Rhegion

Rhegion is a small Greek faction located in southern Bruttium, at the very tip of the "toe" of the Italian Pensinula.

Its only starting land neighbour is Locris, making it an isolated faction that is potentially good for beginners, especially in the base game. The Eagle King DLC adds the island of Sicily, which is only separated from Rhegion's territory by a very narrow strait and puts the faction in close proximity to Zancle as well.

In-game Description
"The site of Rhegion has been settled since the 3rd millenium BCE by a varied host of peoples before being colonized by Chalcidian Greeks in the 8th century BCE. It gew into a major maritime city with great acadamies and was hope to the poet Ibykos and the sculptor Klearkhos."

Starting Cities

 * Rhegion:
 * Palizzi:
 * Taurania:

Historic Starting Generals
When playing this faction in a sandbox setting, the player may choose to start with one of the following pre-defined historic generals instead of a generic one. These characters usually have far better bonuses than can be obtained with the generic starting generals.

Strategy
In the base game, Rhegion has an isolated position in a corner of the map with only one neighbour to worry about, namely Locris, who will also likely be your first target for expansion. This makes Rhegion a viable faction for beginners, despite their small size. While this also holds true to an extent in the Eagle King DLC, the addition of the island of Sicily nearby and the more readily available Small Transport Ships make it likely that you will eventually be on the receiving end of naval incursions as the game progresses.

To compensate for only starting with a few native cities, it might be a good idea to use the economic skill tree to boost population growth and unlock the Colonization skill as early possible.

Trivia & History

 * Rhegion was one of the very first Greek colonies to be founded in Italy, being a few decades older than most major Greek cities on the mainland.
 * The city-state reached the zenith of its power under the reign of the Messenian Anaxilas in the early 5th Century BC, during which Rhegion conquered Zancle (which was renamed Messene in honour of Anaxilas' homeland) and also established a colony at Pyxous in Lucania, though Rhegion suffered a disastrous defeat in a joint expedition with Taras against the Messapii and Peuceti.
 * Rhegion came into conflict with Syrakousai in the early 4th Century BC, and was entirely destroyed by the Syracusan tyrant Dionysius the Elder in 387 BC. The city was refounded as Phoebeia in the 360s BC, though it reverted to its original name shortly thereafter.
 * Rhegion allied with Rome shortly before the Pyrrhic War. During that war, the Romans sent a detachment of Campanian soldiers to garrison the city and defend it from attack. The soldiers, inspired by the Mamertines who were fellow Campanians that had violently seized the city of Messene a few years earlier, decided to defect from Rome and staged a bloody coup in which they assumed command of Rhegion. The Romans were occupied with the Pyrrhic War and tolerated the rebels for a few years, but were prompted to take action when the rebels sacked the Roman allies at Kroton shortly after the war had ended. Rhegion was captured and restored to independence as a Roman ally.
 * The faction's icon depicts the scalp of a lion, a design that appears on ancient coins found in Rhegion's territory.