= Location = (8)

Learn about the Phoenicians in Age of Empires IV, who appeared around 1200 B.C. and built a vast trading network from cities like Tyre and Sidon.

The Phoenicians first appeared on the historical scene in Age of Empires IV around 1200 B.C., during a period of widespread barbarian invasions and a 400-year ancient dark age. This small group of traders managed to prosper and expand their influence by building a large trading and colonial network, rather than a contiguous land empire. Their home base consisted of a few independent cities along the coast of modern-day Lebanon.

These people were the remnants of the Canaanites, a Semitic group who inhabited city-states in the region before 1200 B.C. Key early cities included Tyre, Sidon, Berytus (modern Beirut), and Byblos. Situated along the coast and hemmed in by the Lebanon Mountains, their primary opportunities for expansion and economic gain were by sea.