With the Saracens, Turks plus Persians, the Byzantines are eight of the civilizations belonging to the Middle Eastern culture. Its major strength is its defense in their buildings plus units. Its towers plus other buildings have more hit points (HP) plus stronger in attack. Their unique unit is the Cataphract, a Cavalry unit that has high armor, bonus destroy against infantry (effective even against Pikemen):
* Stronger Buildings: Byzantine buildings are 10% stronger, meaning they have 10% more hit points than other civ’s buildings. This percentage increases as the ages progress, 20% in the Feudal age, 30% in castle, & 40% in imperial. This will increase the amount of time you’ve to defend yourself of the attack.
* Cheap Counter Units: Byzantine has the ability to produce counter units at a 25% less cost. These units are listed as skirmishers, camels, & pikemen. If attacked off guard or early on, this bonus will come in handy as you can generate a defense on the fly.
* Fire Ships: Fire ships are similar to RoR fire galley in that they are great for close combat with ships in the near vicinity. Byzantine fire ships pack 20% more the punch than other civs’ fire ships. Their use weighs more defensively though than offensively.
* Cheap Imperial: Since the Byzantine are the most advanced civilization in the game, it is only fitting that they don’t have to pay as much to upgrade to the final age. The upgrade costs 33% less than other civilizations, meaning this is a speedy ironing civilization.
Unique Unit: Cataphract
A heavy cavalry unit useful in attacking archers and siege. This unit’s most useful function is attacking infantry, where they get a +5 attack edge. Be weary of gigantic groups of pikemen and close proximity to castles and towncenters against this unit.

The Byzantine empire is a seafaring one. They have access to all seafaring technology & their fire ships posses more attack points than those of other civilizations. On land, the Byzantines are more of a defensive people, & their buildings have greater strength than those of other civilizations.
A lack of production bonuses makes the Byzantines inefficient at gathering resources. They are also at a disadvantage in obtainable siege technology.
When play with Byzantines concentrate on harassing enemy production to try to even the resource-gathering playing field. Use your naval advantages to their utmost on maps with water areas.