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Regular AOE2 can already be pushed back to around 300AD without much changes besides some restrictions on the tech tree (mostly gunpowder), thanks to civs from the invasion periods (Romans Persians Goths Franks Huns…). In my headcannon AOE2 starts with the Battle of the Milvian Bridge, Constantine adopting christianity then quickly making the Empire adopt it
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Of course, the issue of changing the Romans to the Papal States is complicated because you would have to change all the AI names, UUs and bonuses… the Italians in AoE 3 already represent the Papal States with their Papal units, so I’m not so bothered by not seeing them in AoE 2…
Yes, strictly speaking, AoE 2 DE starts with the division of the Roman Empire in 395, but it can be extended to several years back within what would already be the late Antiquity: 378 (Battle of Adrianople), 330 (the founding of the Byzantine Empire), even 250-284 (the crisis of the 3rd century and Diocletian) (but this is already seen in AoE 1 DE so no)… AoE 1 DE ends in Europe with The Coming of the Huns in 373 CE, so that would be the dividing line that I think the devs are not going to cross and that Chronicles would also go that far… 
Yeah, in my mind, late antiquity is a much better fit for AoE2 than for AoE1, because late antiquity had very similar warfare tactics as most of the Middle Ages, along with common siege equipment too. Fortresses, basically proto-castles, existed, especially in Rome (there’s a great Shadiversity video on this topic), and people would lay siege to them in an attempt to control territory. The siege weapons themselves were also all basically the same, with battering rams, ballistas, and catapults all being widely used at this point. Heavy cavalry as well started to become more commonplace, although it didn’t really become dominant until the Middle Ages proper.
Basically, aside from trebuchets and gunpowder, the basic AoE2 units all existed during the late antiquity period and were fairly commonplace, which makes civs like the Romans actually somewhat natural picks.
I’m waiting for the 2027 Majorian, Zeno and Justinian campaigns
For Maggioriano I am willing to do a signature collection.
What’s that?
Majorian = Maggioriano, I simply wrote it in Italian at first sight
Yes, that I understood. What would be a signature collection? A campaign? There’s an Aegidus campaign btw
I think hes saying that hes willing to make a petition with signatures
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Either that, or he’s trying to collect autographs of famous or important people, in which case, I’d be happy to contribute.
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0 - late 300 Chronicles
Late 300 - 500 AoE2
Because there is many AoE2 campaigns in the period of 400 500 and many civilizations are designed from this time : Romans, Goth, Huns.
But in the future we need another roman civilization based on the republican and early imperial roman because than the actual roman civilization are designed from the late Romans of the western roman empire.
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If the make a Roman civ for chronicles, I would like to see how it will be named to avoid confusion with the current civ from ROR.
In any case, as much as I like Chronicles, I would like to see a new full fledged game in Antiquity
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Yes, exactly. In many parts of the world it is a way of showing support for a certain thing.
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Heraclius would also be a fantastic choice. A major turning point (especially the last one which would be defending against the muslim conquests) and as the campaign would be quite defensive, it would play into the Byzantines’ strengths. You could also follow it with a second saracen campaign, to portray their conquests in the 7th century.
What were the devs thinking when picking a fictional family at the edge of the empire, to choose a byzantine campaign ?
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Man, as duke of lorraine said, an Heraclius csmpaign would be awesome. But I’m partial to a Zeno campaign, because then the Byzantines had legionaries and centurions
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Why only pick one ? The Byzantines have such a packed history.
The Franks should have campaigns for Charlemagne and Philippe Auguste, while we’re adding new campaigns for civ who already have one.
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Historical battles for Zeno
Justinian, because who would think of making a fictitious Byzantine campaign instead of using real characters?
Heraclius
There’s already a Kommenos V&V Battle, but we also have a Temujin V&V battle, so whatever.
But if I had to choose, either Justinian or Heraclius.
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And Basil II, possibly with a prologue with Nikephoros Phocas reconquering Crete. You don’t get called the Bulgar Slayer by being a Carebear.
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That’s true… in ancient times, you have great battles with infantry with bronze armor and chariots, whereas in the Iron Age and the Dark Ages, you have iron armor and more dynamic infantry that can move from here to there… I think the leap came after the invention of the stirrup…
When stirrups came into use some time during the Dark Ages, militaries were forever changed. This invention, coupled with technological, cultural, and social developments, had forced a dramatic transformation in the character of warfare since ancient times, changing military tactics and the role of cavalry and artillery.
Yes, they could do a kind of campaign like “The Hautevilles” or “The Grand Dukes” called “The Last Romans” (and have it be a campaign of Flavius Aetius, Majorian and Aegidius, two scenarios for each one and that it be from 425 to 465 and that the narrator be Aegidius on his deathbed telling it to his son Syagrius, who was the last ruler of the Kingdom of Soissons)…
Of course, no more, no less… as I said above, what separates Chronicles from AoE 2 is the Battle of Adrianople in 378 CE…
Yes, probably in Chronicles we will see Republican Romans (509-27 BC) and then Imperial Romans (27 BC-476 AD) as two separate civs… Monarchic Romans (753-509 BC) would be good but they don’t fit in Chronicles since the latter starts from 500 BC…
Yes, an Age of Empires Online DE xd for 2026 (the original game turns 15 next year) (it would be the same game we have now in Celeste with a simple patch in HD or 4K and at last they charge for the new civs)… and if not yes, a proper AoE 5 or 6 (if the 5 is colonial)…
Yes, that’s what they’re doing with the canceled AoE 3 DLC. They’re requesting it with a petition on Change.org, and it already has over 5,500 signatures…
Yes, I would like a Belisarius/Justinian campaign (527-565) (Bari never really convinced me, it reminds me of the Black campaigns from AoE 3 but in a Byzantine version)… Heraclius would see him more as an antagonist in a campaign by Abu Bakr, Khalid ibn al-Walid or al-Faruq (622-644) (expanding from Arabia to conquer Persia and leaving the Byzantines super weakened)… Zeno hadn’t thought about it but from what little he governed I don’t see it as a Roman campaign…
Yes, they would have to make new VaV campaign packs and historical battles to complete the 500-700 period and with that they would finish what would be the AoE 2 chronology…
Of course, we don’t have that many scenarios fighting Bulgarians outside of Ivaylo…
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