In the modern Civilization games, there is an emphasis on making each culture unique. In the beginning this was mostly done through giving each civilization a unique unit to use.
In Civilization VII, unique units will represent this continuing trend on uniqueness. In the earlier games, unique units were somewhat disconnected from the rest of the game. However, Fraxis Games seemed to be more about moving the games away from simply being Civilization simulators. They have been trying to make the game have more personality; they are making an attempt to move away from spreadsheet games.
I am going to make a suggestion here.
I think that the unique military unit should be a naval unit in the game.
As Civilization VII is going to be released with three ages at launch. I think that the Byzantines would be best in the exploration age as that represents the time after Antiquity.
The Byzantines until the 12th Century had a navy that was the envy of the Mediterranean.
That unique naval unit should be the Dormon, much like it had been in Civilization III. In that game, the unique unit was quite strong in combat. It had an animation where it would fire the distinctive Byzantine weapon, Greek Fire. It is a gorgeous animation and really show the power and innovation of the Byzantine Navy.
I believe that the Byzantine Empire is going to be in a DLC in 2025 probably. Until when it is released on Steam, we can speculate.
I think that the Dormon would be best encapsulation of the Byzantine Empire. It was an empire mostly about defensive over offensive. This ship represents that strategy to gamers.
Byzantine-Empire.com 