The grandeur that was Rome. The glory that was Constantinople.
Popular culture and Byzantine history do not mix well together. On one of my previous posts, I have discussed why I believe that Byzantine history is simply not well-known in popular culture. Byzantine history is not that interesting enough to the general public to have a great movie made about it. The amateur historians among us are disappointed that more people are not interested in Byzantine history, but it is not surprising. Byzantine history is often only found in books and obscure podcasts on the internet. Popular culture, with its emphasis on the moving image seems to have forgotten about the Byzantine Empire entirely in favor of only caring about Ancient Rome during the pagan era. However, there is some hope for us Byzantinists. There is one area in popular culture where Byzantine history is featured prominently, and that area is in video games, particularly the historical war simulator. However, the realm of video games is vast and varied and there is one area that I wish I saw more of the Byzantine Empire being represented in, and that area is the city builder genre.
City builders are among some of my most favorite genre of video games. I have been playing them for decades and I have enjoyed every minute that I have spent with them. The ability to build a city from scratch and see it come to life is one of the most engaging aspects of city builders. They are also one of those type of video games that I feel isn’t going to turn your brain to mush through repetitive play. These games are best for playing in order to strengthen one’s mind. Unlike the many shooters that have flood the market, these games are able to teach some useful economical skills and higher thinking. However, there is a sub-genre of city builders called the historical city builder that I think would be a great marketing opportunity for all things Byzantine.
Generally speaking, I have spent more time with the SimCity franchise than probably any other video game series to this date. However, I have hardly spent time with building a city in historical settings. Most of the city builders that I have in my collection generally occur after 1800AD and the rise of modern city-planning began to supplant the established ways of running a metropolis.
There have been many city builders that have been released over the years that take place in historical settings. Some of these include the preeminent Caesar series, which is probably the one that people have the most familiarity with. While it may seem that city builders set in the past may be only useful as an exercise in light-hearted infotainment, people have found ways to connect them to academic topics.
A Byzantine city builder would be a great way to get people interested in the topic of Byzantine history. I believe that the city builder, by its very nature could be used in order to educate people about his history of the Byzantine period while also making it fun for people. As I have stated in previous posts, Byzantine history right now feels like a secret history, and it doesn’t really appeal to people outside of this arcane group of people.
The most important thing to remember about Byzantine history is that it is the history of how an empire was transformed from a Pagan empire into a Christian one. However, those continuities with the classical past are still there. I feel like a city builder would be able to teach people that the Roman past wasn’t static and that it morphed and changed over time.
However, one of the greatest issues with making such a game would be having a suitable and profitable market for it. Forget about the mechanics and whether making economic management could be actually fun for this generation. The main issue is whether there is a market for it. This is one of the reasons that I am skeptical of anything Byzantine-oriented taking off without there being more Byzantine pop culture elements in the marketplace. Right now, the only place that Byzantine history has any foothold is in the realm of video games.
Right at this moment, the market for city builders is quite small compared to the shooters. If one looks at the statistics on Reddit, one has some uncomfortable facts about the popularity of city builders in the video gaming market. The SimCity subreddit at this moment has only 36,000 subscribers, while the Halo subreddit has around 1.3 million subscribers. These are just two games, but they are symbols of their genre. Shooters are simply more popular. If a Byzantine-oriented game was to be released, we are more likely to get a game that is a first-person hack and slash game. It is just hard to see where the market for a city builder would come from. The video game market, while it has a thriving indie scene with tons of city builders, I just find it hard to believe that someone would spend money on such a game.
However, aside from marketplace concerns, what type of game would this be? Honestly, I am not a developer, so I cannot answer this question on a mechanical level. However, I do have some conceptual ideas that would provide a foundation for such a game.
The Byzantine period is very long, and a game would provide a great opportunity for people to learn about the Byzantine Empire from a variety of angles. I believe that a game starting in the early Byzantine period, especially during the time of Constantine would be a great starting point for a game. It could also conclude with the fall of Constantinople in 1453. That provides many opportunities for various cities to be chosen as starting areas for the player.
Of course, when talking about the Byzantine Empire, one cannot ignore the importance of Constantinople in this regard. However, there were many other cities that I think that players would like to explore. These cities include places such as Thessaloniki, Thebes and Athens. These were important centers of trade and commerce and I expect that a video game would do a great job at depicting these urban areas.
I personally would love a scenario that takes place in Constantinople in 530 AD, as that would give us an opportunity to play as an Urban Prefect and mold the city to our own desires during the reign of Emperor Justinian. We could get an opportunity to rebuild the city after the Nike Riots and the Plague of Justinian. There are so many gameplay opportunities here that I would love to see it in action.
Another scenario that I would love to see is Constantinople in 1000 AD, this time under the reign of Basil II. This was during the height of the empire, and I would love the ability to build the city out in its full splendor during that time. It would also serve an important educational purpose to show people how long-lived the Byzantine Empire was.
Overall, I believe that a Byzantine city builder is probably not coming out until the main cultural anchors of our time, moving pictures, is able to give us an impression of the Byzantine Empire that is able to provoke the consciousness of the general public. Only through this way will there be appetite for more cultural depictions of the Byzantine Empire.
Byzantine-Empire.com 