Byzantines
DefensiveTeam Bonus
Monks heal +100% faster
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"The Byzantines are a defensive civilization with buildings that gain HP per age, cheaper counter units, free town watch technologies, and fast-attacking fire ships."
Civilization Bonuses
- 1
Buildings +10/20/30/40% HP in Dark/Feudal/Castle/Imperial Age
- 2
Camel Riders, Skirmishers and Spearman-line cost -25%
- 3
Town Watch, Town Patrol free
- 4
Advancing to Imperial Age costs -33%
- 5
Fire Ships and Dromons attack +25% faster
Unique Units
Unique Technologies
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Other Civilizations
AoE Coach analysis
Context & meta
Byzantines are the counter-unit civilization. Buildings gain 10, 20, 30 and then 40% HP through the four ages; Camel Riders, Skirmishers and the Spearman-line cost 25% less; Town Watch and Town Patrol are free; and advancing to the Imperial Age costs 33% less. Every one of those bonuses makes answering an opponent cheaper without making the first move better, which is why the civilization is comfortable second and awkward first. The Cataphract — 110 HP and 9 attack, 150 and 12 as an Elite — with Logistica, which gives it trample damage, is what converts a held position into an attack.
History & balance
Byzantine design answers a question most civilizations avoid: what does it mean to be strong without ever taking the initiative? The whole package lowers the cost of responding — to cavalry, to archers, to infantry, to a siege — and lowers nothing else. That makes the civilization very hard to beat by choosing the right composition, since it can afford the answer to any of them, and equally hard to play against an opponent who refuses to commit to anything. Its way out is the cheapest age-up in the game, which is really a statement about tempo: the design accepts losing the early game as long as it arrives at the last one first.
In pro play
Byzantines are a classic pick on the closed maps of tournament play, where their building HP and cheap counters let them defend indefinitely and win the long game. Pros leverage the -33% Imperial discount to reach Trash Wars (Halberdier + Skirmisher + Hussar fights) faster than any opponent, where the -25% Skirmisher and Spearman cost compounds into a resource advantage. On open maps the standard line is a defensive Knights-or-Camel play into a Cataphract + Logistica timing. Their team bonus (Monks heal +100% faster) makes them a strong Monk-support pocket in team games on Arena.
How to counter it
Byzantines have no economy bonus, so the cleanest counter is to out-boom and out-tempo them on open maps — pressure their villagers before they can fortify. They lack a strong unique-unit power spike until Cataphract + Logistica, which is gold-heavy and slow, so denying their gold delays everything. Siege (Bombard Cannons, Trebuchets) breaks their building-HP advantage on closed maps. Avoid feeding them the matchup they want: don't mass cavalry into their cheap Camels or archers into their cheap Skirmishers — force a unit type they have to pay full price to counter. On Arabia, an aggressive Scout or Knight opening exploits their lack of an early-game bonus.