" (though I prefer the term "decentralized") government consisting of a loose alliance of Epidamnos, Ambrakia, Thermon, and Korinthos, is drafted. This government gains legitamacy through defeating an ahistorical (but rather convenient!) scripted Illyrian raid into Ambrakia. Maybe the lesson is that it takes war and bloodshed and suffering to unite a people




There are a lot more that I know even less about to comment on (Getai's RPG-style reforms, Koinon Hellenon's attempt at drafting a constitution two millenia before the Americans did, etc), but to attempt to answer your question: EBII historians probably tried their best at using historical patterns (using war as a pretext for unification, urbanization, cultural changes, administrative styles) to simulate alternative history




Here are some really fleshed-out historical events:
1. In the late game, a huge number of nomadic invasions from the east for factions in Central Asia. From Sakans to Tocharians, to Turans and Asanans, and more, these nomads will completely destabilize any central asian player, just as those invasions did historically.
2. Queen Arsinoe II's historically-accurate and bizarre lady-boner for the greek city states is hilariously represented through a deal she'll try to make with you just a few turns into the Koinon Hellenon campaign. Rig the Olympic games to allow her chosen charioteer to win, and you'll be closer to getting her husband Ptolemy II to launch a MASSIVE invasion into your enemy's Makedonian capital. Of course, you have to pay like 3000 mnai to bribe the referees, and due to M2TW's stupid campaign AI, the Ptolemaic invasion force will just retreat back into Asia minor... but it's pretty cool.
3. At the start of the game in 272BC, Carthage and Rome are still allied. The very next turn, the alliance just disappears into thin air. This simulates the rising tensions between Rome and Carthage as soon as their common enemy Epeiros left the wrestling field, and left a power vacuum. Should, over the course of the campaign, either power take Messena in Italy, war between them will erupt and a counterassault will materialize out of thin air and teleport into Messena, just like how things played out in real life.

[MeiguoJinjang]

The total sandbox found in PDS games, I find to be totally unsatisfying. The world might as well be randomly generated, and mechanics bear little resemblance to the real thing even at the highest levels of modeling.

I like GG's approach with WITE-2 where we are talking about a very short slice of history.

Basically, it goes like this. You can play The Third Reich or The USSR. Resources and logistics start off largely fixed, but you can cause alteration. Now, no matter what, Germany is going to lose. As the player, your goal is through your command expertise to outperform the German or Soviet General Staff. So, if you capture cities in advance of the actual date, you gain points. If hold to cities beyond the date they fell, you gain points.

So, history is not violated, and yet you can have a jolly good historic time.

But this is clearly not feasible when looking at such a vast time scale. Mainly, I mention it as a way accuracy can be adhered to, and still have exciting game play.

PS: To make such an approach function properly requires a superb beta team, and a lot of time dealing with balance issues. Which has largely been the situation of the game post release.

[Roma_Victrix]

Here are some really fleshed-out historical events:
1. In the late game, a huge number of nomadic invasions from the east for factions in Central Asia. From Sakans to Tocharians, to Turans and Asanans, and more, these nomads will completely destabilize any central asian player, just as those invasions did historically.
2. Queen Arsinoe II's historically-accurate and bizarre lady-boner for the greek city states is hilariously represented through a deal she'll try to make with you just a few turns into the Koinon Hellenon campaign. Rig the Olympic games to allow her chosen charioteer to win, and you'll be closer to getting her husband Ptolemy II to launch a MASSIVE invasion into your enemy's Makedonian capital. Of course, you have to pay like 3000 mnai to bribe the referees, and due to M2TW's stupid campaign AI, the Ptolemaic invasion force will just retreat back into Asia minor... but it's pretty cool.
3. At the start of the game in 272BC, Carthage and Rome are still allied. The very next turn, the alliance just disappears into thin air. This simulates the rising tensions between Rome and Carthage as soon as their common enemy Epeiros left the wrestling field, and left a power vacuum. Should, over the course of the campaign, either power take Messena in Italy, war between them will erupt and a counterassault will materialize out of thin air and teleport into Messena, just like how things played out in real life.

To this I would also add the scripted event of the earthquake that toppled the enormous Colossus of Rhodes lighthouse statue on the Isle of Rhodes in 226 BC. Built in 280 BC, when it was destroyed an oracle warned the Rhodians not to rebuild it, so it lay in ruins until the 7th century AD when Umayyad Muslim forces invaded and finally sold the scrap for money. On one of the statue's hands left on the ground, Roman writers said that the thumb was so big that a grown man could barely hug it with both arms outstretched.

The cool thing about Europa Barbarorum II is that it gives you the option to rebuild the Colossus of Rhodes statue! This offers a financial bonus if I'm not mistaken. Or was it a naval recruitment one? Can't remember.

Also, speaking of the Han dynasty of China in the OP and your mention of nomads invading Central Asia, I would still love to see a mid-game invasion of Central Asia by the nomadic Yuezhi tribes who were pushed west by the Xiongnu who took over the Tarim Basin region in what is now the Xinjiang Autonomous Region. The Yuezhi took over the Hellenistic Greek remnants of Bactria decades before Emperor Han of Wu fought them there over the "heavenly horses" desired by the Chinese. The Yuezhi also eventually established the Kushan Empire of South Asia that stretched from northern India to Afghanistan. A late game invasion of Central Asia by some Xiongnu pushed west by the Han Chinese in the 1st century BC would also be interesting, considering how Western Han forces rode as far as Kazakhstan to defeat them at the Battle of Zhizhi in 36 BC.

PS: I realize there are scripts running that a pushing history/game in a certain directions, but the game is not on rails. Since there would be no play value if one could not alter outcomes.

I usually play with Hellenistic Greek factions, and have played with Carthage and Rome, so yeah, this game allows you to build empires that are entirely different from what happened with the Roman Republic taking over the Mediterranean world by the time of Pompey the Great and Julius Caesar. I've conquered the Mediterranean and Black Seas several times with Greek factions instead, and pushed well into northern Europe much like the Romans did when taking Gaul, western parts of Germania, most of the Balkans, and eventually Britannia with the invasion of Claudius (preceded by Caesar's fleeting invasion a century earlier).

[Trarco]

But you have factions here who got subjugated, and yet you must provide a play path that potentially allows them to dominate the ancient West. How did you arrive at historic paths for things which did not happen? (buildings, policies, characters, events)


I am very curious.


Thanks.

One of the main EB2 rules is that we don't want "history on rails", so alternate history is acceptable but it must be realistic. As an example, in my concept about the revamped Carthaginian political system, I focused on the ways Carthaginians developed their empire (first in a soft indirect way akin tho the Delian League, and then, after the Barcid rise in a more imperialistic way developing actual provinces in the Iberian Peninsula) in Central and Western Mediterranean. Once I had a good idea about the main features I wanted to represent, I could begin to extrapolate their political strategies to other regions that they never reached. Finally, I could conceive more alternate scenarios based on the eraly times of the Carthaginian republic and the conflict between Barcids and Hannonids, such as what if you are able to establish you as a tyrant in Carthage? or inspired on the last days of the republic, what if you establish a populist regime in Carthage?. Finally, we have the crazy stuff, if you are the most important empire on the west what if you support the independence of the main Phoenician eastern cities?. As an example, this is how I conceived this path in the description of the political building:

"Phoenicia under Carthaginian hegemony represents a uchronic scene in which several local Phoenician metropoleis such as Akko, Tyre and Sidon, among others, have taken advantage of the continuing conflict between the neighbouring Hellenistic kingdoms and the diplomatic mediation of a strong Carthaginian state whose emerging influence is being consolidated in the Mediterranean world. As a result, some of these Phoenician metropoleis have been able to obtain or purchase their independence from their previous basileis. Now, local aristocracies are developing several Hellenized principalities that compete in their own right. Although some of them, as Tyre, due to their common cultural identity, see in Carthage a potentially useful ally, the Carthaginian hegemony over this region is more symbolical than real".

And this is how I understood the Carthaginian tyranny in EB2:


"This building represents a uchronic scene in which an influential charismatic general, who comes from an aristocratic Carthaginian family, has succeeded where others who preceded him failed. This man has destroyed the constitution of Carthage, has proclaimed himself tyrant and has reduced Carthage to a despotism. An important segment of the Carthaginian citizenry and many rival aristocrats tried to oppose this man but failed. After the declaration of death sentences and amnesties, Carthage won@t be governed by the two annual shophets anymore but by a new unique king. This building gives a bonus to law as well as naval and cavalry experience but a malus on happines. It allows the recruitment of siege weapons, the Sacred Band, Punic citizen militia, a few imported Hellenistic bodyguards attracted to serve the new Carthaginian king and many factional troops. It also accumulates colonists every four years and spreads Hellenistic polities in the province. This represents the new form of government which clashes with the traditional Carthaginian constitution".

Just in case you are interested on a more specific pieces of information, I am going to post both the scheme of the political trees and their descriptions, in this way, you might get a better idea of the procces of creating these alternative paths. I suggest you to read the short strategy section of the description that appears after the history section. That strategy section is a summary of what the government represents and many times it's a legitimation of the alternative history we have accepted.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

1st political tree:

BET HADASHT - (POLICY OF COLONIZATION).

-Happiness 5%.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

The Senate has decided. No more than two days will be needed to reach the first Maqom, where supplies will await you. Then, three more days until the next settlement comes into view. Yet, after this respite, you will have to trust only in the gods and your skills at sea, for no other allies or familiar sights will be encountered until the destination is reached. The season is right, the route is safe, and the sacrifices have been made. Onwards, to a new home!

HISTORY

Historically, the main ancient author who wrote about the Carthaginian political institutions and constitution was Aristotle. During his explanation about the Carthaginian way of governance, he mentions Carthaginian colonization as a mechanism to avoid the stasis events (Pol. 2.1273b): "(...)But the constitution being oligarchical they best escape the dangers by being wealthy, as they constantly send out a portion of the common people to appointments in the cities; by this means they heal the social sore and make the constitution stable." In this way, the Carthaginian oligarchy was able to send the excesses of the population to the colonies under the Carthaginian influence in order to prevent civil strife and increase the Carthaginian presence in areas where old Phoenician settlements already existed.

The origin of the Carthaginian colonial activity along the central and western Mediterranean could be attributed to the original circumstances of Carthage since it was founded. Originally, Carthage was just another Phoenician city in the Mediterranean; in fact, in the first stage older cities like Utica and Gader would have been played a more important role in the West. According to the tradition, archaic Carthage would have been subjected to an annual tax. Because it had a small chora that didn@t produce enough resources, the sea quickly became the most precious resource for the Carthaginians and was a necessity. The Carthaginian maritime activities were the main way to ensure survival, especially since the 7th century BC when Carthage experienced strong demographic growth. In view of this initial juncture, it seems logical that the usage of the colonists was desirable to reduce the population pressure as other Phoenician mother city-states had done in the past. Additionally, this political activity enabled the establishment of privileged relations with other important cities. It is in this way that the early Carthaginian processes of colonization acted as a colonial drive. In addition, they embarked on a project of expansions of markets that preceded the more imperialistic Barcid colonial strategies.

Since the 6th century BC, it was common for Carthage to establish treaties and alliances with other Mediterranean cities through colonial actions that established allied centres and ports through more or less significant migrations. These establishments would have become a strong focus of the new forms of both the economic exploitation and political control of the region. However, it should be noted that most of the time, this political control wouldn@t have been strict, but rather based on the consolidation of the Carthaginian hegemony in the region. An early example of this colonial process, attested to by written sources, archaeological evidence, and epigraphy, were the friendly relations established between Etruscans and Carthaginians and the very probable existence of an important group of Carthaginian people established in the Etruscan city of Caere.

STRATEGY

This building represents the political decision of displacing populations, founding one or more cities or redeveloping existing settlements in this territory. This event will decrease potential turmoil in Carthage, which increases the availability of natural resources. Additionally, if the incorporation of this new area is successful, the new Punic influence may result in the reinforcement of regional routes and the acquisition of local products. This attempt of colonization doesn@t provide troops to recruit but it does give a bonus to happiness.

MAQUM HADASHT- (REURBANISED MINOR SETTLEMENT).

-It needs civic colonists.
-It needs small market.
-It needs strategic fortifications.
-Conversion culture up to 25%.
-Unhappiness -15% under 15% Western Mediterranean.
-It needs the level of town.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

The sacrifices were well-received. So too were our words to the locals, who allowed us to build this sacred sanctuary to celebrate the success of our voyage. Perhaps your sight is not what it once was, but its outline is still clear to you in the dimming light. Flames lick the rising stars as the crowd gathers to celebrate the festival. Some of the people live among us, enjoying our luxuries. Perhaps some might even prefer to mark their passing from this world with the cleansing fire rather than being buried in the dark earth. Life and death. Blood and breath. All are one before the fire and beneath the stars.

HISTORY

Historically, the Carthaginian area of influence spanned several Mediterranean zones whose common trait was the existence of a network of western Phoenician settlements. Certainly, the Carthaginian attempts at extending its hegemony and its policy of colonization usually didn@t necessitate new settlements. Instead, the existing Phoenician networks of colonies which had been founded since Phoenicia a few centuries ago would have facilitated the practice of redevelopment of existing Phoenician settlements. As attested to in Aristotle, this tactic meant the transfer of human groups that could have been carried out slowly or gradually. These human groups would have formed settlements that kept their independence, as well as maintained a general allegiance to Carthage. Furthermore, they were also introduced to some Carthaginian traditions. It is through this development that the Carthaginian colonial activity was focused on establishing an intense net of relations and certain degree of hegemonic control over old settlements that were originally developed by eastern Phoenicians during the archaic process of colonization (9th century-7th century BC).

During the 5th and 4th centuries BC, Carthage increased her might and was able to apply a more military active policy in the central Mediterranean thanks to the fact that Carthage had been developing a network of important trade relations with Sicily, Corinth and eastern Greece. Due to the new degree of hegemony reached by Carthage in the 4th century BC, the New City was able to establish her own colonies in the coast of northwestern Africa while pursuing an ambitious expansion to the Atlantic west. The main written source about the Carthaginian Atlantic establishments is the periplus of Hanno, which is dated at the end of the 6th century BC or around the middle of the 5th century BC. Although some parts of the story are considered fanciful, the veracity of the sea voyage is accepted by most of the historians. In fact, the periplus is mentioned by ancient historians such as Herodotus, Pseudo-Aristotle and Pliny. According to legends, Hanno sailed beyond the pillars of Heracles until (surely) the south of Morocco in order to establish several colonies of Lybiphoenicians and in order to explore new lands. He put to sea with thirty thousand men and women distributed among sixty penteconters. After sailing two days since the pillars of Heracles, he founded the city of Thymiaterion. After that, the people aboard sailed to the west and established a temple in honour of Poseidon and several coastal cities such as Karikon Teichos, Gytte, Akra, Melitta, Arambys and Cerne. The story speaks about the construction of a temple and the presence of seers among the crew. Both elements are common in the colonization of the ancient Mediterranean peoples. At first, the Phoenicians and then the Carthaginians kept this sacred component in the process of colonization. The importance of the temple of Melkart of Gader and its oracle for the Punic world, and especially for its sailors, is a good example of this fact. The Periplus of Pseudo-Scylax, which is dated in the second half of the 4th century BC, also mentions this Atlantic area and its Carthaginian marketplaces beyond the Strait of Gibraltar. According to the periplus, the Carthaginians traded with the Ethiopians beyond Lixus where Hanno had founded Cerne. This area was favourable for inland trade which took advantage of the navigable rivers and for the exploitation of natural resources such as gold. The coastal foundations also provided plentiful fish and the usage of the Atlantic route linked with the pillars of Heracles.

We can@t know the exact mechanims used by Carthaginians to establish their colonial processes but following a comparision with the Roman conventus civium romanorum, it might be possible to think about the Carthaginian colonization as a process in which a Carthaginian group of people would become inhabitants of a Mediterranean settlement with the permission of the locals. An important distinction is that this does not disrupt their autonomy but rather bring about political and cultural changes that would presumably benefit Carthage.

STRATEGY

This building represents an initial Carthaginian colonization, redevelopment and repopulation of one or more existing settlement in this province without deprivation of their freedom. The relocation of the local populations will allow Carthage to reorganise the political and economical situation of this province as well as spread its influence among the local communities and increase the control of this region in the near future. This initial stage of re-foundation and colonization shows that some local communities are starting to become important for Carthage because of its interests in the area. This building doesn@t provide units to recruit but it spreads Western Mediterranean culture and gives a bonus to happiness.

MAQUM - (REURBANISED SETTLEMENT).

-It needs civic colonists.
-It needs 20% Western Mediterranean culture.
-It needs the second level of the Carthaginian temple.
-It needs strategic fortifications.
-Conversion culture up to 40%.
-Unhappiness -10% under 30% Western Mediterranean.
-Free upkeep.
-Recruitment: some Pantodapoi.
-It needs the level of large town.
-It needs market.
-It unlocks the building "favoured Punic city-state" (4th political tree)

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

For two generations now, ever since the re-founding of our city, our family has held a privileged position. Surrounded by the many who must toil, we, the few, must lead. After all, your grandmother was the daughter of a rab of Qarthadasht, and, to this day, these ties of friendship hold strong. When hardship comes, when strife comes, when war comes – we are those who remain true. We lead the bene@amm, the sons of the nation, and in so doing, we honour our heritage before the gods.

HISTORY

From an archaeological point of view, the Carthaginian re-urbanization of existing settlements can be seen in the north African settlement of Thugga, a Bereber centre where Carthaginian influence is attested to in the form of Punic inscriptions and religious iconography. Among other Phoenician settlements that were redeveloped were Hippo Regius, Thapsus, Chullu, Ruscidae, Adrumet and the well-known Kerkouane. The former one shows a strong Carthaginian influence with its double-wall, straight streets and a temple in the middle of the city. In the case of Adrumet, archaeologically speaking, it is difficult to differentiate between the older stage of the Phoenician colony and the later stage of the Carthaginian colony. The archaeological research suggests that Adrumet was founded like a small coastal Phoenician port town and it began to be converted into a larger permanent centre by Carthage since the 6th century BC. The Carthaginian population is evident thanks to the inscriptions from its necropoleis that show Punic names and the typical gods of Carthage, Baal Hammon and Tanit. This city was the most important Carthaginian re-foundation in Cap Bon. Taking advantage of its position, it became the main economic centre of an area where there were smaller settlements each of which developed its economic activity around the hinterland of Adrumet. It has also been confirmed archaeologically that the Carthaginian presence in the coasts of Maghreb increased since the 5th century BC. Among the Punic cities of Morocco lies Tingi (probably the Thymiaterion of the periplus of Hanno) where it has been found a Carthaginian settlement. Other known Punic African colonies are Russadir, Tamuda, Kouass and Banasa. In this area, the Carthaginian influence is confirmed by unearthed pottery and the practice of inhumation and placing ostrich eggs among the funerary objects. The last two practices are typically Carthaginian.

Sicily was subject to a different juncture because of the Greco-Punic wars. Here some examples of the redevelopment of Phoenician settlements can be seen in Motya and Soloeis. Both of them were established between the 8th and 7th centuries BC as genuine Phoenician colonies but they were redeveloped by Carthage eventually. The influence of the African metropolis over this area is attested in the Punic treaties with Rome and from an archaeological point of view, Motya presents some stages of rebuilding related with Carthage before its destruction and definitive re-foundation as Lilybaeum. Soloeis was also re-founded under the Carthaginian influence after its destruction by Dionysius. The geopolitical situation of the island also caused the redevelopment of other local towns by Carthage such as the Greek Himera. It was destroyed by Carthage in 409 BC but afterwards the Carthaginians founded Thermae near the old site (Diodorus XIII.79.8). The city was probably comprised of the Punic population mixed with the Greek remnants.

Sardinia also offers some examples of re-urbanization in some Phoenician colonies like Olbia, Bitia, Sulcis, Nora, Cagliari and Tharros as well as others since the 6th century BC. Punic temples, tombs and iconography of Tanit, the main goddess of Carthage, are the best pieces of evidence of Carthaginian influence in Sulcis. Tharros, for its part, was fortified like Nora and it also became a Carthaginian port of importance. In the case of Nora, it should be noted that there was a link with Carthage derived in the material culture and in the development of the local thopet since the second half of the 6th century BC. It is also in this way that Sardinia was one of the most colonized areas by Carthage to such a degree that it appears on an equal footing with some African territories controlled by Carthge in the first Roman-Carthaginian treaty. Taking advantage of the original Phoenician presence in the island, Carthaginians began a process of ocupation and real territorial conquest of the island since the end of the 6th century BC. The result was the control of the main roads and coastline of the island military reinforced by a system of forts and other fortifications such as the walled acropolis of Mount Sirai.

In spite of the fact that Iberia wouldn@t have suffered from a strong Carthaginian imperialization before the Barcid landing, the Carthaginian influence is mentioned by some written sources and even it might be archaeologically attested in several Phoenician cities of Iberia such as Carteia and Baria whose necropolis shows points in common with the Carthaginian funerary traditions. Since the 4th century BC, the site of Baria shows that both the necropolis and the urban centre experienced an important growth doubling its size. It is possible that this level of urbanization was due to a process of internal evolution. However, the strong level of urbanization, the material culture related to the Carthaginian one and the future important role played by the pro-Carthaginian Baria during the Second Punic War may suggest a Carthaginian hegemonic action that might have favoured the intervention in this stage of redevelopment of the Punic city-state. For its part, the periplus of Pseudo-Scylax (ca. 338-335 BC) mentions the existence of Carthaginian ports of trade around the Pillars of Melkart. Corroborating this was Pomponius Mela, who mentions that Carteia (the most important Punic city-state of that region) was populated by Phoenicians who originated from Africa. These quotes and some archaeological results have been used by some researchers to suggest that at least since the end of the 6th century BC, there were already Carthaginian traders who inhabited the old Phoenician cities of Gader, Baria and Sex. However, the deep Carthaginian colonization of this western area would have been theoretically very limited or even almost nonexistent until the coming of the Barcids in 237 BC.

STRATEGY

This building represents a thriving stage of colonization, re-urbanization and repopulation of one or more existing settlements in this province without deprivation of their freedom. The relocation of these populations allows Carthage to reorganise the political and economical situation of this province as well as spread its influence among the local population. This stage of re-foundation means that some local communities have become important for Carthage because of the strategical advantages that they offer for the Carthaginian control of this region. Now, their settlements are under the protection of Carthage. The new population will spread its Punic material culture and its socio-political customs in the area. In the same way, some local human groups could be integrated into the new re-founded communities and they would share their own traditions. Potential mixed marriages could develop a new Punicized society with Carthaginian customs but also with its own traditions over the generations. This stage of colonization allows you to recruit some Pantodapoi that generically represent the existence of native Punicised militia mustered to defend their new home. This building also spreads Western Mediterranean culture and gives a bonus to free upkeep. Finally, it also unlocks a better political status for the local Punic city-states if are available in the province.

QART - (REURBANISED CITY).

-It needs 35 % Western Mediterranean.
-It needs civic colonists.
-It needs the second level of temple.
-It needs waystations and garrisons.
-It needs the level of city.
-Conversion up to 50%.
-Unhappiness -10% under 45%.
-Bonus to law 5%.
-Free upkeep 2.
-Recruitment: several pantodapoi and in southern Iberia, it also provides a few Blastophoenicians after the reform.
-If combined with the Carthaginian eparchy, it will allow that government to recruit some local professionals.
-For historical and demographic reasons, the reurbanised city won't be buildable in every province of the map. In those areas where it is not buildable, the previous stage will allow the recruitment of a few local professionals if combined with the Carthaginian eparchy.
-It needs the large market.
-It unlocks the "highly favoured Punic city-state" (4th political tree).

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

The @Amm grieves. One of the most virtuous citizens has died while still holding his position of shophet. Gathered to honour him you find them all, from the wealthiest soher to the most pious kohen. Even our rivals, now in control of the city@s government, have agreed to a sacred truce as tribute to the departed@s legacy. Appropriately dressed and adorned for his journey, his body will be consumed, along with ornaments and offerings, by the great funeral pyre, marking his soul@s freedom.

HISTORY

Historically, the goals of the Carthaginian colonies were varied and the objectives pursued were different depending on the type of the colony. Most of the times, colonies worked as emporia and their sizes weren@t too big. Sometimes however Carthage developed new, carefully constructed large settlements in strategic positions. Among these type of Carthaginian colonies was Lilybaeum which was settled in order to develop an important centre to control western Sicily. The birth of this settlement is dated in 396 BC and replaced the original Phoenician colony of Motya which had been destroyed by Dionysius of Syracuse in 397 BC. Diodorus Siculus wrote about this event (XXII.10.4): "This city had been founded by the Carthaginians after their city of Motya had been captured by the tyrant Dionysius, for they had gathered together all the survivors of Motya and settled them in Lilybaeum". It is probable that the new colony was founded not only with the survivors of the original colony but also with other human groups of Carthaginian stock. The new important centre would have attracted a new population of the island due to its success and probably even Greek population would have been integrated as it is attested by Diodorus (XXIV.1.1): "The Carthaginians, having razed to the ground the city of Selinus, removed its population to Lilybaeum". The Carthaginian undertaking resulted in the rise of a strongly defended strategic city. Among its traits was a large deep harbour and natural and artificial defences well attested to by Polybius (I.42.7): "It is excellently defended both by walls and by a deep moat all round, and on the side facing the sea by shoaly water, the passage through which into the harbour requires great skill and practice." First during Pyrrhus@s invasion and then during the First Punic War, Lilybaeum proved to be the perfect fortress in Sicily and a key place to control the maritime route which connected Carthage to Sicily.

As other examples of the redevelopment of important centres, it should be noted the case of Iboshim. According to Diodorus, Iboshim, which would have been founded in the island Pityusa in 653 BC, was the first colony of the Carthaginians. However, the origin of the city is more complex. The date of the early foundation that is given by Diodorus has been confirmed by archaeology in the island (in places such as Sa Caleta and its own bay of the city of Iboshim) but its Carthaginian roots were questioned because of the archaic material culture isn@t related to Carthage, but to the western Phoenician population. Due to these results, various models of colonisation were speculated. The most plausible reconstruction suggests that the foundation was organized by an important western Phoenician city-state like Gader in order to boost the Phoenician trade in the eastern Iberian coast. Eventually, Iboshim got a high degree of autonomy and experienced a rise of the local agricultural and craft industry that acted as the basis of the future important trade economy of the island. Since the beginning of the 5th century BC, the local material culture (some typologies of pottery and votive figurines) started to resemble the Carthaginian one and a new cultural horizon more similar to that of the central Mediterranean and Carthaginian world can be identified in the necropolis of Puig de Molins and some sanctuaries (generalization of burials and the hypogeum). These changes suggest that a Carthaginian re-foundation of Iboshim linked to the arrival of Carthaginian human groups might have taken place since the 5th century BC. The Punic city-state of Iboshim developed a unique chora around the whole island and became the only urban centre of the island in the form of a fortified harbour settlement located in a key position. The city was able to control the trade routes between southern Iberia, northern Iberia and Sardinia thanks to its privileged position. Its defensive nature is attested in Livy who wrote about an attempt of conquering the city on the part of Scipio (XXIl.20.7): "And they (Romans) not only cruised along the mainland but crossed over to the island of Ebusus. There they endeavoured strenuously for two days, but without success, to capture the chief city of the island". In the same way, Cassius Dio wrote (XLIII.29): "Pompey put in at the Balearic Isles and took these islands without a battle, except Ebusus, which he gained with difficulty". Additionally, the strategic importance of Iboshim for the Carthaginians during the Second Punic War is again well attested to in Livy (XXVIII.37.4): "He (Mago) then passed over with his fleet to the island Pityusa, distant about a hundred miles from the continent, and inhabited at that time by Carthaginians; on which account the fleet was received in a friendly manner; and not only were provisions liberally furnished, but also young men and arms were given them to reinforce their fleet".

The city of Carteia, which was placed in the modern province of Cádiz, also offers a good example of redevelopment by part of the New City. Carteia was founded as a small Phoenician marketplace at the end of the 7th century BC. The economy of the settlement was mainly based on agriculture and fishing. In the middle of the 4th century BC archaeology reveals that close to the original settlement, the Phoenician population founded a new bigger port urban centre through an ambitius urban project centered on the development of a strong wall located in a key area that allowed Carteia to control regional economic and military activities. This fact coincided with a juncture of commercial prosperity and with the second treaty between Rome and Carthage (348 BC) which suggests that Carthage had extended her commercial presence (also attested to by archaeology) and her hegemony to the southern Iberian Peninsula. This influence would have encouraged the arrival of Carthaginian colonists to the area that would represent the interests of the city. The last stage of the redevelopment of Carteia dates back to the last quarter of the 3rd century BC - the Barcid Period. At this time, the wall was reinforced and compartmentalized by mean of casemates and the gates reached an important degree of monumentality. It is through these reinforcements that the port city of Carteia, which controlled a key area, resembled Puno-Hellenistic defensive architecture at the advent of the Second Punic War.

The Iberian Peninsula of the second half of the 3rd century BC also offers us some more good examples of the establishment of important Carthaginian colonies due to the Barcid policy focused on the development of a solid political and military structure in the newly conquered areas. The first Barcid foundation or re-foundation in Iberian soil was carried out by Hamilcar. Diodorus Siculus (XXV 10.3.) offer us its translated name as Akra Leuké (White Citadel) and he described it as a very large city which was a useful refuge and winter camp for the elephants and the Punic army. The city hasn@t been found yet by archaeologists but it is thought that it was founded inland, either in the region of the Iberian city of Kastilo or more probably in Turdetania where Hamilcar would have fought against the Iberians, Tartessians and Celts led by Istolatius. In this way, it has been recently theorized that Akra Leuké might be the important Turdetanian city of Carmo. The later foundation of Qarthadast by part of Hasdrubal would be the most paradigmatic example of the establishment of a new Carthaginian colony. The city erected over a native old settlement and surrounded by a rich hinterland was built as a Hellenistic settlement with a magnificent war and trade port which allowed Carthage to increase the control of the Mediterranean coast. Barcids extended the control of this Mediterranean route through other foundations. For example, archaeology reveals that the Iberian Tossal de Manises (the Roman Lucentum) was developed into a real city due to the Carthaginian intervention which meant the development of a solid Hellenistic wall. The new colony could have experienced some sort of process of synoecism that would explain the abandon of the nearby Puno-Iberian settlement known as Tossal de les Basses. This strategic route continued to the north where new cities were founded and old cities were controlled and redeveloped. It@s thought that this hellenistic Carthaginian policy could even have reached the Iberian oppidum of Kesse, the future important Roman city that would be known as Tarraco.

STRATEGY

This building represents the evolution of one of the most important urban centres of this region into a prosperous city thanks to an elaborated Carthaginian plan that has provided the city with a strong Puno-Hellenistic wall. Carthage has also given an important boost to the general development of the city which includes the arrival of groups of Punic population sponsored by local authorities. Now, most of the local citizens see Carthage as an important and helpful ally that will guarantee the protection and prosperity of their city through some privileges in exchange of remaining under the Carthaginian hegemony. The key position and defensive nature of this city will allow Carthage to reinforce both the integration of the local communities in the new Puno-Hellenistic political and cultural sphere and the control of the region thanks to the support of the new Punic inhabitants who will spread their pro-Carthaginian political view in the area. Additionally, some local human groups could be integrated into the new establishment due to its regional importance as allies or even as inhabitants through a process of synoecism. This stage of colonization allows you to recruit several Pantodapoi that represent the native Punicised militia of the city mustered to defend their homes. This colony also spreads Western Mediterranean culture and gives a new bonus to law and a better bonus to free upkeep. Additionally, it unlocks a better political status for the local Punic city-state if it is available in the province and allows you to recruit a few Blastophoenician troops after the reform in southern Iberia.

KEREMIM - (AGRICULTURAL COLONIZATION)

-It needs civic colonist.
-It needs the level of large town and the respective levels of market, granary and farm buildings.
-Conversion up to 30%.
-Unhappiness -10% below 25% Western Mediterranean culture.
-It increases the recruitment of Liby-Phoenician hoplites in the Punic core.
-Farming bonus 2.
-Limited to certain western Mediterranean provinces, especially those where there are Punic city-states.
-It unlocks the favoured Punic city-state if it's available in the province.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

This is a humble life. But it is quiet and safe. Beyond the small farm, large wheat crops stretch to the horizon, waiting to be harvested, threshed and carried all the way to the City – Qarthadasht, she of countless noises and crowds. After a long day@s work, you can relax, satisfied that the animals have been watered and that the orchards are well irrigated. With a smile on your face, you drink and feel the wine@s subtle fire meld with that of the sinking sun.

HISTORY

Phoenician, trade and merchant are words that can hardly be separated in our imagery. Although this stereotype has a real basis, it doesn@t mean that all the Carthaginian economy was focused on this activity, in fact, the ancient sources, beginning with the Mago@s agricultural treaty (recognised and translated by Romans), reveal the importance of the agriculture for Carthage. Carthaginians were especially skilled at fruit tree farming. Olive trees, vines, almond trees, pomegranate trees and fig trees were the main cultivated species. Since the 5th century BC and during the 4th century BC, some studies reveal that in several areas of the Punic Mediterranean such as the interior of Tunisia, the island of Djerba, southern Sardinia, the island of Ibiza and southern Spain, many of rural settlements were developed. It meant a drastic shift in the exploitation of the land which increased agricultural production. Some regional analyses established that cereal, which was the staple food, such as barley were the predominant cultivated products.

Recent research has detected the existence of a clear organization of the farmlands of the Phoenician-Punic cities of the western and central Mediterranean. In this way, it has been suggested that the agricultural exploitation was managed by a hierarchical system of urban centres. The basis of the Punic agricultural production were dispersed settlements of agricultural nature such as farms and also tiny towns in the case of Tunisia and Sardinia. As an example, it should be noted the Punic centres from the Iberian Peninsula of Cerro Naranja and Ciavieja that date back to the 5th and 4th centuries BC. They have been understood as farmhouses and precedent of the Roman villa. The next level belonged to middle towns such as Kerkouane. They would have been areas where the agricultural production arrived and was consumed. Finally, having the control of all the process, the most important centres of its respective areas such as Carthage, Karalis, Iboshim or Gader consumed, stored and exported the production. This system was supported by the development of fortified watchtowers that favoured the transportation of goods protecting the territory and the communication routes. Good examples of this agricultural model have been recently detected in the cases of the Punic cities of Baesippo and Baria.

Among the Carthaginian areas of influence located outside Africa, Sardinia was one of the most important fertile areas. Although there is no consensus, it seems that Sardinia could have been acted as a granary for Carthage. Some of the reasons that lead to the above conclusion (although they also accept other interpretations) are a combination of written sources and archaeology results. Among them, it should be noted a Diodorus Siculus@ quote. He mentions (XIV, 63, 3-4) that Himilcon "dispatched merchant ships to Sardinia and Libya to secure grain" that he wanted to use during the siege he was leading against Syracuse. Secondly, the so-called "capillary colonization" that has been detected by archaeology meant that the development of numerous agricultural settlement in the hinterland of the Sardo-Phoenician bigger cities occurred between the 5th and 3rd centuries BC. Finally, the studying pollen grains of Tharros reveals that the vegetation of the area began to change since the 5th century BC. Specifically, the Mediterranean forest was replaced by the crops of barley, wheat, peas, pear trees and pomegranate tree. Although this fact is not conclusive, it is corroborated by the traditional view of Sardinia as one of the main sources of corns for the Punic capital and as a key region where some agricultural areas were boosted by Carthage and controlled by garrisons and colonists. Later on, the island would serve a similar role once it was under the Roman control.

In Africa, one of the main agricultural areas was the region of Byzacena (modern Tunisia). This fertile area was populated by Liby-Phoenicians and had important trading centres such as Adrumet and Lapqi (Leptis Minor). According to Varro, this area benefited from high-yielding crops which allowed the production of high-quality wheat. At the time of the second treaty (348 BC) with Rome, Carthage had expanded its influence over both Sardinia and Byzacena. Through this treaty, Carthage put her efforts in the protection of these (and other) fertile areas from the Roman influence. This is another suggestive fact that may be related with the protection of a route that would have guaranteed the acquisition of grain (and other resources), something that was always one of the main preoccupations of the bigger Mediterranean cities like in the case of Rome or Athens.

STRATEGY

This building represents a type of colonization focused on the exploitation of local agricultural resources in a Punic region through a well organized hinterland where the existence of urban centres of different sizes and functions allow the Punic locals to develop an effective hierarchical agricultural exploitation. This means that new groups of people have been settled inland in order to develop villages and farms around the whole territory. The process can have been driven either by Carthage or even by some important local urban centres due to population growth and the new needs that it entails. In any case, now this place is regarded as an area where important agricultural resources are obtained. These products could even form part of one of the main local exports to Carthage if the conditions are propitious. This building increases the recruitment of Liby-Phoenician hoplites in a few African areas and spreads Western Mediterranean culture. It also gives a good bonus to farming that represent the development of a prosperous hinterland around the main urban centres of this province and unlocks the favoured Punic city-state if it is available in the province.

MASSAB - (CARTHAGINIAN GARRISON)

-It needs military contingents (colonist).
-It needs strategic fortifications.
-Farming loss.
-Unhappiness -5%.
-Bonus to law 5%.
-Recruitment: some imported mercenaries and a small pool of artillery. It also allows you to re-train Libyan infantrymen in low numbers.
-Free upkeep 2
-Average expenditure in the form of permanent upkeep (1,000)
-The more Carthaginian garrisons you build, the higher will be the permenent upkeep (it starts at 1,000).
-It provides the political trait Ish 'al 'Arast.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

War is coming. Yet you have found shelter behind the walls of the thriving city – at least for the time being. Supporting Qarthadasht brings many benefits, but also a number of perils. Even so, you leave such thoughts behind as you see them crossing the vulnerable countryside. Their commander shouts orders. As the gates are opened, you realise that they are here to stay.

HISTORY

The nature of the Carthaginian armies of the 3rd century BC was essentially Hellenistic, especially during the Punic Wars. It offered an extensive range of specialised troops including the garrison soldiers that already played an important role during Pyrrhus@s campaign. His forces had to deal with Carthaginian garrisons in Heraclea, Azones, Eryx and Panormos. While all of them were defeated by Pyrrhus, the garrison of Lilybaeum remained unconquered throughout the Pyrrhic offensive, ultimately ruining the Epirote campaign. These garrisons were under the command of a Carthaginian officer that was called Boetharch in the written sources. It seems that this military office existed even during peacetime and may have been elected by the Carthaginian popular assembly and designated with military authority in order to act in some key areas or provinces under the Carthaginian hegemony such as Sicily and Sardinia. We know the names of some of the officers who commanded these types of armies. For example, a certain Hanno was the commander of the garrison of Messana in the year 264 BC. We also know of Hannibal Gisco who led the garrison of Agrigentum between 261 and 260 BC. Furthermore was Himilco, who was in charge of the garrison of Lilybaeum in 250 BC but later replaced by Gisco. Finally, we also know Bostar who was the commander of the Carthaginian garrison in Sardinia between 240 and 238 BC. He died when his own garrison rebelled against Carthage.

Formed mainly by mercenaries, these garrisons served a purely defensive role, protecting key Carthaginian cities and allies. During the initial phase of the First Punic War, Carthage had not recruited a line army yet to fight in Sicily. As a result, she had to gain time with these type of forces. Unfortunately, we don@t know the exact number of these forces nor their real composition but there are some indirect pieces of evidence. For example, after the First Punic War, the rebel garrison of Sardinia was not able to resist the counterattack of the natives, which suggests that the garrison was not a numerous force. Other examples can be found in Hamilcar@s mercenaries of Sicily. His army was formed by 5,000 infantrymen and 500 horsemen. Meanwhile, the garrison of Lilybaeum, which was under the command of Himilco, was formed by 10,000 mercenaries, 700 of them would have been horsemen. Regarding the composition of these forces, it has been theoretically suggested that they were composed of mercenaries such as Iberians, Celts, Ligurians and Balearic people, semi-Greeks and subjects such as Libyans. The conversion of the southern Iberian Peninsula into a military logistics base under the Barcid rule was feasible due to the development of a Carthaginian system of fortifications. These must have been garrisoned by African troops more loyal than the local contingents and trained to use artillery.

STRATEGY

This building represents the establishment of one or more Carthaginian garrison forces in one or more of the main cities of this province in order to apply a defensive strategy and protect the local Carthage@s allies and subjects. This political decision allows you to re-train Libyan infantrymen and provides both artillery and some imported mercenaries that represent the composition of the Carthaginian garrison force. This building needs to use military contingents and grants a law bonus representing the reinforced Carthaginian influence in the are. However, it suffers from a malus on happiness that represents the unrest on the part of some locals before the arrival of the Carthaginian contingent. It also provides the political trait Ish @al @Arast. Take into account that establishing this building implies accepting an average expenditure in the form of permanent upkeep that represents the expenses intrinsic to the maintenance of such a garrison force.

QART-MAHANET - (CARTHAGINIAN CLERUCHY)

-It needs military contingents.
-It is a post-reformed building.
-It needs Waystations and garrisons.
-It needs at least a level of large town.
-It needs a Carthaginian or Libyan province established in the region.
-It needs 35% Western Mediterranean culture.
-Law +5%
-Unhappiness -5%
-Farming loss 2.
-Huge expenditure in the form of permanent upkeep (2,000).
-The more Carthaginian cleruchies you build, the higher will be the permenent upkeep (it starts at 2,000).
-It gives cavalry experience.
-It allows you to recruit both some late semi-professional and professional Libyans and a few professional foreign settlers depending on the region. The recruitment of Libyan and Liby-Phoenician hoplites is not included in the pool of the kleruchy.
-It allows you to recruit some Numidian and Libyan horsemen.
-Sometimes, via event, the pool can be depleted because of garrison duties.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Baalhammon rewards. An undeniable truth, yet one would do well to remember that the god best rewards those counted among the living. And in your line of work, those who live long enough are granted considerable rewards for their service. Your commander has kept you alive through a number of campaigns now. The spoils are well and good, but there comes a time when even the greatest warrior must rest. Settled in a new city, you will likely start a family and tend to the crops, the horrors and honours of your youth but a distant memory.

HISTORY

Historically, Carthaginians knew and developed methods of settling some of their soldiers through a system similar to the kleruchy. There are specific fragments of some literary sources which are useful in this matter for example Livy (21, 45) wrote that Hannibal said to his soldiers before the battle of Ticinus that "he would give them land in Italy, Africa, or Spain, as each might choose, tax-free to the recipient and to his children". In the same way, Appian wrote (The Wars in Spain, 56): “Punicus (a chief of the Lusitanians) (…) laid siege to the Blastophoenicae, who were Roman subjects. It is said that Hannibal, the Carthaginian, brought among these people settlers from Africa, from whence they derived their name." Additionally, similar Carthaginian policies related to the movement of military populations are attested to by Polybius. According to him (3, 33, 8), "(Hannibal adopted) the very sensible and wise policy of sending soldiers from Africa to Spain, and vice versa, binding by this measure the two provinces to reciprocal loyalty". And again Polybius, (3, 33, 12-16): "(Hannibal) stationed most of these troops at Metagonia in Libya and some in Carthage itself. [...] In Spain he left with his brother Hasdrubal (...) as cavalry Liby-Phoenicians and Libyans to the number of four hundred and fifty, (...) and eighteen hundred Numidians (...) and as infantry eleven thousand eight hundred and fifty Libyans”.

All these facts reveal an institutional and legal background; probably it comes from a political tradition with mechanisms similar to those used by the Ptolemies in their cleruchies. Furthermore, the Polybian comment conveys how Hannibal managed the main provinces of the republic during the war period. The deployment of large armies between the provinces wasn@t only a way to reinforce key territories with troops without ties to the native communities (always the ones that suffer the hardship of war). Rather, a mode to guarantee the loyalty of those communities either Iberians or Libyans. After all, most of these soldiers and especially the Iberians, would have also been hostages. Those Iberians that were sent to the Libyan Province (probably around the districts of Cap Bon and Byzacium) had to prevent the success of a potential Roman landing near Carthage. After the war, most of them didn@t return to their homelands, as was common among mercenaries. Some of them got new lands and a native wife whereas others must have become slaves because of the non-cooperation of several Iberian communities. Additionally, the Numidians, Libyans and Liby-Phoenicians who were sent to Iberia are related to the foundation of the new Barcid cities, especially the ones that constituted the core of the Blastophoenicians. Archaeology has revealed rural Punic communities in the southern Iberian Peninsula that are linked with these Blastophoenicians who would have been settled in new cities by the Barcids as soldier-farmers in Turdetania. They developed their own political identity by means of the coins they minted, and this fact suggests that these cleruchs had special status and perhaps some exemptions like the written sources suggest.

In the case of the Iberian Peninsula and the Blastophoenician core, it should be noted that Carthaginians considered the territories they conquered to be their own, a fact which is shown in the way they managed those newly conquered areas. Their plan was to stay in their new Iberian province as well as consolidating it through the construction of new cities and the re-foundation of existing settlements. All those acts were carried out in order to control key areas and construct bastions, barracks and places for the stay of the African troops, especially in the first stage. These points are attested by the archaeology that also confirms the existence of monumental walls built by the Barcids to reinforce their defensive system and demonstrate the power of Carthage.

STRATEGY

This building represents the establishment of one or more cleruchies in this region. As a consequence, several cities (newly founded or re-founded) and bastions have been built in order to develop staffed with allied soldiers and mercenaries as payment for their past services. These new soldier-farmers will be available to guard the local districts, and in exchange, they have received lands to support them. Additionally, exemptions on certain taxes and similar concessions have also been approved. This building needs the use of military contingents and provides a medium-sized pool of African horsemen and Libyans and other foreign settlers that vary according to the region. Additionally, it gives a bonus to law and cavalry experience but a malus to happiness and farming production. Take into account that establishing this building implies accepting a huge expenditure in the form of permanent upkeep that represents the expenses intrinsic to the maintenance of new settlements and bastions and the implementation of land concession regulations and exemptions of certain taxes.

2nd political tree:

YADA - (TREATY).

-Law 5%.
-Trade Bonus.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Gather around, people of this most glorious city! Rejoice, for I bring good tidings! An oath has been sworn before our protectors the gods. Before great Baalhammon, before Tanit, before Resheph, before the Genius of Qart-Hadahst, before Melqart and before Sid, as witnessed by the Rivers, Lakes, and Waterways, and with sacred bounds and words, the army and all of its gods presided over the solemn treaty we have agreed with the Qarthadashtim. Our enemies are their enemies. Their peace is our peace. Now, onto the clauses…

HISTORY

Historically, treaties were one of the main Carthaginian ways of interacting with other Mediterranean states. It is very likely that a list of deities formed part of these political pacts, this fact is attested by Polybius when he wrote about the treaties between Carthage and Rome (3.25.6-7) and the alliance that was agreed between Hannibal and Philip V of Macedon (7.9). In reference to these Puno-Roman pacts, he said that "The oaths they had to swear were as follows. In the case of the first treaty, the Carthaginians swore by their ancestral gods [...]". These treaties mainly stipulated the administration of trade and mutual aid against a common enemy. Although the equality between the parties can be intuited in some of these negotiations, it is not difficult to think that in the practice Carthage tried to indirectly impose its authority or prioritize its interests. Such was the case in the treaties between the New City and Rome. The clauses in these treaties, together with the interests provided for these agreements and the promise of reciprocal protection have a precedent in the laws of the Middle East. This is why historians believe that Tyre and other Phoenician mother city-states probably introduced these practices in the Western Punic Mediterranean.

The most famous examples of these practices are the first two Puno-Roman treaties (Polybius 3.22 and 3.24). According to legends, the first one is dated to 509 BC and the second one was agreed upon in 348 BC. Both favoured Carthage more than Rome. They prohibited Roman access to the areas under Punic influence, especially in Africa (Romans and their allies were not allowed to sail beyond the Fair Promontory). Additionally, trade, colonisation, and piracy and similar attacks were regulated too. More treaties occurred over the history of both states. According to Livy, the Second treaty was renovated in 306 BC and a new clause was added to the pact in 279 BC during the Pyrrhus@s invasion in order to establish a defensive pact against him (Polybius 3.25). In 241 BC, after the First Punic War, Carthage accepted a peace treaty that meant the loss of its hegemony in the Western Mediterranea. Important economic and territorial losses included Western Sicily (Polybius 1.62.8-9). In 237 BC through a new agreement, Carthage lost Sardinia (Polybius 3.27.7-8). Another treaty was signed in 226 BC between Hasdrubal Barca and Rome. It restricted the northern border of the Punic province in Iberia to the river Ebro (Polybius 3.27.9). Finally, the last treaty between Rome and Carthage was signed after the Second Punic War (201 BC). For Carthage, it meant the loss of the newly gained territories through its imperialistic policy started in 237 BC, the payment of ten thousand talents in fifty years, a reduction of its navy, and the loss of its political initiative in Africa (Polybius 15.18).

There are also other direct evidence of Carthaginian treaties signed with other Mediterranean peoples that are lesser-known but no less important. Aristotle wrote about agreements that were accepted by Carthage and the Etruscan cities (Pol.3.1280a): "[...] Etruscans and Carthaginians and all the people that have commercial relations with one another would be virtually citizens of a single state; at all events, they have agreements about imports and covenants as to abstaining from dishonesty and treaties of alliance for mutual defence". It is estimated that these treaties were signed between the 6th and 4th century BC. The historicity of this passage was reinforced by archaeology through the discovery of the Pyrgi Tablets in one of the ports of the Etruscan city of Caere (Pyrgi). They contain a bilingual text written in Etruscan and Punic language that speaks about a political event which consisted of the construction of a small shrine of Astarte in an Etruscan temple during an Etruscan religious festivity.

Finally, the indirect evidence of treaties between Carthage and other cities like the Punic ones of Iberia should also be stated. Justin (Epitome 44.5) wrote about an event that happened in Gader: the Punic city was attacked by neighbouring peoples and Carthage sent an expedition that was victorious in order to defend the inhabitants of Gader. The Second treaty with Rome also suggests that Carthage extended its influence (not through military/imperialistic measures) over the southern Iberian Peninsula. In this way, it is probable that Punic city-states like Carteia, Malaka and Baria were interested in the agreement of defensive nature treaties with Carthage. An analysis of this treaty suggests that the allies of Carthage received protection against endemic neighbouring threats and piracy in exchange for guarantees with regard to the control of routes in order to get the supply of metals such as silver and other advantages of similar nature.

STRATEGY

This building represents the acceptance of a treaty between the inhabitants of some local communities and Carthage as equals (at least in theory). Now they have an alliance for mutual assistance against common enemies. If these communities are attacked and can@t defend by itself, Carthage will guarantee the protection of these urban centres that now belongs to the Punic league led by the Carthaginians. The pacts also assures several favourable opportunities for Carthage in exchange for the protection of the new members. This form of government doesn@t provide troops to recruit but it gives a bonus to law and trade.

@ARAST LUBIYIM - (LIBYAN DISTRICTS):

-It provides the political trait Ish 'al 'Arast.
-Libyan and Liby-Phoenician recruitment (levies, infantrymen and horsemen).
-Unhappiness -10%
-Law +5%
-Farming bonus +1
-It needs strategic fortifications.
-A Libyan provinces accumulates military contingents every 8 years

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

The eagle is hungry. Even from afar, it never loses sight of its prey, hidden in rich orchards. Far below, a group of horsemen return to Qart-Hadasht, bathed in the morning sun. Leaving behind the wheat fields, the commander and his entourage of chosen citizens have a good reason to be pleased. The words of the Elders have been obeyed. Taxes – no less than half of the local crops! – have been secured. And on top of this, the best fighters from Lybian settlements will serve in the armies of Qart-Hadasht. As the men share wine and praises, the eagle flaps its wings far above, focusing only on its hunger.
HISTORY

Historically, 5th century BC brought with it the conquest of a broad territory in northern Africa by part of Carthage that would have been continued until the 3rd century BC. This news was recorded by Justin (XIX, 11, 14) who says that "war was made upon the Moors, a contest was maintained with the Numidians, and the Africans were compelled to remit the tribute paid for the building of the city". In his twenty-fifth discourse, Dio Chrysostom also wrote that "the Carthaginians made Libyans instead of Tyrians, forced them to live in Libya instead of Phoenicia, caused them to possess great wealth, many trading-centres, harbours, and warships, and to rule over a vast land". After this subjugation, Carthage would have considered this new territory as hers.

The most accepted modern hypothesis lies in that a new organization based on administrative districts, which were called @rst (pronounced @Arast), was promoted creating territories divided by the natural borders of the topography. In this way, Carthage would have had several of them. The main provinces were the district of Muxsi, the territory of Zeugei and the region of the Cap Bon. The first two are epigraphically attested, and the last two formed the Carthaginian chora where the Carthaginian aristocrats built their country estates just as the small citizen farmers did with their farms. The next level of importance was occupied by the area of the Great Plains, the @rst of Gunzuzi (epigraphically attested), the province of Gurza and the big territory of Byzacium to the south. Finally, a last level of importance in regard with the political relation with Carthage would have belonged the southern district of Thuscae (also epigraphically attested) and a province that would have been delimited by the towns of Sicca, Tipaza and Theveste. The provinces which didn@t form part of the Carthaginian chora and where, according to written sources, around two to three hundred small rural villages, guaranteeing Carthage benefits in the form of taxes. They were fruit of the natives@ crops as it can be seen in Polybius (I, 71, 1), who mentions that these Libyan provinces filled the coffers of the Carthaginian state through taxation used to pay the public expenses such as the ones related with war. The Libyan inhabitants of these provinces were also forced to serve in the Punic army as their allies or subjects.

The basis of this administration lay in the bigger Libyan cities of these provinces like Thugga, Zama, Maktar or Vaga where Carthaginians assigned provincial governors who belonged to the aristocratic families. However, in Appian (Libyca, 111), it can also be seen how these urban centres had certain degree of autonomy and local institutions such as assemblies and political offices: "The Carthaginians...plucked up their spirits and roamed through Africa without fear, fortifying the country, and making abusive speeches in the town assemblies against the Romans." Both written sources and archaeology reveals that these districts were protected by means of a complex defensive system based on fortifications, garrisons, coastal fortresses and big trenches. They, which are mentioned by Appian (Libyca, 54) in relation with the peace of the Second Punic War: "your garrisons to be withdrawn from all cities beyond the Phoenician trenches", were hypothetically located from the northern African coast to the Great Plains and the territory of Thuscae. From there, the moats advanced southwards of the district of Byzacium until joining with the coast near the Lesser Syrtis.

STRATEGY

This building represents the existence of one or more administrative districts in the area. On the one hand, the Carthaginians@ chora is formed by the provinces of Zeugei and Cap Bon, while the rest form Libyan provinces under the Carthaginian administration. The last ones provide Carthage with taxes and also Libyan and Liby-Phoenician subjects and allies in wartimes. These African territories are defended by garrisons in the borders, trenches and fortresses and are managed by Carthaginian governors who belong to the aristocratic families of Carthage. This is why this building is able to provide your Carthaginian family members with the governing trait Ish @al @Arast. This building also provides a malus on happiness and a bonus on both law and farming.

MUQOM - (CARTHAGINIAN EPICRACY):

-Unhappiness -5%
-Law 5%
-It allows the recruitment of a few local levies and semi-professionals.
-It needs 15% Western Mediterranean culture

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

It has been quite a journey from the coast. But as you make your way beyond the gates, you feel warm, wrapped in your long, heavy cloak. You have survived many battles now and, as befits the best of the blessed living, have earned rich spoils. Surrounded by several members of your old unit, you pace about like masters on a conquered battlefield, even though these are the streets of those you call friends and allies. When the seer asks you to make a contribution to the local gods who have surely watched over your safe arrival, you offer him a silver coin, freshly minted in distant Qart-Hadasht. It glitters softly in the fading light.

HISTORY

Historically, the existence of Carthaginian imperialism doesn@t find many evidences until the end of the First Punic War, when the loss of the Carthaginian hegemony in the Central Mediterranean resulted in the adoption of more imperialistic policies especially practised by the Barcids. The Carthaginian traditional way of rule was rather indirect domination of several key Mediterranean areas which after the second treaty with Rome, comprised from Syrtis and western Sicily to the Pillars of Melqart and in the north, as far as the Balearic Islands, Sardinia and Corsica. The basis of this hegemony was the establishment of Carthage as the hegemon of a maritime league, whose functioning, hypothetically, wouldn@t have been unlike the Delian League. During her maritime expansion, Carthage became an important Mediterranean power, in both economic and political terms, able to enforce her interests without the need of campaigns of conquest but probably using circumstantial coercive measures if it was needed. The control of this maritime league and by extension, of the sea, was rooted in a strong fleet manned by highly qualified sailors and in a framework of pacts and associations which evolved into unequal alliances due to the Carthaginian growing maritime predominance and prestige. They allowed Carthage to structure her hegemony and the imposition of her interests city by city in the Western Punic world in exchange of putting into practice effective protection of her allies through her ability of intervention in the different international scenes.

Although the features of this Carthaginian hegemony remain obscure in the written sources, its nature can be apprehended in several sources, especially when they speak about Sardinia and Sicily, the places where Carthage developed her influence more actively as it is attested in Polybius (III, 23, 5). Sardinia, which had been experienced a Phoenician colonization focused on the coast since the 9th century BC, experienced a Carthaginian intervention at the end of the 6th century BC which meant the development of strongholds and towns inland. In the 4th century BC, the New city had already spread her influence over the whole island as it@s shown in Polybius (III, 24, 11) in regard with the second treaty with Rome: "No Roman shall trade or found a city in Sardinia and Libya". Unlike Sardinia, in Sicily, the Carthaginians didn@t consolidate her hegemony over all the island. Instead, they conflicted first with Greeks and then with Romans during the First Punic War. Her influence extended in the western area as it was recognized in the year 405 BC when after a Carthaginian victory new treaties reorganized the territory (Diodorus 13.114.1). This Punic epicracy in Sicily, that started around the 6th century BC, included the cities of Lilybaeum, Soluntum, Panormus as far as Himera to the north and Selinunte to the south. In spite of the existence of certain Carthaginian victories obtained in the island during the 4th century BC, the New City always tried to keep a political equilibrium much more focused on the protection of her allied Phoenician cities and her administrative trade policies based on the ports of trade rather than an aggressive expansionism in Sicily until the outbreak of the First Punic War.

Some of the mechanics of the Carthaginian hegemony can also be seen in the treaties with Rome, for example, in regard with the second one, Polybius (III, 24, 1-2) says that "Carthaginians include Tyre and Utica, and mention, in addition to the Fair Promontory, Mastia Tarseion as points beyond which the Romans may not either make marauding expeditions, or trade, or found cities". This shows how Carthage was able to speak for her allied cities and that even some centres like the ones from beyond Mastia Tarseion (southern Iberian Peninsula) were indirectly impacted by the hegemony of the New City. In this area, the Punic cities as Gader would also request the Carthaginian protection against problematic neighbouring communities and acts of piracy as it can be seen in a few written sources like Justin (Epitome, 44.5) and Strabo (XVII.1.19). In exchange, the New City would get access to benefits in the form of silver and usage of local ports. We also
find other political tools related with the Carthaginian hegemony in the Aristotle@s comments that explain how Carthage was able to foist part of the excess population in the form Liby-Phoenician colonists on the territories of her allies and also in Diodorus (22.10.1-3) who reveals the existence of certain Carthaginian garrisons in Sicily like the ones that guarded the cities of Heracleia and Eryx during the Pyrrhus@ campaign.

Recently, some numismatic studies have also suggested the existence of Carthaginian armies and camps in the Turdetanian region during the 4th and 3rd centuries BC (i.e. before the imperialistic Barcid arrival) that could have had a function of guarding the region and that would fit with the nature of a classical epicracy rather than a sum of conquered provinces managed in an imperialistic fashion. That said, in regard to the Carthaginian control of the Iberian Peninsula, it should be noted that the reconstruction of this process becomes harder when an almost forgotten Polybius@s quote is analyzed. The classical author (I, 10, 5-6) mentions, in a context prior to the First Punic War, the fact that Carthage had already subdued many territories in Iberia and according to him (Pol. II, 1, 5-8), Hamilcar Barca arrived to the Iberian Peninsula, after the First Punic War, in 237 BC, in order to recover the Carthaginian territories in Iberia. These quotes can be put in relation with the previous Justin@s Epitome what would certainly reveal the existence of sister cities in Punic Iberia and military alliances well established with Carthage. This could also reveal the fact that the Carthaginian presence in southern Iberian Peninsula before the Barcid arrival was relevant although the nature of that presence remains unknown and in any case, it shouldn@t be used to support the existence of an imperialistic Carthaginian empire in that part of the western Mediterranean.

STRATEGY

This building represents the traditional way of Carthaginian rule outside Africa. It is based on the spread of her influence over an area through alliances on a theoretically equal footing but that it means the supremacy of the Carthaginian hegemony in practice. The New City ensures the good functioning of their areas under her influence by mean of different mechanisms such as the protection of her allied states and the guarantee of their political sovereignty. However, Carthage can also deploy garrisons in strategic areas and important allied cities, as well as redirect the international relations of her allies according to her interests if it@s needed. This building gives a malus on happiness and a bonus on law. It also allows you to recruit local levies and local semi-professionals (especially in western Sicily and Sardinia) what represents the support of some local peoples in the capacity of allied levies.

@ARAST - (CARTHAGINIAN EPARCHY)

- Law 5%
-It allows the recruitment of several local levies and semi-professionals.
-If combined with Re-urbanised city, it get access to the recruitment of some local professionals.
-It needs 30% Western Mediterranean culture.
-It provides the political trait Ish 'al 'Arast.
-Conversion of Hellenistic polities up to 20%

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Time flows ever forward, even though the same things come again, and again. We grow, we prosper, we age, we die. When I was young, the New City was newer still, smaller, less glorious in every aspect. Yet now, row upon row of houses stand testament to change. And beyond? Estates, plantations, orchards, and the vast territories of our Libyan subjects. They all feed and shape the republic. And this is as it should be. Know that I will not be here forever, nor your father, nor you, or your progeny. Perhaps someday, even our family name will be forgotten by men, but not by the gods. For only the gods are eternal, the gods and the republic they guard. That is our destiny and our proudest legacy.

HISTORY

Since the arrival of the Barcids to the Iberian Peninsula and the landing of the Carhaginian army in Gader in 237 BC, the first Barcid conquests of the southern Iberian Peninsula were followed by an ambitius novel project in the political history of Carthage focused on the development of a Carthaginian state in Iberia. It adopted the form of an imperial province different from the traditional epicracy of the Central Mediterranean that had been based on the creation of areas under the Carthaginian hegemony. The Barcid imperial province was built through complex processess that included the adoption of some Hellenistic models with parallels in the policy carried out by Alexander the Great such as the establishment of new important settlements and forts as well as the developmentt of native Phoenician and Iberian urban centres. The Barcid strategies also included the use of violence and persuasion and the integration of the local elite in the new Carthaginian state through political pacts and marriages. This Barcid strategy initiated by Hamilcar had among its main objectives both the consolidation of the political control of the new conquered lands and also the integration of the local Iberian and Turdetanian communities, or in other words, their new subjects and allies, in the new Puno-Hellenistic political and cultural sphere. Written sources reveal the difficulty of the management and control of this province, especially during the first stage of its development. Among the record of several rebellions, the most paradigmatic case is the event of the death of Hamilcar Barca who was killed in 229 BC fighting against a supeior force of local Iberian peoples (Oretanians according to Diodorus Siculus) during a border conflict.

We know thanks to Polybius and Hannibal himself that since 237 B.C., the Barcids might have adopted an administrative system of districts in the new imperial province of Iberia. The Greek historian analysed a bilingual Hannibalic Greco-Punic inscription that the Carthaginian general ordered to be engraved in Italy. In that writing, he explained his defensive strategy and how he had distributed the Iberian allies. Thersîtai, MastianoÃ*, Ã�beres, Orêtes and Olkádes are the ethnic groups mentioned. Since each ethnicity is related to a natural territory, the most compelling hypothesis - based on the previous facts - says that Carthaginians developed a Punic province in Iberia with three main districts: Modern Western Andalusia (linked with the Thersîtai), Modern Eastern Andalusia (linked with the MastianoÃ*), and the Levant (related to the Ã�beres). Orêtes and Olkádes would have inhabited the border of the Punic province. Reinforcing this theory, archaeology has revealed the famous "turres hannibalis", a group of watchtowers in Eastern Andalusia that confirm the existence of a defensive system in a key section of the province. In addition, according to Polybius, before invading Italy and after subduing the native tribes, Hannibal developed one more pseudo-province that started in the north of the river Ebro and finished in the Pyrenees, in 218 B.C. In this area he left Hanno in command as a general-governor with ten thousand infantrymen and one thousand horsemen together with the support of Andobales, the chief of the Ilergetes.

The administration of the districts was performed by aristocratic Carthaginian magistrates called as boetharchs in the written sources. This management wasn@t homogeneous since there were different interests depending on the territory, for example the area of Kastilo and Qart Hadasht/ Carthago Nova was focused on silver mining. In addition, there were some cities with privileges like the ones built by the Barcids: Akra Leuké, Qart Hadasht and Portus Hannibalis, among others. Finally, it should be stressed that several Phoenician, Barcid and Blastophoenician cities were allowed to mint coins, another sign of special status.

STRATEGY

This building represents the establishment of a Carthaginian province in this region. The administration of this territory is based on a Carthaginian governor supported by African military contingents and reinforced with mercenaries and several young allies of combat age from the local lands. Additionally, several cities with different political conditions, either native or newly founded, have become the administrative capitals of the districts that form this imperial province. These urban centres coexist in this heterogeneous and hierarchical system in which diplomacy and pacts with the native peoples are vital due to the long distance from Carthage and the impossibility of being exclusively dependent on the Punic capital. Now, although the local subjects of this province can have some autonomy, they have to accept the imposition of Carthaginian garrisons and provide Carthaginians with soldiers and resources in the capacity of both subjects and allies. This building is needed to establish a Carthaginian cleruchy in this province and provides you with a pool of local levies and semi-professionals. Additionally, if combined with the reurbanised city, it will also allow you to recruit some local professionals attracted by the new foundations of this imperial province that favour their integration in the new Puno-Hellenistic political and cultural sphere. Finally, this building gives a bonus to law, provides the political trait Ish @al @Arast and spreads Hellenistic polities in the province.

QART-HADASHT - (BARCID CAPITAL)

- Bonus on law 10%
- Bonus on happiness 5%
- Trade bonus
- Naval experience
- Conversion of Hellenistic polities up to 30%.
- Recruitment: the main needed change is to remove the avilability of both Balearic slingers and Liby-Phoenician hoplites and horsemen, that said we can add the Punic militia to the pool. The recruitment pool will be mainly formed by several Blastophoenicians, several semi-professional and professional Libyan infantrymen, many semi-professional and professional Iberian horsemen (including the Iberian noble cavalry) and infantrymen (if possible, the Iberians armed with the thrueos should be more numerous), a really few Celtiberian mercenary units (if Celtiberian faction exists) and several Numidian and Libyan horsemen and siege weapons.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Melqart favours us! But it was a favour earned with blood and effort. For years, many of the natives fought us like ferocious beasts until they were subdued or scattered. Many more have seen our favour with the gods, and decided to share their bread and blood with us. Now they pay proper homage to our palace, the seat of our power, from where we direct everything which must be done in these lands. Even now, news travels from across the seas, the great families in our homeland look our way with pride, envy, and, perhaps, with a measure of fear.

HISTORY

Qart Hadasht (Carthago Nova) was founded (or re-founded on an Iberian settlement) by Hasdrubal in the winter of the year 229/228 B.C. as the capital of the Iberian Barcid province and as an urbs opulentissima in the words of Livy (XXIV. 13. 5). The New City, that became the most important economic, military and political Barcid bastion, had a strategic natural port for both war and trade activities, a wealthy hinterland containing abundant resources like silver, lead, esparto grass, salt, and fish and a natural defensive location. The city was built on a promontory located in the bay of a peninsula, it was surrounded by the sea to the south and by a lagoon to the north and there was only an isthmus to the northeast to connect the area with the coast. Additionally, the defensive nature of the city was complemented by the existence of five hills inside the capital. The establishment of Qart Hadasht in southeastern Iberia as the main Carthaginian base of the Western Mediterranean and all its favourable peculiarities, were key to eliminating the dependency of Carthage on the port of Gadir for matters in Iberia since the new capital consolidated the important historical maritime route that comprised southern Iberia, the Levant, the Balearic Islands and North Africa.

Archaeology has shown that the city was Hellenistic, and among the main features that have been detected, it should be noted some sections of the Puno-Hellenistic wall, an acropolis (whose modern name is Cerro Molinete) and hypothetical and controversial place where the Arx Asdrubalis or Palace of Hasdrubal might have been located (although its apparence is unfortunately unknown), part of the moat of the wall, a possible Punic sanctuary and some rainwater cisterns. The majestic wall (strongly reinforced in key areas such as the isthmus), high rising and crenelated according to Polybius, was compartmentalized by mean of casemates, in this way it was also used as a warehouse and barracks (confirmed by the written sources which say that Hannibal spent the winter here with his army before the invasion of Italy). Additionally, according to the written sources, it also held a large amount of artillery.

The city was inhabited by a Hellenistic population consisting of workers, artisans, traders and sailors who also belonged to diverse ethnic groups like the Phoenicians, Libyans, and Iberians. All lived in a space of 40 hectares dominated by the five hills. Each hill was associated with a deity, so while the hill of the acropolis had a temple dedicated to Atargatis, the remaining four were linked with Baal Hammon, Aletes (a man deified because he found a silver mine), Kusor, and Eshmun. In this orderly monumental city, an agora, temples, sanctuaries and areas of work were also erected. Together, they provide a stark contrast with contemporary Rome, which was chaotically urban and where wood and clay predominated.

Hasdrubal, who was more politician than commander, consolidated the government and the administration of the new province. He developed a network of alliances with several Iberian peoples, especially the communities of Oretania. According to Diodorus, the Barcid took an Oretani chief@s daughter as his wife and took advantage of the native social traditions by means of the establishment of pacts of hospitality with the primary local chiefs in the areas under Punic influence. Through this method, he was able to convene an assembly of all the local Iberian minor kings in his capital, where Hasdrubal was proclaimed "supreme general (strategos autokrator according to Diodorus) of all the Iberians". The assembly may also have served as a system of representation for managing the area; most probably as a "league", a system similar to the political methods Carthage applied elsewhere in the Western Mediterranean. That is, a hegemonic system imposed over unequal allies, providing local autonomy in return for tribute. Obtaining important native guest-hostages (in order to guarantee the loyalty of their communities) was another driving force behind this institution.

Finally, its worth looking at the coins minted by the Barcid government. They contained a silver of great quality which helped secure the loyalty of the troops, increased the prestige of the Barcids, and avoided disastrous uprisings like those in the Libyan War. These coins also demonstrate another important feature: an effigy of Melqart and several symbols related to this god. The cult of Melqart was the most important among the Phoenicians in Iberia and the Barcids used the existing devotion to this god to legitimize their politics in Spain, much as contemporary Hellenistic monarchs did in the East. Some historiants think that the coins minted by the Barcids actually show both the effigy of the main Barcid generals and their respective political ideologies. The first Barcid coins, that would have been minted by Hamilcar after the landing in Gader and the foundation of Akra Leuké, used models and iconography similar to that used by Carthage (Tanit crowned with ears and horse with star). According to this theory, Hasdrubal the Fair showed in his coins an ideological fracturing flaunting his independence from the Carthaginian senate. He would have designed a complex ideological iconography that included the faces of the Barcid dynasty: a divinized Hamilcar with a crown of laurels, a young beardless Hannibal with a crown of laurels and depicted as the Hamilcar@ heir, and finally, Hasdrubal represented himself as a Hellenistic monarch with a tainia or diadem. In the reverse, he also represented the prow of a military boat that would have alluded to the fleet built in the new Barcid capital of the Iberian Peninsula. After the Hasdrubal@s death (who was killed by a local who wanted to avenge his lord), Hannibal showed a new policy less agressive in regard to the supposed independence from the Carthaginian senate. The new general would have showed in the coins both his own face and the ones of his brothers but in regard to the reverse of the coins, he abandoned the elephant, presumably linked to the Barcid dynasty, and recovered the traditional Carthaginian horse with a palm tree.

STRATEGY

This building represents the highest expression of Carthaginian expansion beyond Africa; a new capital with strong ties to Carthage, with which it shares the same name. A new capital to rule over a large new province, that provides significant economic benefits to the Republic of Carthage. A new capital to dominate both trade and the supply of troops in the West through its pre-eminent location. Astonished, the main local Iberian aristocratic families have accepted the military, political and moral supremacy of the Barcid family in exchange of political, economic and diplomatic support on the part of the new Carthaginian governors. This building provides siege weapons, professionals and elites from across the Carthaginian sphere including Libyan subjects and Numidian allies from the African lands controlled by Carthage and Iberian subjected and allied contingents provided by the Iberian local elite. Aditionally it gives a bonus to law, happiness, trade income and also a bonus to the experience of naval units. Finally, it spreads Hellenistic polities in the province. This represents the new Puno-Hellenistic polities adopted by the Barcids.

MELEK QARTHADASHTI - (CARTHAGINIAN TYRANNY).

- Only available in Carthage as a post-reformed government.
- Factional recruitment.
- Free upkeep 4.
- The only place where you can recruit the Sacred Band Infantry (Gedud ha'Qadoshim) but in fewer numbers than in the previous stage to represent the lack of support on the part of some rival aristocrats.
- It allows the recruitmen of the Punic Citizen Militia (Mishoterim Ha'Belot Ponnimah) and siege weapons.
- It allows the recruitment of a few imported Hellenistic bodyguards.
- Accumulates colonists every 4 years.
- Conversion of Hellenistic polities up to 40%.
- It provides the future political trait Melek Qarthadashti.
- Bonus on law 15%
- Unhappiness -10%
- Trade bonus.
- Naval experience 1
- Cavalry experience 1

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

The waves seem tranquil. Yet, their motions betray an inconstant nature. Moving now this way, now that way, pushed by winds and currents, heedless of their surroundings. Such is also the nature of men, to be moved in life by chance, inconstant beings, incapable of grander designs but the morrow@s work or wages. But sometimes the gods take notice. They bring order into man@s inconstant nature. They help turn the wave into a mountain, motionless and immovable. At first, they saw nothing in you. You found your command waiting in a far-off place, in strange lands with stranger peoples. Then came the victories and they began fearing you. You learnt much in those foreign lands, how to be, how to seem, and, always, how to keep on winning. It was so easy afterwards, perhaps because few others tried to do what you did, what needed to be done. They say the constitution of our fathers has been destroyed, but that is merely the sound of feeble waves against a mountain. Today, you are the mountain. The glory you won has carried you atop this peak, feared by many, obeyed by all, undefeated, alone.

HISTORY

According to Aristotle@s analysis of the civiliced constitutions, there was a tendency, among the Mediterranean city-states, of experiencing aristocratic coups d@état, according to the Greek author, one of the main causes of this political phenomenon was the rise of charismatic generals who saw the possibility of establishing a personal rule in the city-state. When Aristotle (Polit. 2,11, 1272b) wrote about the Carthaginian constitution, he also made a reference to the fact that Carthage had not experienced any tyrannic form of government: “many of the Carthaginian institutions are excellent. The superiority of their constitution is proved by the fact that the common people remain loyal to the constitution. The Carthaginians have never had any rebellion worth speaking of, and have never been under the rule of a tyrant”. This Carthaginian rejection to tyranny is also showed by other written sources that mention a few generals who tried to impose a tyranny in Carthage. They were Malco (6th century BC), Hanno and Bomilcar (4th century BC) but all these cases were an exception to the rule since the written sources offer us many examples of Carthaginian generals who remained loyal to their state. The case of Hanno must be contextualized after the conflict between Carthage and Dionysius the Elder, the tyrant of Syracuse in 368 BC. The Carthaginian general, making use of his fortune, armed his slaves and, supported by Numidian troops, he sought to seize power in Carthage but failed and was killed in 360 BC. The Bomilcar@s coup d@etat happened almost two generations later, in 308 BC, during the war against Agathocles. In this case, the Carthaginian aristocrat, who was supported by 500 citizens and 1,000 mercenaries, declared himself tyrant and started a battle in the streets. As a result, the young Carthaginian citizens assembled in arms and forming companies, they defeated Bomilcar and tortured him to death.

A different case and later phenomenon from a political point of view was the rise of generals of Hellenistic nature such as the Barcids. When Hamilcar Barca was killed in 229 BC fighting against a superior force of local Iberian peoples, Hasdrubal the Fair took command of the Barcid army and avenged the death of Hamilcar. Polybius (III. 8. 2) quoting the Roman historian Fabius Pictor wrote that shortly after that initial succes, "having secured great power in Iberia, he (Hasdrubal the Fair) returned to Libya with the design of destroying the constitution and reducing Carthage to a despotism. But the leading statesmen, getting timely warning of his intention, banded themselves together and successfully opposed him. Suspecting this Hasdrubal retired from Libya, and thenceforth governed Iberia entirely at his own will without taking any account whatever of the Carthaginian Senate…". Whether or not the story told by Fabius Pictor is true, that event could suggest the existence of certain degree of political tensión between the Carthaginian state and the gnerals and governors who were sent to manage the Carthaginian provinces. According to the written sources that describe the Barcid political project and the events of the Second Punic War, these Carthaginian governors and generals, who were invested with great power due to the limited Carthaginian territorial administration, a problem shared with other contemporaneous Mediterranean states, held an important peripheral power with regard to Carthage. A century and half later, Rome experienced similar problems when influential men such as Caesar and Pompey established quasi-state structures in their respective provinces.

The existence of that political tension in the Carthaginian state of the 3rd century BC can also be seen in Livy (XXI, 3) when he describes the election of Hannibal Barca as a general. The Roman historian wrote that “for Hasdrubal@s successor there could be no question but that the choice originating with the soldiers, who immediately bore young Hannibal into the praetorium and with loud and universal acclamation hailed him general, would obtain the ratification of the senate. The approval of the commons followed. The new commander had been summoned to Spain by Hasdrubal when a mere lad, and the matter had even been debated in the senate. The Barcine party were urging that Hannibal should become inured to warfare and succeed to the resources of his father, when Hanno, the leader of the other faction, addressed the House. “here is reason,” said he, “in Hasdrubal@s request, nevertheless I am opposed to granting it.” When astonishment at a speech so inconsistent had attracted everybody@s attention, he continued: “The youthful charms which Hasdrubal himself permitted Hannibal@s father to enjoy he considers that he has the right to require again at the hands of the son. But that we should accustom our young men, by way of military training, to gratify the concupiscence of our generals is most unseemly. Or do we fear lest Hamilcar@s son may too late behold the inordinate powers and the regal pomp which his father has set up? that the son of the king who left our armies as a legacy to his son-in-law may find us too slow in accepting him for our master? For my part, I think that the young man should be kept at home and taught to live in submission to the laws and the magistrates, upon an equal footing with the others, lest one day this small fire kindle a great conflagration.” In this way, we can see how Hanno denounces a supposed monarchical drift on the part of the Barcid faction that was a novelty for the oligarchic institutions of the Carthaginian state. While some modern historians think that Barcids (especially, Hasdrubal the Fair) acted as real Puno-Hellenistic princes (rex in Latin, basileus in Greek or Melek in Punic) taking advantage of the autonomy garanted by the distance between the new province and Carthage and the well-integration of the Barcids into the local Iberian monarchies, other historians think that they eventually acted according to the political designs of the senate and people of Carthage (especially, in the case of Hannibal Barca).

STRATEGY

This building represents a uchronic scene in which an influential charismatic general, who comes from an aristocratic Carthaginian family, has succeeded where others who preceded him failed. This man has destroyed the constitution of Carthage, has proclaimed himself tyrant and has reduced Carthage to a despotism. An important segment of the Carthaginian citizenry and many rival aristocrats tried to oppose this man but failed. After the declaration of death sentences and amnesties, Carthage won@t be governed by the two annual shophets anymore but by a new unique king. This building gives a bonus to law as well as naval and cavalry experience but a malus on happines. It allows the recruitment of siege weapons, the Sacred Band, Punic citizen militia, a few imported Hellenistic bodyguards attracted to serve the new Carthaginian king and many factional troops. It also accumulates colonists every four years and spreads Hellenistic polities in the province. This represents the new form of government which clashes with the traditional Carthaginian constitution.

PS: The text I have entered is too long so, here there are only the two first political trees but if you want I can post both the oligrchic and democratized republic descriptions, as well as both the 3rd and 4th political trees later. Also, please note that this is just a concept that IS NOT integrated into the build.

[QuintusSertorius]

Also, speaking of the Han dynasty of China in the OP and your mention of nomads invading Central Asia, I would still love to see a mid-game invasion of Central Asia by the nomadic Yuezhi tribes who were pushed west by the Xiongnu who took over the Tarim Basin region in what is now the Xinjiang Autonomous Region. The Yuezhi took over the Hellenistic Greek remnants of Bactria decades before Emperor Han of Wu fought them there over the "heavenly horses" desired by the Chinese. The Yuezhi also eventually established the Kushan Empire of South Asia that stretched from northern India to Afghanistan. A late game invasion of Central Asia by some Xiongnu pushed west by the Han Chinese in the 1st century BC would also be interesting, considering how Western Han forces rode as far as Kazakhstan to defeat them at the Battle of Zhizhi in 36 BC.

Those invasions are coded into the Eastern Migrations script, and now have a few more of the intended units (rather than using endless Sakan placeholders).

[Roma_Victrix]

Those invasions are coded into the Eastern Migrations script, and now have a few more of the intended units (rather than using endless Sakan placeholders).

Good to know! Thanks. I would give you rep for this post but I've repped you too recently according to TWC. I believe I've seen one Yuezhi cavalry unit in the current build, and was already impressed with what I saw.

[Fusilier_07]

One of the main EB2 rules is that we don't want "history on rails", so alternate history is acceptable but it must be realistic. As an example, in my concept about the revamped Carthaginian political system, I focused on the ways Carthaginians developed their empire (first in a soft indirect way akin tho the Delian League, and then, after the Barcid rise in a more imperialistic way developing actual provinces in the Iberian Peninsula) in Central and Western Mediterranean. Once I had a good idea about the main features I wanted to represent, I could begin to extrapolate their political strategies to other regions that they never reached. Finally, I could conceive more alternate scenarios based on the eraly times of the Carthaginian republic and the conflict between Barcids and Hannonids, such as what if you are able to establish you as a tyrant in Carthage? or inspired on the last days of the republic, what if you establish a populist regime in Carthage?. Finally, we have the crazy stuff, if you are the most important empire on the west what if you support the independence of the main Phoenician eastern cities?. As an example, this is how I conceived this path in the description of the political building:

[...]


PS: The text I have entered is too long so, here there are only the two first political trees but if you want I can post both the oligrchic and democratized republic descriptions, as well as both the 3rd and 4th political trees later. Also, please note that this is just a concept that IS NOT integrated into the build.

This is all very interesting. It's a uchrony, yes, but this seems realistic and plausible regarding actual historical trends. I would like to see the descriptions of the oligarchic and democratic republic posted, whenever you have time of course.

You mentioned that this concept is not integrated in the build. Do you or the team plan on including this into a future update? I feel that this would certainly add some flavour to the Qart-hadasht faction if this were added. It would be nice to make a carthaginian "Caesar" indeed!

[Trarco]

This is all very interesting. It's a uchrony, yes, but this seems realistic and plausible regarding actual historical trends. I would like to see the descriptions of the oligarchic and democratic republic posted, whenever you have time of course.

You mentioned that this concept is not integrated in the build. Do you or the team plan on including this into a future update? I feel that this would certainly add some flavour to the Qart-hadasht faction if this were added. It would be nice to make a carthaginian "Caesar" indeed!

Yes, we want to include the concept in the future, maybe after the next release.

In regard to post the other concepts, I can post all of them, don't wory.

Updated political trees.



SHUFET HASHUFETIM - (OLIGARCHIC REPUBLIC)

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

-Only available in Carthage.
-Law 10%.
-Happiness 5%.
-Naval experience 2.
-Factional recruitment.
-Free upkeep 3 or 4.
-The only place where you can recruit the Sacred Band Infantry (Gedud ha'Qadoshim).
-It allows to recruit Punic Citizen Militia (Mishoterim Ha'Belot Ponnimah) and siege weapons.
-Accumulates colonists every 4 years.

One way or another, trade never stops. As the sun rises daily, so do the many thousands of traders. Brightly coloured fabrics, salted tuna from Gader, expensive dyes, jewels, slaves, and much more - all can be purchased. Yet today, you let trade flow on all around you, indifferent to the shouts of the vendors. Your gaze and mind are elsewhere, focused on the building of the Senate. News has already spread and now the rising tumult announces the disagreements between the Elders and the Shophets. Soon enough, the popular assembly will make its will known and thus decide the fate of Qart-Hadahst.

HISTORY

Carthage was developed as another typical Mediterranean city-state with an evolved constitution that was praised by Aristotle. This Carthaginian constitution advocated for a mixed organization well described by Aristotle (Pol. 2.1273a) who says that Carthaginian policies included monarchical, democratic and oligarchical-aristocratic features. According to the Greek philosopher, the kings and the elders were able to exercise exclusive jurisdiction over some issue. However, some matters could be introduced in the popular assembly in case they didn@t agree unanimously. If so, a democratic characteristic had a presence in the fact that the people held the sovereign decision. The oligarchical trait was present because of the general idea that the wealth was a key requirement to achieve the political charges and also on the boards of five. They were in charge of important matters such as the election of the supreme magistracy of the Hundred and were elected by the existing members of the institution. In addition, they were in power even after they had gone out of office. The philosopher also explains that there were some aristocratic elements like the non-existence of payments for the magistrates, the absence of elections by lot and the importance of the personal merits when the rulers were chosen.

The Carthaginian republic together with her constitution showed an oligarchical structure, which was well represented by the great authority of her leaders free of the original monarchical tradition. Several pieces of data suggest that the monarchy became extinct at some point after the Dido@s foundation of Carthage and was replaced by the elected shophets through a process similar to that experienced by Rome. The subsequent aristocratic and oligarchical values can be seen in the fact that a few great Carthaginian families (such as the Magonids and the Hannonids) would have held a monopoly of the power through trade activities and, in some cases, maybe also through renewable magistratures similar to the "dictatorship" at least, in the case of the Magonid dynasty. The nature of the republic favoured new conquests of land in northern Africa which transform Carthage into an agricultural state that increased the socio-economical basis of the ruling oligarchy.

Among the main institutions of the oligarchic republic is the senate, which is also known as the elders of Carthage that hold the Executive power. They formed an aristocratic assembly which held the legislative power and regulated the treasury. As for foreign policy, the senate was in charge of both the state diplomacy and the administration of the armies in war time, done through the recruitment of soldiers and the instruction of generals. After the fall of the Magonid dynasty, the Council of the One Hundred and Four was created (ca. 4th century BC) by parts of the oligarchs in order to control the Carthaginian political life. The new council consisted of a juridical lifelong tribunal with broad powers and whose main activity was to watch the chiefs of the army@s actions. Shophets became the main rulers of the government. This dual magistrature, which was renewed through an annual election, held important judicial and administrative powers. Shophets were also in charge of convening both the council of the elders and the people@s assembly. The latter was formed by all the Carthaginian citizens. While initially it lacked the capacity to self-convene and the matters were introduced by the shophets and the elders, its prerogatives were increased over time. As a result, the popular assembly was able to meet spontaneously during extraordinary events, and after 3rd century B.C., this institution was already able to deliberate and was also in charge of electing the general of the army. The oligarchic republic also counted on innumerable public charges that we know thanks to the Carthaginian epigraphy and which favoured the development of the government and the administration. Among many others, it shuld be noted the rab, accountants, censors, market inspectors, heralds and scriveners.

STRATEGY

This building represents the own city-state of Carthage and her political institutions - namely, numerous complex administrative magistratures, a senate, a popular assembly, a tribunal of one hundred and four magistrates, and two annual shophets who rule Carthage. It also represents the political evolution of the city-state - that is, the consolidation of an oligarchic republic. Nowadays, the prerogatives of the popular assembly are being increased. However, the oligarchy, who is well sustained by the agricultural Carthaginian state, is still able to control both the government policies and the people through charisma and demagogy. This building gives a bonus to law, happiness and naval experience. It is also the only one which enables the recruitment of the Sacred Band and also allows the recruitment of Punic citizen militia and siege weapons. Additionally, it is the core of your factional recruitment and accumulates colonists every four years.

@AM QART-HADASHT - (DEMOCRATIZED REPUBLIC).

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

- Only available in Carthage as a post-reformed government.
- Free upkeep 4.
- Factional recruitment. The only place where you can recruit the Sacred Band Infantry (Gedud ha'Qadoshim). It increases the recruitmen of the Punic Citizen Militia (Mishoterim Ha'Belot Ponnimah) and allows the recruitment of siege weapons.
- Accumulates colonists every 4 years.
- Bonus on law 15%
- Unhappiness -5%
- Trade bonus 2.
- Naval experience 3
- It unlocks the political trait Sa'irnim.

Old habits die hard. Those who saw themselves as greatest and highest, the embodiment of all the virtues, speakers of truth before the people and the gods, have, at last, been laid low. When the change came, it was sudden and tremendous. But still, they plot, scheme, and manoeuvre, their desperation growing by the day as more and more people turn from the old ways towards the future. You are part of the future. What was once impossible is suddenly reality. The old pillars of the republic, the families who controlled its destinies for centuries, have been shaken by the people and their representatives, finally tired of the greed, the corruption, and the quarrels of those who call themselves the great, who sought their fortunes and left too little for the rest. Old habits die hard, but, as you intend to prove, new blood dies harder still.

HISTORY

According to Livy (XXXIII. 46), after the Second Punic War (218–201 BC) and the end of the Barcid control of the Carthaginian policy, the order of judges, presumably, the members of the tribunal of one hundred and four magistrates that were judges for life, was able to return to power. This tribunal had traditionally been a terror to the Carthaginian generals but, surely, it had shifted towards more moderation during the Second Punic War. The order of judges, that was enmity with Hannibal Barca since the end of the war against Rome, saw its new supremacy lost when Hannibal was elected as a shophet. Thanks to the popular support, he initiated a reform to combat corruption and enacted a law by which the judges could only be elected for one year each and nobody could be a judge for two consecutive terms. This reform, also affected the shophets who were elected by the people since that moment. However, the political direction was still under the control of the oligarchy that used the commoners to achieve their political interests and Hannibal was banished from Carthage one year later (probably in the year 195 BC) due to the animosity he roused among an important proportion of the aristocratic families.

The policy adopted by Carthaginians between the Hannibal@s fall and the destruction of the city during the Third Punic War is barely known. Appian (Afr. 68) wrote that in the year 150 BC, there were in Carthage three political factions: a pro-Roman party, a democratic party and a party which favored Massinissa as king. Unfortunately, this description is too simplistic and the political landcape must have been much more complex. According to Appian, Hanno the Great was the leader of the pro-Roman party, Hannibal the Starling was the chief of the faction that supported Massinissa and the democratic faction was led by both Carthalo and Hamilcar the Samnite. It has been theorized that after the Hannibal@s reform, the old oligarchic faction found itself obliged to reorganize in order to adapt to the new scenario (maybe causing the rise of new factions) while the old Barcids@s supporters surely survive after the Hannibal@s fall and many of them might have formed part of the democratic faction mentioned by Appian. After all, the Barcid policies had always found an important popular support in order to acomplish their objectives. This democratic faction may have wanted to strengthen the political influence of the citizens@ assembly (the Ham) and advocate for the creation of mechanisms that would have made some elected officials accountable to the Ham. This political route would have been initiated by Hannibal himself when, being shophet, summoned an accountant (Livy uses the word quaestor that surely refers to the Punic Mehasheb) to report to him. The magistrate, who was an Hannibal@s rival, ignored the order and Hannibal had his rival arrested. He was brought before the citizens@ assembly which, surely, deposed the accountant from his position. Be that as it may, when the political situation was complicated for Carthage due to the frequent Masinissa@s attacks (supported by Rome), it was the democratic faction the one which advocated for a policy of firmness against the Numidian king@s expansionist plans and that ultimately, favoured the outbreak of the Third Punic War.

STRATEGY

This building represents the fact that the oligarchic republic of Carthage has experienced a democratization through a political reform. The most notably changes have been laws to combat corruption and the replacement of the lifetime membership of the One Hundred and Four with a one-year appointment, and the prohibition of membership of two years in a row. Now, the members of this tribunal will have to be elected by the Carthaginian citizens@s assembly. Nowadays, Carthage is experiencing the rise of populist factions which struggle with the old oligarchic parties for the control of Carthage. While the political direction is still under the control of the oligarchy, the main democratic factions want to strengthen the political influence of the citizens@ assembly and advocate for the creation of mechanisms that make some tradittionally important elected officials accountable to the citizens@ assembly. This building gives a bonus to law and a better bonus to both naval experience and trade that represents the new laws that fight against corruption. It also gives a malus on happines that represents the existence of political tension between the old oligarchic factions and the new populist parties. Additionally, it allows the recruitment of siege weapons, the Sacred Band, increased numbers of Punic citizen militia and many factional troops. It also accumulates colonists every four years and unlocks the political trait Sa'irnim.

3RD POLITICAL TREE:

POLITICAL-MILITARY AND ECONOMIC POLICIES.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

-Unhappiness 5%
This building represents the fact that Carthage has focused part of her political interests in this province. This means that now this area forms part of the diplomatic and military Carthaginian connections which allow Carthage to act as the nexus and the driving force that join the western Mediterranean world.

The objective of this Carthaginian diplomatic framework is to achieve the hegemony in the West as it was historically, being the Greek Sicily and Syracuse the main obstacle for the Punic power during two centuries until Rome replaced the Greek city as the principal opponent. These conflicts caused Carthage to develop her diplomatic policies achieving alliances with several Berber kingdoms formed by Moors, Maesulians and Masaesylians and finding support in other city-states such as Taras or Gader and boosting local chiefs as Indibilis and pro-Punic factions in hostile cities like Selinunte during the Greco-Punic Wars and with Syracuse during the Second Punic War.

The Carthaginian politico-military interests, for its part, promoted the establishment of an obligatory recruitment which concerned her Libyan allied cities and that reached Iberia during the Barcid expansion. Mercenary centres which took advantage of the Carthaginian networks were developed under the Carthaginian hegemony which extended over sea connecting territories and protected ports of trade through the administrative trade.

As a player, you can develop this building around the areas under your influence specialising the different provinces in either mercenary recruitment or different ways of political-trading pacts.

MERCENARY ROUTE

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

-It allows to re-train local mercenary units.
-It needs roads.
-Unhappiness 5%.
-Small expenditure in the form of permanent upkeep (500).
- The more mercenary routes you build, the higher will be the permenent upkeep (it starts at 500).

This is a rough, untamed land, filled with fractious, warring tribes. While we are strong, their warlords prefer – or pretend – to be our allies, waiting only for an opportunity to use or betray us. But the present is not everything. There is also the future. And that future is one where the chiefs and warlords of this land see the merit, and wealth, and glory to be gained in serving us across the seas. Let they who spend their lives fighting do so in the grand spectacle of death, and let our noble City stand above it all, untainted and serene.

HISTORY

In the 6th century BC, the reform of the Carthaginian army carried out by Mago introduced the use of mercenaries as a complement of the main army formed by both citizens and allies. The ethnic origin of these mercenaries was diverse and included Libyans, Iberians, Ligurians, Greeks, Etruscans, Celtiberians, Gauls, Italic peoples, Corsi, etc. These warriors played a key role in most of the Carthaginian wars whose use was stimulated by the continuous conflicts in Sicily between Carthage and Syracuse and then, between Carthage and Rome during the First and Second Punic Wars.

Carthage took advantage of her trade sphere to recruit the mercenaries making use of both local infrastructures (such as ports) and her relations with the natives of the different areas of recruitment, especially, in northern Africa, Sicily, Sardinia and the southern Iberian Peninsula. In northern Africa, the neighbouring Libyan peoples to Carthage fought as allies or subjects, in these lands, the Carthaginian mercenary recruiting-officers would have found their objectives among peoples located further from their area of influence such as the Gaetuli and Garamantes. Favoured for the existence of consolidated maritime routes and close relations with multiple Punic-Phoenician city-states, Carthaginians found in the southern Iberian Peninsula a perfect place to recruit local mercenaries. This explains why the Iberians are the second people most mentioned (twenty times and only exceeded by Libyans) fighting as Carthaginians' mercenaries by the written sources. This activity is also confirmed by archaeological sources, mainly Punic coins and some burial goods of military nature that would have had a Mediterranean origin. The first time that Carthaginians' mercenaries from the Italian Peninsula are mentioned by the written sources is in 480 BC fighting in the battle of Himera. Since that moment, Campanian contingents and Samnites appear fighting for Carthage during the 4th century BC. The recruitment of these peoples was reduced after the First Punic War due to a clause of the peace treaty between Carthage and Rome that prevented Carthaginians to recruit mercenaries in Italy. Regarding the Gallic mercenaries, the incursions of these peoples from the Po Valley to southern Italy during the 4th and 3rd centuries BC were one of the main process that favoured the recruitment of these peoples by local powers that included both the Dionysius the Elder's Syracuse and Carthage.

The First Punic War (264-241) offers a good example of the different routes and peoples that were recruited as mercenaries by Carthage during an important military conflict. The recruitment was practised by recruiting-officers that were sent around the Carthaginian area of influence that comprised the western Mediterranean. This recruitment included Iberian troops that would have been boarded from the main Punic ports of the Iberian Peninsula as well as Gauls and Ligurians that surely were recruited in the ports of northern Etruria and southern Liguria (Pol I,17, 3-5; I, 67). There was no lack of mercenaries of Italian origin and Greeks, being the most paradigmatic example the case of Xanthippus of Lacedaemon and his mercenaries (Pol I, 32).

STRATEGY

This building represents the fact that in this province a route of mercenary recruitment flows to the areas of interests of Qarthadasht. The New City is taking advantage of her close relations with the local authorities and of the native infrastructures to establish a consolidated route of mercenary recruitment through which the recruiting-officers are sent. This building gives a malus on happiness but allows you to re-train local units of mercenary nature whose availability depends on the province. Take into account that establishing this building implies accepting a small expenditure in the form of permanent upkeep that represents the expenses intrinsic to the establishment of a regional consolidated route of mercenary recruitment.

AREA OF MERCENARY RECRUITMENT

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

- Average expenditure in the form of permanent upkeep (1,000).
- The more AOMR you build, the higher will be the permenent upkeep (it starts at 1,000).
- Bonus +5% law.
- Unhappiness 5%.
- It allows you to recruit some local and imported neighbouring professional/mercenary units.
- It needs large town level, market and roads.
- 3 MAOR accumulated military contingents every 4 years.

The allied peoples from this land have provided us with a large contingent for the coming campaign. It seems the very rumour of our recruiters arriving this season has done much to galvanise these warlike people. Whether rash youths or experienced veterans, many have already answered the call, eager for riches, wanderlust, and imperishable fame before all men. They do not speak our tongue. They do not know our gods. But they are brave. Obedience will have to be drilled into them, with time. But when battle comes, they will do us no dishonour. Such is the will of Qarthadahst.

HISTORY

The Carthaginian process of recruitment of mercenaries is badly known and only mentioned with few details by some written sources such as Livy (XXX, 21). Punic recruiting-officers, that were loaded with coins, would have been in charge of developing pacts either with local warlords or smaller groups of warriors. They were sent to the areas where there were warriors in excess, willing to fight as mercenaries.

Hypothetically, it is thought that there were some key areas that worked as recruitment zones and that were associated with the local elite. In the Iberian Peninsula, according to several authors, there are some settlements that could be related to those areas. They have in common the facts that were located in areas of high population density with good communication routes and close to Punic settlements. Additionally, foreign weapons, whose presence is difficult to explain and could be related to mercenary activities, have been found in those sites.

Surely, the most important area of mercenary recruitment in the Iberian Peninsula was Kastilo-Castulo, located close to the Guadalquivir river, who became a populated urban centre where several important routes converged. These routes would have allowed the communications with the Celtiberian inner plateau. Their necropoleis show the existence of a variety of weapons above the norm, including swords from the inner plateau and several points of arrows that weren't traditionally used by Iberians, rather, they were weapons of Phoenician-Punic tradition. Other important settlement that could work as an area of recruitment was Salacia-Bevipo (modern Alcácer do Sal). In this site, located in the mouth of the Tagus river, goods of foreign origin such as Red-figure vases, Greek coins and rare sets of weapons (mainly formed by eastern falcatas, a sword that is really exotic in the Lusitanian lands) have appeared being very rare in this Atlantic context. Finally, other sites that have been considered as areas of mercenary recruitment are the site of El Gandul (where the apparition of coins has been used to explain the practice of the Punic recruitment of Turdetanian mercenaries in this area) and the Iberian settlements of Basti and Iliberri.

Surely, the area around the Gulf of Genoa, that allowed Carthaginians to take advantage of the trade connections that had been built by the Etruscans, played a similar role in the recruitment of local and neighbouring peoples such as Corsi, Ligurians and Gauls. In southern Italy, the recruitment of local mercenaries would have included an area which comprised from Neapolis to the southern coast.

STRATEGY

This building represents the fact that this province has become a key area of mercenary recruitment for Qarthadasht. Both, the local elite interested in developing pacts with the New City and the most developed and populated settlements of this cosmopolitan region allow Qarthadashtim to gather in those areas local and neighbouring recruited mercenaries. Then, their immediate task is to head into the well-connected roads until they reach the neighbouring big ports where they will be boarded and sent to the needed war zones by the Qarthadashtim. This building accumulates military contingents and gives a malus to happiness and a small bonus to law. It also allows you to recruit local and neighbouring professional units of mercenary nature. Take into account that establishing this building implies accepting an average expenditure in the form of permanent upkeep that represent the expenses intrinsic to the mercenary recruitment (complex diplomacy, recruiting-officers, initial investments, etc).

MERCENARY BOARDING CENTRE

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

- Huge expenditure in the form of permanent upkeep (2,000).
- The more MBC you build, the higher will be the permenent upkeep (it starts at 2,000).
- Bonus +5% law.
- Unhappiness 10%
- It allows you to recruit several local and neighbouring professional/mercenary units and a few distant mercenaries.
- It needs city level, second level of roads and port (so, it's just available on coastal provinces). Additionally, it can only be built in Mediterranean provinces well-linked to Carthage/Sicily.
- The recruitment pool of this building will be more limited in the Punic core and neighbouring African provinces.
- Accumulates military contingents every 4 years.

The City pays well. That much is known to all who live here, and to their neighbours also. Wine, women, silver, lands, prestige, these and more can be found when serving Qarthadasht in its wars across the Great Sea. Sometimes individual warriors come, renowned fighters or simply men fleeing from their past, looking for a second chance. Other times, they come in groups, friends from the same clan, former raiders, or even princes leading veterans of a dozen battles. And all will know that when the City commands, the Peoples of the Coasts march in its name.

HISTORY

While the Carthaginian territories of obligatory conscription and allied recruitment were close to Carthage’s hinterland and around her epikrateia which included regions in northern Africa, Sardinia and Sicily before the Barcid expansion, the Carthaginian area of influence that comprised the territories of mercenary recruitment reached different points of the western and central Mediterranean coasts that varied along the Carthaginian history. These regions included both the southern Atlantic coast and Mediterranean one of the Iberian Peninsula (being the recruitment of Celtiberian mercenaries from the inner plateau at least very important since the Barcid expansion), the Balearic islands, some areas of northern Africa, southern Italy (at least until the end of the First Punic War, being again reactivated during Hannibal's invasion to Italy) as well as northern Etruria (at least during the war against Agathocles and the First Punic War), southern Liguria and Hellas, the last ones also during the First Punic War, as Polybius confirms: "They (the Carthaginians) therefore enlisted foreign mercenaries from the opposite coasts, many of them Ligurians, Celts, and still more Iberians, and dispatched them all to Sicily" (I, 17, 4).

In order to manage the displacements of the numerous and varied contingents of mercenaries, Carthage developed complex diplomatic and military connections that were built around her areas of influence. This process of recruitment would've also included physical needs in the form of appropriate infrastructures. Theoretically, these would have been urban centres with ports where the recruited mercenaries, once gathered, could have been shipped to the needed areas. In the Iberian Peninsula, those areas would have been mainly the Greek settlement of Emporion, the Iberian city of Arse and several Punic settlements such as Gader, Seks, Abdera, Baria and Iboshim. They would have offered some advantages such as their strategical location around the southern coast, their Phoenician origin and the existence of well-developed ports. For example, Baria (modern Villaricos) has been also considered a potential mercenary boarding centre due to the local weapons that have been found in combination with foreign weapons such as a shield-boss and an antennae sword whose origin was in the Inner Plateau and some bronze Phoenician-Punic points of arrows. In southern Italy, the recruiting-officers found their objectives among the Campanians, Samnites, Lucanians and Bruttians. Surely, it was in Neapolis and the Bruttian coast from where they were shipped off to Sicily. Finally, in regard to the Corsi, Ligurian and Cisalpine Gallic recruitment, Genoa (and maybe some cities of the northern Etruscan coast before the First Punic War) would have played an important role as boarding centres for the locally recruited mercenaries.

STRATEGY

This building represents the existence of one or more important urban centres with well-developed ports and infrastructure in this province. They allow Qarthadasht to ship her recruited mercenaries thanks to the diplomatic and military connections that have been built around this region by the Qarthadashtim. This building gives you a small bonus on law but a malus on happiness. It allows you to recruit several local and neighbouring professional units of mercenary nature as well as a few distant mercenaries who come until these urbanised and populated port cities attracted by the Carthaginian coins and promises. Take into account that establishing this building implies to accept a huge expenditure in the form of permanent upkeep that represent the expenses intrinsic to the mercenary recruitment (complex diplomacy, military connections, recruiting-officers, initial investments, maritime displacements, etc).

I will post the other ones in other post since I have reached the limit.