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The
Lombards had a brutal and
dark history, disappearing from history for a few
hundred years before reappearing in northern Italy,
which they conquered. The
Lombard king defeated the
Gepids in combat so decisively the entire Gepid nation
was destroyed never to reappear. That Lombard king
commemorated the battle in which he personally slew
the Gepid king by converting the king’s skull into his
personal drinking goblet. When the next Lombard king
died, custom dictated his widow choose her next
husband and so the next Lombard king. She chose the
handsome and ambitious Rothari. He immediately put to
death the insubordinate court of his predecessor and
installed his own intensely loyal and active court.
He was first to codify the Lombard laws, and in every
way exploited political ends to advance his kingdom
and people.
The Lombards start in Italia,
which they ruled a bit more harshly than the natives
were
 accustomed to under the Romans. Rothari’s active
political strategy is represented in the game by the
Lombards beginning with an additional Count, a
powerful court member that imparts an edge to the
shrewd player who keeps his court busy. The
Lombard military is dangerous
as well, with very good cavalry and solid infantry
that gives them a force with versatility and strength. |
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