Byzantium

Primary culture

Greek (Byzantine)

Capital province

Constantinople (151)

Government

Feudal Monarchy

State religion

Orthodox

Technology group

Eastern

Byzantine ideas

Traditions:

−10% Advisor cost

+3 Tolerance of the true faith

Regulation of Mercenaries

−15% Mercenary maintenance

Repopulation of the Countryside

+10% National manpower modifier

+5% Goods produced modifier

State Administrative Reform

+10% National tax modifier

Delegated Power

−10% Stability cost modifier

Byzantine Merchant Class

+10% Global trade power

The New Imperial Army

+5% Discipline

Restore the Ecumenical Patriarch

+3% Missionary Strength

Ambition:

+1 Yearly prestige

Byzantium is what remains of the Eastern Roman Empire, and along with Trebizond and Theodoro, the last remnants of the once mighty Roman Empire. Starting with only two provinces in Southern Greece and Constantinople, as well as Athens as a vassal, its rebirth begins under the shadow of the Ottomans. It starts with the fabled city of Constantinople, one of the largest and richest metropolises in the world.

Missions[edit]

Main article: Byzantine missions

Byzantium's missions are focused around reconquering the former territories of the Empire (including Italy and thus Rome), as well as a special mission to restore the Orthodox Pentarchy by converting all five major Christian cities (Constantinople, Antioch, Rome, Jerusalem, and Alexandria) to the Orthodox faith, which, upon completion, disables the Curia mechanics.

Events[edit]

Main article: Purple Phoenix events (only with Purple Phoenix DLC)

Byzantine events revolve around the reconquest of key cities and regions in the empire. Others focus on the influence the Byzantine court had over the emperor, which can significantly boost Byzantium's monarch points.

Reformation[edit]

Byzantium can be restored by Orthodox countries with Greek or Pontic primary culture.

Restore the Byzantine Empire

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The glorious Byzantine Empire is gone, but as long as there are Greeks in Constantinople, there is hope of resurrection. We can take its place in spirit, but we cannot take its name unless we prove worthy...


Potential requirements This country: has Greek or Pontic as primary culture. is Orthodox. is not the Holy Roman Empire, the Roman Empire or the Ottomans. Byzantium does not exist. If this country is AI-controlled then: it can not be a custom nation.	Allow This country: is not a subject nation. is not a nomad nation. is not at war. owns the following provinces: Constantinople (151), Edirne (149), Epirus (144), Morea (145), Athens (146), Thessaly (147), Macedonia (148), Achaea (1773), Kocaeli (316), Hüdavendigar (317), Sugla (318), Kastoria (1853) and Karasi (2296).

Effects This country: changes to Byzantium. becomes an empire. moves its capital to Constantinople (151) and gains a core on it. gets the event ‘New Traditions & Ambitions’, if it is not a custom nation. removes all its provinces from the HRE, if it is a member of the HRE. gains a permanent claim on all non-core provinces of: Aydin, Ankara, Germiyan, Karaman, Çukurova, Rum, Karadeniz, Hüdavendigar, Dulkadir areas Edirne, Thessaly, Macedonia, Athens, Morea, Achaea, Crete, Naxos, Rhodes, Trebizond, Caffa, Corfu, Vlorë, Epirus, Sofia, Tarnovo, Burgas, Silistria, Kastoria, Chios, Theodoro, Plovdiv, Ayntab provinces gains 10 prestige. gets the modifier “Increased Centralization” for 20 years with the following effects: −0.05 monthly autonomy change, +1 national unrest. 2 random provinces of Byzantium with Greek culture gain 1 base tax.

Decisions[edit]

The following decisions are part of the Purple Phoenix DLC.^[1]

Triumph for Greece

----

With the reconquest of Greece complete we can honor the victorious soldiers and generals with a triumphal march through the capital, a tradition that dates back to the earliest days of Rome. While defunct for many years, our phoenix-like rebirth seems like an apt time to restart it.


Potential requirements The Purple Phoenix DLC is enabled. The country: is Byzantium. own at least 1 province of Morea or Northern Greece. has not enacted this decision before. If the country is AI-controlled then it: can not be a custom nation.	Allow Byzantium owns all provinces of Morea and Northern Greece.

Effects Byzantium: gains 10 prestige. gains 25 army tradition.

Triumph for the Balkans

----

With the reconquest of the Balkans complete we can honor the victorious soldiers and generals with another triumphal march through the capital, a capital that is now secured from European threats.


Potential requirements The Purple Phoenix DLC is enabled. The country: is Byzantium. own at least 1 province of the Balkans. has not enacted this decision before. If the country is AI-controlled then it: can not be a custom nation.	Allow Byzantium: owns the provinces: Silistria (159), Burgas (1764), Edirne (149), Tarnovo (150), Sofia (1765), Macedonia (148), Kastoria (1853), Vlorë (143), Zeta (138), Ragusa (137) and Dalmatia (136).

Effects Byzantium: gains 20 prestige. gains 25 army tradition.

Triumph for the Asia minor coast

----

Now that the Asia minor coast is secure, the capital is safe from eastward threats. The army deserves to march in triumph through the streets, and our generals must be commended.


Potential requirements The Purple Phoenix DLC is enabled. The country: is Byzantium. owns at least 1 province of Aydin or Hüdavendigar. has not enacted this decision before. If the country is AI-controlled then it: can not be a custom nation.	Allow Byzantium owns all provinces of Aydin and Hüdavendigar.

Effects Byzantium: gains 10 prestige. gains 25 army tradition.

Triumph for Anatolia

----

The soldiers and generals that have secured Anatolia once again surely deserve the highest of honors!


Potential requirements The Purple Phoenix DLC is enabled. The country: is Byzantium. owns at least 1 province of Anatolia. has not enacted this decision before. If the country is AI-controlled then it: can not be a custom nation.	Allow Byzantium owns all provinces of Anatolia.

Effects Byzantium: gains 20 prestige. gains 25 army tradition.

Triumph for Italy

----

Our generals have now exceeded even the great Belisarius by returning the whole of Italy to Imperial control, and so they must be awarded the grandest triumph the Empire has ever seen!


Potential requirements The Purple Phoenix DLC is enabled. The country: is Byzantium. owns at least 1 province of Italy (region). has not enacted this decision before. If the country is AI-controlled then it: can not be a custom nation.	Allow Byzantium owns all provinces of Italy (region).

Effects Byzantium: gains 35 prestige. gains 25 army tradition.

Strategy[edit]

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Preparing for war with the Ottomans In the beginning of the game, you need to acquire the right amount of allies that will make the Ottomans attack you, but will allow you to beat them in battle if you are careful enough. A useful strategy is to have an ally to the west of the Ottomans and to the east of the Ottomans. Get Wallachia or Serbia and Albania in the west, the latter is important when battling the Ottomans as the Albanians start with a 3 star general that will allow you to beat the Ottomans in battle. In the east you get Karaman, you can use them simply to divert Ottoman troops from your main land and to occupy territory in Anatolia. You could also try to make a royal wedding with Imereti, as their leader has no successor in the beginning and you will have a chance to get a PU junior partner in the early game. Unfortunately, they are not that useful when battling the Ottomans. Make sure you do not have too many allies, or else the Ottomans won't attack you, will get stronger by absorbing other territory and come back in much greater force. Next to being diplomatically active, push your military strength, and give your king a generalship, if he doesn't have any useful skills. Your successor is better than your king, and will allow you to develop faster in later phases. Pull your forces to Athens and set up a spy network in the Ottoman capital and wait for the Ottomans to attack you, as soon as you have acquired 3 allies positioned in the east and west. The first idea group you should get is defensive ideas, as it will give you benefits early on in the many wars you will go through, and later will reduce fort maintenance.

War against the Ottomans Charge as soon as possible to the fort in Macedonia, while leaving one unit behind to occupy less important territory. Make sure, that allies can attach themselves to your main force. The Ottomans will be focused on occupying Constantinople, this will allow you to occupy Macedonia and their capital next to it. Be careful not to go into unnecessary battles with the Ottomans. The Ottomans quite often try to attack the land of allies after having Constantinople occupied, use that time to take it back. If all works well, you'll have lots of territory occupied in the west and the east, most importantly their capital and a war score of 20-40 %. This would be the moment to bargain for peace with the Ottomans and retake some of your cores. Be sure to NEVER take their capital, as long as it is on the European mainland. The position of the capital in Erdine is crucial to get war score to win future wars against the Ottomans. You counter the Ottomans by using the strategy of occupying their capital, but not taking it. Instead you get every single other territory you can get. A good strategy is to encircle Erdine and get Kocaeli, Hüdavendigar and Biga. When you are at this level, your navy should be stronger than the Ottoman navy, and you will easily beat them step by step. During the course of time the Ottomans will also be weakened by war with their neighbouring Nations especially with the Mamluks.

Between the Ottoman wars Keep an eye out for Serbia, Venice, Moldavia, and Hungary. After the first Ottoman war you should have retaken Epirus, allowing you to generate a claim on their mainland. If you are lucky, Venice will try to attack Serbia to take Zeta as well. If Serbia isn't your ally, attack them as well and vassalise them as soon as their war with Venice has stopped. If they are your ally, you should be able to beat the Venetians with Bosnia and Serbia as your ally in the war. This will allow you to gain some land of the Venetians or vassalise Serbia. If you are really lucky, Moldavia will be allied with Serbia in the war against Serbia. You can easily beat them with the Wallachian forces and take two of their provinces neighbouring Wallachia. This will be important in the future. As your goal should be a vassalisation of Wallachia. There will come a moment where they will break their alliance with you and attack you to get some of the formerly Moldavian land. Use this war to vassalise them. By that time, you should be strong enough to get Hungary as a new ally, make sure you annex Athens in the meantime, and that you still have an ally in the east of the Ottomans. When Karaman is gone, Georgia will usually do the trick. You shouldn't care about having one diplomatic relationship too much.

Continuous strategy Steadily use this tactic of acquiring new allies, attacking the Ottomans. Always keep an eye out for nations that could be vassalised, attacked to get a claim on an other nation of interest later on, or become a new ally. Muscovy will soon emerge as a nation that is quite fond of you and willing to ally itself with you. Keep an eye out on Crimea. Genoa will wage war on Crimea, but will also have trouble keeping those provinces. If you have a claim in Crimean land, while Genoa is at war with Crimea. Attack Crimea, vassalise them and use this to get into a defensive war with Genoa. Soon, you'll have land on the Italian north.

From this position on, you can expand pretty much towards any direction and the hardest part of surviving the Ottomans is finished, Venice shouldn't be too much of a threat as your allies will help you keeping them in check. Now you will probably be in the phase where you have already become one of the great powers and where you will be faced with new rivals such as Spain, France, the Mamluks and Poland. Poland can be countered with Muscovy as an ally. If you have some useful military ideas, Spain will be a piece of cake, as they are usually not that strong militarily in the early to mid game. The only acute threat will be the Mamluks, which will be numerous but not very strong in battle. The biggest threat in the coming years will be France, but after eating up the Mamluks, getting boni from taking the holy land and more. You will be more than ready to beat the French in the upcoming wars. Maybe you'll even restore the Roman Empire

Alternative Strategy: Albania Calls for Aid[edit]

This one requires some luck, as it relies on the Ottomans declaring war on Albania before Byzantium.

Albania starts out guaranteed by Venice, ensuring that the inevitable war with the Ottomans will turn into a war between the two powers. Improve relations with the Albanians, but do not ally with them yet, as this may deter the Ottomans from declaring war on Albania. Once the Ottomans try to conquer Albania, ally with them (they will be more willing to do this than before, but improving relations makes it easier) and begin sieging down Ottoman provinces on the Balkans. The Ottoman navy is close to the Venetian in size, but not large enough to beat a combined Venetian, Corfan, Naxiote, Albanian, Athenian, and Byzantine fleet. Navy supremacy must be attained in order to ensure that the war goes well and to beat the Ottomans in the future. Station some of the Byzantine navy (mostly galleys) to control the Hellespont and Bosporus, while sending a token force to patrol the Adriatic.

Because the Ottomans declared on Albania and Byzantium joined the war, the Ottomans will prioritize sieging down Albanian and Venetian territory over Byzantine territory. It is possible that the Ottoman army will send the majority of its force to siege down the fort on Corfu. Once you control the mainland of the Balkans, station some ships around Corfu after blocking Ottoman access to the Mediterranean. With any luck, the Ottoman army will be trapped on Corfu. With the Ottoman navy beaten and their army indisposed, make the crossing to Anatolia and siege down Ottoman territory there. If necessary, separate peace for your cores and as much gold as possible when you have sufficient war score.

From there, build up the Byzantine army and navy, ensuring that the Ottomans never can attain naval supremacy. Ally with other powers with large enough navies and armies capable of helping you against the Ottomans, such as the Mamluks. When possible, declare war on the Ottomans for the Balkan claims while their army is in Anatolia. With a larger Byzantine navy, the Ottomans cannot cross to Europe to fight or retake lost territory, meaning that Byzantium and its allies are free to take pieces of the Balkans at their leisure. When possible, do not engage the Ottoman army in a fight. Their army is massive and exceptional (particularly with Janissaries), and any engagement with them can only cost Byzantium manpower and warscore. Eventually, Byzantium will be big enough to ally with the Mamluks in order to crush the Ottomans from both sides, and this can be used to reclaim territory on either side of the Sea of Marmara. Keep relations high with allies for as long as possible, and eventually, the Ottomans will be whittled down to the point where you can easily take them one-on-one.

(Note: Allying with Karaman is risky, as they will sometimes get drawn into a war with a country guaranteed by the Mamluks and thus draw Byzantium into a war it cannot possibly win. The Mamluk fleet will try to blockade Constantinople and will ensure that naval supremacy cannot be attained in the war with the Ottomans. Check the Anatolian diplomatic situation carefully before picking allies, lest you be drawn into wars you don't want to fight and/or cannot win.)