IBERIAN CIVILISATION PROFILE

UNIT DESCRIPTIONS

INFANTRY

  • Generic Name: Caetratus
  • Specific Name: Ezpatari
  • Class: Swordsman.
  • History: The Caetrati (sing. Caetratus) were the most numerous and well known of all Iberian soldiers. They were non-professional multi-purpose light infantry that operated far outside the normal bounds for such. Much of the fame of the Caetrati was derived from their skill, ferocity, and resilience in battle. The name of these men comes from the Latin term 'caetra', the Roman name for the small buckler the Caetrati used in conjunction with their falcata sabers.
  • Garrison: 1.
  • Function: Heavy melee infantry.

  • Special: -.

  • Generic Name: Scutarius

  • Specific Name: Ezkutari
  • Class: Spearman.
  • History: If the Caetrati operated as the Iberians' all-purpose light infantry, then the Scutarii (sing. Scutarius) operated as all-purpose medium infantry. The Scutarii were the older and more experienced Iberian warriors, forming the professional core of many Iberian armies. Like their lighter cousins, the Scutarii were famed for their versatility and the Iberian spirit. Their name is derived for the Latin term 'scutum', the Roman name for the large oval shields carried by the Scutarii which they used in much the same manner as Roman infantry.
  • Garrison: 1.
  • Function: Melee Infantry, anti-Cavalry (3x).

  • Special: -

  • Generic Name: Caetratus Lusitani

  • Specific Name: Lusitano Ezpatari
  • Class: Javelinist Skirmisher.
  • History: The Caetrati (sing. Caetratus) were the most numerous and well known of all Iberian soldiers. They were non-professional multi-purpose light infantry that operated far outside the normal bounds for such. Much of the fame of the Caetrati was derived from their skill, ferocity, and resilience in battle. The name of these men comes from the Latin term 'caetra', the Roman name for the small buckler they carried. The Caetrati Lusitani were much the same way, but more skilled in skirmish and ambush tactics.
  • Garrison: 1.
  • Function: Short-ranged Infantry. Fast Moving.

  • Special: Elite form throws flaming javelins.

  • Generic Name: Iberian Slinger

  • Specific Name: Habailari
  • Class: Slinger.
  • History: The Iberian Peninsula is literally littered with stone, ceramic, and leaden sling bolts at archeological sites, so evidence suggests that slingers were a common enough unit that they are tribal generic. While it is a popular notion that Balearic Slingers, possibly the best in the ancient world, were 'Hispanic' because the islands now belong to modern day Spain, they are a Carthaginian unit relative to the times. Iberian slingers carry 3 slings like those of the Balearic. Slings were among the most widespread ranged weaponry on the Peninsula, second only to the Iberian javelin.
  • Garrison: 1.
  • Function: Long-ranged Infantry.
  • Special: -

CAVALRY

  • Generic Name: Iberian Lancer
  • Specific Name: Lantzari
  • Class: Cavalry Spearman
  • History: Mounted troops comprised variously 20~25% of warriors and their horses were well cared for by their owners. During the Punic and Iberian Wars the skill and quality of Iberian cavalry was held in high regard. Horses were raised in abundant numbers in the Iberian Peninsula from the earliest of times; it was said by the Romans that either Iberia or Numidia (in North Africa) could provide on the order of 100,000 mounts per year! During the Iberian Wars the Romans actively attempted co-opt as many as these horsemen as possible, a testament to their skill and Rome's recognition of it.
  • Garrison: 2.
  • Function: -

  • Special: Iberian Steel.

  • Generic Name: Cantabrian Cavalry

  • Specific Name: Kantabriako Zaldun
  • Class: Cavalry Javelinist.
  • History: -.
  • Garrison: 2.
  • Function: Good hunter and raider.
  • Special: -.

SUPPORT UNITS

  • Generic Name: Iberian Woman
  • Specific Name: Emazteki
  • Class: Female Citizen.
  • History: Iberian women were privileged members of society, equal in rank to men and superior in some areas. For instance a woman would inherit her father's wealth and then distribute it among male family members, in addition to finding wives for her brothers. Manual labor was a common activity, including farming and ditch digging, for which women received pay. Marriage and other commitments to individuals were fervently embraced by both genders. Iberian women were also capable of slaying their own children to prevent them from being captured.
  • Garrison: 1.
  • Function: Quick food gatherer. Slow miner.

  • Special: Inspiration Aura (+10% citizen-soldier productivity - Range of 10m).

  • Generic Name: Priestess of Ataekina

  • Specific Name: Emakumezko Apaiz de Ataekina
  • Class: Healer.
  • History: To the best of our knowledge, only one 'temple'-like structure has been found on the Iberian Peninsula dating from the times and the Iberians worshiped their pantheon of gods at small home altars; however, a very special sculptured head and torso was found in a farmer's field around the turn of the 20th century of a personage who was obviously someone of great substance. As the two principal gods, of the many worshiped, were male Endovellikos and female Ataekina, we thought it would be nice to adopt The Lady of Elche as our priestess-healer representing Ataekina. We know from archelogy and the Romans that Ataekina was associated with spring, the changing of seasons, and nature in general. Ataekina also seems to have been associated with the cycle of birth-death-rebirth.
  • Garrison: 1.
  • Function: -.

  • Special: -.

  • Generic Name: Merchant

  • Specific Name: Merkatari
  • Class: Trader.
  • History: It is not known exactly what 'vehicles' might have been used for trading, except that the Iberians did a lot of overland trading by land amongst themselves and some with people to the north of the Pyrenees, and that wagons and carts were known and used for something; it stands to reason they would have been used in commerce.
  • Garrison: 2.
  • Function: Sets up trade routes between friendly markets.
  • Special: -.
  • Generic Name: Fishing Boat
  • Specific Name: Arrantza Ontzi
  • Class: Fishing Ship.
  • History: There is still much unknown about fishing among the Iberians. We do know that fishing was very important in Iberia, and many modern day fishing villages share the same site with ancient Iberian fishing villages.
  • Garrison: Cannot.
  • Garrison Capacity: 1; support, infantry
  • Function: Only method of collecting meat from fish.

  • Special: -.

  • Generic Name: Trading Ship

  • Specific Name: Merkataritza Itsasontzi
  • Class: Merchantman.
  • History: The Iberians, especially along the western and northwestern coasts of the peninsula, had been trading by sea with peoples in North Africa, Western Europe along the coast of Gaul and the British Isles by boat well back into the 2nd millennium BC. As such, their ships were very seaworthy, crossing stretches of the Atlantic Ocean (while they are not known to have traded by sea in the Mediterranean). Though the Carthaginians came along around the beginning of the 1st millennium and co-opted much of that trade, along with the Greeks in the Mediterranean, with 'better ships', they still would have influenced the seafaring peoples who built the 'high sided sailing vessels' along the Atlantic Seaboard. So it is not such a stretch to specify a good strong sailing ship for Iberians that can be used as either a merchant trading vessel or a quasi-war fighting transport of units.
  • Garrison: Cannot.
  • Garrison Capacity: 15
  • Function: Sets up trade routes between friendly Ports.

  • Special: -.

  • Generic Name: Ponti

  • Specific Name: Ponti
  • Class: Medium Warship.
  • History: -.
  • Garrison: Cannot.
  • Garrison Capacity: 40
  • Function: Medium ranged war ship.

  • Special: Garrison units for transport and to increase firepower.

  • Generic Name: Iberian Fire Ship

  • Specific Name: Iberian Fire Ship
  • Class: Fireship.
  • History: -.
  • Garrison: Cannot.
  • Garrison Capacity: -.
  • Function: Slowly loses health. Rapidly damages nearby enemy ships.
  • Special: -.

SIEGE

  • Generic Name: Battle Ram
  • Specfic Name: Ahariburu
  • Class: Ram.
  • History: It is not known if any of the Iberians culture tribes used rams; the unit is added to the civ roster for gameplay purposes.
  • Garrison: 2.
  • Garrison Capacity: 10
  • Function: Siege weapon.
  • Special: -.

CHAMPION UNITS

  • Generic Name: Devotio
  • Specific Name: Leial Ezpatari
  • Class: Champion Swordsman.
  • History: The Devotio (the devoted,loyal) were experienced veterans of 'foreign wars'. They served as mercenaries for other nations and having lived to return to their own where they assumed a position close to the chief or king. Their relationship was similar to that of feudal knights during the later Middle Ages. Their name derives from Latin rendering of the sacred oath these warriors took.
  • Garrison: 1.
  • Function: Heavy melee infantry.

  • Special: -.

  • Generic Name: Devotio Cavalry

  • Specific Name: Leial Zalduneria
  • Class: Champion Cavalry Javelinist.
  • History: (Identical to Devotio.)
  • Garrison: 2.
    • Function: Good vs building and siege.
  • Special: -.

HEROES

  • Generic Name: Viriato
  • Specific Name: Same
  • Class: Hero Swordsman.
  • History: Viriato, like Vercingetorix amongst the Gauls, was the most famous of the Iberian tribal war leaders, having conducted at least 7 campaigns against the Romans in the southern half of the peninsula during the 'Lusitani Wars' from 147 to 139 BCE. He surfaced as a survivor of the treacherous massacre of 9,000 men and the selling into slavery of 21,000 elderly, women, and children of the Lusitani. They had signed a treaty of peace with the Romans, conducted by Servius Sulpicius Galba, governor of Hispania Ulterior, as the 'final solution' to the Lusitani problem. He emerged from humble beginnings in 151 BCE to become war chief of the Lusitani. He was intelligent and a superior tactician, never really defeated in any encounter (though suffered losses in some requiring retreat). He succumbed instead to another treachery arranged by a later Roman commander, Q. Servilius Cepio, to have him assassinated by three comrades that were close to him.
  • Garrison: 1.
  • Function: Heavy melee Infantry. Unit speed and loot enhancement.

  • Special: Guerilla Tactics Aura (+20% soldier speed - Range of 60m). Swag Aura (+100% loot for each enemy unit killed or structure destroyed - Range of 60m).

  • Generic Name: Karos

  • Specific Name: Same
  • Class: Hero Swordsman.
  • History: Karos was a chief of the Belli tribe located just east of the Celtiberi (Numantines at the centre). Leading the confederated tribes of the meseta central (central upland plain) he concealed 20,000 foot and 5,000 mounted troops along a densely wooded track. Q. Fulvius Nobilior neglected proper reconnaissance and lead his army into the trap strung out in a long column. Some 10,000 of 15,000 Roman legionaries fell in the massive ambush that was sprung upon them. The date was 23 August of 153 BCE, the day when Rome celebrated the feast of Vulcan. By later Senatorial Decree it was ever thereafter known as dies ater, a 'sinister day', from whence our word disaster comes, and Rome never again fought a battle on the 23rd of August. Karos was wounded in an after battle small cavalry action the same evening and soon died thereafter, but he had carried off one of the most humiliating defeats that Rome ever suffered.
  • Garrison: 2.
  • Function: Heavy melee Infantry. Structure attack and unit defense enhancement.

  • Special: Valiant Defender Aura (+75% arrows for the structure or siege tower he is garrisoned in). Battle Fervor Aura (+1 armor for nearby soldiers - Range of 50m).

  • Generic Name: Indibil

  • Specific Name: Same
  • Class: Hero Cavalry Spearman.
  • History: Indibil was king of the Ilegetes, a large federation ranged principally along the Ebro River in the northwest of the Iberian Peninsula. During the Barcid expansion, from 212 BCE he had initially been talked into allying himself with the Carthaginians who hade taken control of a lot of territory to the south and west, however after loss and his capture in a major battle he was convinced, some say tricked, to switch to the Roman side by Scipio Africanus. But that alliance didn't last long, as Roman promises were hollow and the Romans acted more like conquerors than allies. So, while the Romans and their allies had ended Carthaginian presence in 'Hispania' in 206 BCE, Indibil and another tribal prince by the name of Mandonio, who may have been his brother, rose up in repbellion against the Romans. They were defeated in battle, but rose up in a 2nd even larger rebellion that had unified all the Ilergetes again in 205 BCE. Outnumbered and outarmed they were again defeated, Indibil losing his life in the final battle and Mandonio being captured then later put to death. From that date onward the Ilergetes remained a pacified tribe under Roman rule.
  • Garrison: 2.
  • Function: Good vs. Cavalry (1.5x), Ranged, and Support Units. Cavalry Enhancement.
  • Special: Mobilization Aura (-20% train time and -15% resource cost for soldiers).

NEW UNIT TRAITS

  • None yet.

CIV CENTRE UNITS

  • Melee Infantry: Caetratus.
  • Ranged Infantry: Lusitanian Caetratus.
  • Cavalry: Iberian Lancer.

FORBIDDEN CLASSES

  • Infantry Archer.
  • Cavalry Swordsman.
  • Cavalry Archer.
  • Bireme.
  • Quinquereme.
  • Onager.
  • Ballista.

STRUCTURE DESCRIPTIONS

VILLAGE

  • Generic Name: Civic Centre
  • Specific Name: Oppidum
  • Class: Civic Centre.

  • History: The Oppidum, plural Oppida, has a long history in the Iberian Peninsula. They were walled towns, dating back to even before the time period of the game and expanding greatly during it. They were usually built upon heights for better defensive purposes but sometimes right out on the plains, especially in the east where there may not have been heights at desirable locations near meandering rivers. This concept drawing is derived from an actual archeological site that has been excavated in the northeast of Spain having belonged to the Ilergete tribe as shown in the figure below and from the virtual reconstruction of the site at the museum located adjacent to it.

  • Generic Name: Barracks

  • Specific Name: Kaserna
  • Class: Barracks.

  • History: To the best of our knowledge, the Iberians did not have standing armies in the sense that we know of them elsewhere or of today, it is doubtful that they had specific structures designated as military centres; however as a game construct we show a modest structure wherein military related activities take place. The early Iberians may have possessed something akin to a military centre in that the quarters of the warrior aristocracy was walled off from the rest of the city. But these distinctions eased over time and war eventually came to encompass all levels of Iberian society. In addition the Iberian approach to war varied across the Peninsula and so the kind of force gathered depended on location. This could vary from tribal and clan levies, a sort of feudal system, citizen armies similar to the Hellene city-states, to warrior aristocrats and mercenaries.

  • Generic Name: House

  • Specific Name: Etxe
  • Class: House.
  • Notes: It would be nice to have some housing for Iberians done in the Spanish style, if possible, then house 'types' just randomly selected during the progression of a game session. Note in the bottom-most example that the house on the right has a roof line fall that is incompatible with good architectural practice and would not have been so constructed by the practical homeowner even back then. Its orientation is such that any rainfall would run right over 'his' front door ... so one needs to be redone in such a manner that the roof incline directs water away from the front of the house. Also, in the concept drawing for the Oppida, it shows the Iberians houses being endowed with tiled roofs that is the convention that we've adopted as being typical to most of Iberia and for most of the structures of the civ. Also, that the adobe walls would have been plastered and 'whitewashed' for all but the most humble or neglected of abode, so it is the opinion of the author that if these models are to be used in the game that they need to be redone accordingly.

  • History: Iberians structures of the time were typically built either entirely of stone or with stone stub walls with 'adobe' raising them on up to the roof lines above them. Roofs were then, depending on the economic status of individuals, covered with a composite of mud and binding vegetable and waterproofing asphaltic materials, or slate stone, or in many cases in the region, with so-called Spanish roofing tiles.

  • Generic Name: Farmstead

  • Specific Name: Baserri
  • Class: Farmstead.

  • History: The Baserri is adopted as being a farm centre that would typically house more than a single family, or an extended family, involved in all manner of agricultural pursuit required of the times.

  • Generic Name: Field

  • Specific Name: Soro
  • Class: Field.

  • History: 'Soro' is a Basque term for a field for the growing of food. In historical terms, the Iberians tended to growing grains and vegetables, including a variety of roots, greens and artichokes (large blue thistle-like flower-heads), grape vines, and fruit trees ranging from the olive and fig to the apple. The Iberian Peninsula was an agricultural surplus area.

  • Generic Name: Corral

  • Specific Name: Saroe
  • Class: Corral.

  • History: Corrals have been utilised by people husbanding animals since 'time immemorial'; the Iberians mostly built stone-walled corrals so that is how they need to be depicted in the game. The Iberians kept cattle, sheep, goats, pigs, and horses in their corrals.

  • Generic Name: Mill

  • Specific Name: Ola
  • Class: Mill.

  • History: There was no such thing as an Iberians mill during the time frame although there may have been camps. However as a game construct we show one to serve purpose of supporting lumbering and mining operations.

  • Generic Name: Iberian Tower

  • Specific Name: Dorre
  • Class: Scout Tower.
  • History: The Iberian Tower is rather unique for its time and the bases for its construction have been derived of extensive archeological and paleontological investigations by university faculty members in Spain at sites of which one of the principal is that located near the village of Aldea de Centenario at some distance south-southeast of Madrid. These towers were quite large, high and stonework monolithic as shown; being cylindrical lent them added strength. They were initially built at mountain passes to control access through them or on high places to provide overview and defense of surrounding terrain. They may have also been used as 'toll stations' along trading routes. Sometimes they were even built 'right out in the middle of nowhere' on the flat lands, but always with the idea of defensively controlling terrain. In time, many of these towers became a central feature in the Oppida or Castros that grew up around them because of their ideally situated locations, or they were made integral with the walls of growing town sites. Whether located in an isolated spot or integrated into a populated place, they were ideally suited to their purpose during the time frame of the game.
  • Special: Mini-Fort Strongpoint.

TOWN

  • Generic Name: Dock
  • Specific Name: Kai
  • Class: Dock.

  • History: No one really knows how ancient 1st millennium Iberian Peninsular docks or ports looked, though they were probably pretty simple affairs having but a short pier, if even that. However, for the purposes of creating a structure in the game and because the Phoenicians and Carthaginians had such broad influence on the peninsula for a half millennium before the time frame of the game, we have chosen to model something similar to the inner port centre at Carthage, with typical Iberians architectural applications applied to it. The largest port that was strictly Iberian, though said to have been founded by the Greeks (defaulting to the resident Iberians when Greek merchants were blocked by Carthage from further trading into the western Mediterranean), was probably only that of Saguntum (and possibly Emporion) on the eastern coast of Spain referred to as the Spanish Levant.

  • Generic Name: Temple

  • Specific Name: Loki
  • Class: Temple.
  • Notes: Construction materials applied to the structure sketch are chosen to more accurately reflect the building practices prevalent at the time period of 0 A.D., including the tiling of the roofs. If the virtual representation of the Tartessian temple accurately reflects building practices on the Iberian Peninsula as far back as around 900 B.C. to which it is dated, then the Iberians in some places developed pretty sophisticated civilization and advanced architectural techniques that were contemporary to any other Mediterranean area civ of the time, though most of their cities may not have been as large.

  • History: The Iberian tribes did not typically worship their gods at temples, but there has been a single instance in which the remains of an ancient Tartessian temple has been unearthed in Andalusia in southern Spain. The Iberians for the most part worshiped their gods at small household votive altars in their homes or sometimes at smallish monuments to them in the outdoors. Their two principal gods (though they are also known to have had many others) were Endovellikos, as the male represented by a boar, and Ataekina, the female counterpart as represented by a goat. We have chosen to depict these two gods by statuary in the typical vein of the times, mounted atop the pillars at the entrance to the temple, Ataekina on the right and Endovellikos on the left.

  • Generic Name: Blacksmith

  • Specific Name: <?>
  • Class: Blacksmith.

  • History: The Iberians were known to produce the finest iron and steel implements and weapons of the age.

  • Generic Name: Marketplace

  • Specific Name: Merkatu
  • Class: Market.

  • History: The trade centres or marketplaces of the Iberians may have in fact been no more than folks gathering about in a plaza during certain days of the week or month in order to exchange goods. As a game construct we show a modest building where trading and purchasing goods for sale may take place.

  • Generic Name: Wide Wall

  • Specific Name: Zabal Horma
  • Class: Wall.

  • History: High and strongly built defensive stone walls were a common structure of the Iberian Peninsula during the period, and for long thereafter.

  • Generic Name: Iberian Tower

  • Specific Name: Dorre
  • Class: Tower.

CITY

  • Generic Name: Castro
  • Specific Name: Same
  • Class: Fortress.
  • History: The Castro can be likened to a more strongly fortified town centre than that of the common Oppidum which were also fortified places of habitation. As such it was widely and normally constructed upon a height, and almost always had some sort of an acropolis built at the highest point within its towered walls. In the archeological record of the Iberian Peninsula, the remnants of as many as a thousand fortified places identifiable as Castros can be found in modern day Portugal alone.
  • Special: -.

SPECIAL STRUCTURES

  • Generic Name: Revered Monument
  • Specific Name: Gur Oroigarri
  • Class: SB1.
  • History: The Iberians were a religious people who built small monuments to their various gods. These monuments could also serve as family tombs.
  • Requirements: Must be built within the player's territory.
  • Phase: City.
  • Special: Religious Fervor Aura (+20% attack for soldiers, nearby buildings do not decay - Range of 50m). Build Limit of 5.

WONDER

  • Generic Name: Cancho Roano.
  • Specific Name: Wonder.
  • Class: Wonder.
  • History: .
  • Requirements: Temple.
  • Phase: City.
  • Special: Symbol Of Greatness Aura (+10 population per wonder owned). Glorious Expansion Aura (+40 additional population per wonder owned - Requires the "Glorious Expansion" Tech). Blessing Of the Gods Aura (Heals organic units at 3 HP per second - Range of 60m).

NEW STRUCTURE TRAITS

  • None yet.

FORBIDDEN STRUCTURES

(none)

CIV BONUSES

  • CB1
  • Name: Harritsu Leku
  • History: With exception to alluvial plains and river valleys, stone is abundant in the Iberian Peninsula and was greatly used in construction of structures of all types.
  • Effect: The Iberian player starts the match with a powerful prefabricated circuit of stone walls.

TEAM BONUS

  • TB1
  • Name: Saripeko
  • History: The Iberians were long known to provide mercenary soldiers to other nations to serve as auxiliaries to their armies in foreign wars. Carthage is the most well known example, and we have evidence of them serving in such a capacity in Aquitania.
  • Effect: Citizen-soldier infantry and cavalry javelinists -20% cost for allies.

SPECIAL TECHNOLOGIES

  • ST1
  • Name: Toledo Steel
  • History: The Iberians were known to produce the finest iron and steel implements and weapons of the age.
  • Effect: +20% attack for sword and mace armed soldiers.