Greek

The Greek factions sit in the the far south of Italy in an area called Magna Graecia, or Greater Greece.

Overview
Being the origin of the hoplite unit, hoplite brigades are available very early on. Greek hoplites lack the charge strength of their Sabellic counterparts, but in exchange they have the best defenses in the game and are ideal for battlelines and sieges. The Greeks also have slightly earlier access to Heavy Hoplites in the mid-game and additionally gain access to the Hypaspists, which combine the offensive potency of northern swordsmen with the defensive strength and large brigade sizes of native hoplites. In the late-game the Greeks get access to the Phalangites, which are virtually unstoppable in melee combat, as well as the unique Greek catapult. They can support their battlelines with flexible and powerful peltasts and mounted javelineers.

The Greeks do not require advanced research in order to access most of their unit tree, making their early power potential the highest of any faction group. The downside of this is that they cannot use the best units of other faction groups in conquered cities, since they can never unlock the prerequisite skills.

"The Greeks effectively combine heavily armoured hoplite battlelines, with the fast supporting fire of peltasts, psiloi and mounted javelineers. Tip: The Greek's long history of hoplite warfare make them stronger in the early game."

- In-game Description

Factions

 * Kroton
 * Locris
 * Rhegion
 * Sybaris
 * Taras
 * Zancle (The Eagle King DLC)
 * Himera (The Eagle King DLC)
 * Syrakousai (The Eagle King DLC)
 * Selinous (The Eagle King DLC)
 * Epirus (Invasion Sandbox and Pyrrhus Campaign of The Eagle King DLC)
 * Macedon (Invasion Sandbox of the Eagle King DLC)
 * Crete (Invasion Sandbox of the Eagle King DLC)
 * Thurii (Non-playable faction in the Pyrrhus Campaign of The Eagle King DLC)
 * Carthage (Non-playable faction in the Pyrrhus Campaign, using the Greek faction group in spite of not actually being Greek)

History
The Greeks were historically the first to fight in hoplite fashion, starting in the 7th Century BC at the latest, with the Etruscans and Latins probably adopting the fighting style over the course of the following century. The hoplites were supported by large amounts of psiloi drawn from the lower classes, which acted as light missile infantry armed with slings and javelins.

The Greeks continued to improve the hoplite panoply such as with the development of the muscle cuirass in the early 5th Century BC, which features prominently on the Heavy Hoplites in-game and spread to the Etruscans and Latins as well.

Hypaspists are primarily known as an elite infantry unit in the Macedonian army of Philip and Alexander, and several Hellenistic-era successor kingdoms. In-game, the Hypaspists seem to be used as a stand-in for the most elite hoplite regiments of the various Greek factions, which were in reality probably known under different names.

Peltasts originated in Thrace and were not historically a part of the earliest Greek armies, but were gradually adopted by the Greeks over the course of the 5th Century BC as it became more common to supplement the hoplite phalanx with skirmishing units.

The Greeks originally barely used any cavalry at all, but the Peloponnesian Wars of the late 5th Century BC saw an increase in the usage of light cavalry for skirmishing, reconnaissance and pursuit. The Thessalians and Macedonians were known for having strong and versatile melee cavalry, but the same was not true for other Greeks. Taras, however, was notable for having a prominent force of light javelin-armed cavalry developed for harrasment at range rather than close-quarters combat. This style of cavalry seems to have spread among the other Greeks and is likely the basis for the Mounted Javelineers brigade in-game.

Phalangites were a development of the hoplites with smaller shields and extra long spears, originating in Macedonia in the 4th Century BC. Several Greek city-states began experimenting with phalangite formations of their own in the 3rd Century BC, but it is unknown if and to what extent they were adopted by any of the city-states in Magna Graecia.

Unlike Phalangites, Catapults were definitely present in Greek Italy, with the first real examples perhaps being developed in Syrakousai around 400 BC, quickly spreading across the Greek world from there.