History ArtisticLicenseHistory / Imperivm

* Just like their civilization altogether, the games's Iberian army combines Mediterranean coastal elements (falcatas, oblong shields, ornated helmets) with Celtiberian ones (white tunics, oval shields, crested helmets), along with Cantabrian (battle axes), Lusitanian (caetras, leather caps, guerrilla fighters) and downright fantastical (the BladeOnAStick weapon wielded by said guerrilla fighters). Also, like Britannia, they feature archers, even although cultures from Hispania used javelins and not bows.

* Numidians and Mauritanians in real life were olive-skinned Berber people, while the game portrays them as being fully black and looking like tribal warriors of the DarkestAfrica (though they did get the right skin tone for the Libyan lancers, even if they still got their gear and weapons wrong). It extends to the hero units too, as the game's tendency to assign them random names and character pictures messes up things: chances are that, after recruiting a Carthaginian hero, you will end up with a guy sporting a Phoenician name and a character pic that represents an AngryBlackMan.

* While it can be forgiven if we interpret that the entire ''Imperivm II'' tutorial level is meant to be non-canonical fantasy, it still contains a strange piece of history where Viriathus is somehow a Celtiberian (there are some fringe theories about it in real life, but mainstream historians are unanimous that he was a Lusitanian), learns under Caraunius (who in real life was probably younger than Viriathus) and a Gaul druid (and one with the Germanic-sounding name Haaser), and eventually becomes the chieftain of Lutia (a city that was never allied to either Viriathus or the Celtiberian resistance). He is even given the unit skin of Larax from the first game, who is clearly Gaul in appearance. For extra bizarreness, there is a patch of desert and a Carthaginian settlement in the same map, and the English version of the game turns it UpToEleven by changing the locations to Kebatha (a Gaul village from the first game) and a fictional city named Barezia.

* In the third game, Britannian druid Penut chants the name of Kathobodua, a continental Gaulish goddess who has never been mentioned in the comparatively richer Britannian religious sources. This is presumably an in-game reference to the goddess's role in the first game, though. The same way, Fand is an ''Irish'' deity, not a Gaul one.

* Rather than looking Phoenician in style, the Carthaginian civilization from the game has somewhat of a Muslim touch, with Arabian-looking architecture, camel cavalry and bearded people in turbans and djellabas, while at the same time having a lot of Sub-Saharan tribal imagery. (By the way, Carthage's religion was carried on by clean shaven priests, not by bearded "shamans", which is also a term for Eurasian religious specialists.) Also, some of their in-game quotes mention Moloch, a posterior and vaguely pejorative Hebrew word for any Phoenician god; a person from Carthage would have referred to his god as Baal Hammon or simply Baal.

* In opposition to the previous, warrior women are well attested in sources about ancient Hispania, where they appear as defenders of cities, but in-game Iberians are ironically the only barbarian faction that does ''not'' have female fighters (though ''Imperivm II'' compensates this a bit by having some Gaul warrior women among the Iberian forces in campaign, probably in reference to the mentioned records).
* Celts, especially Britons and Gauls, were famous for using war chariots, but none of those civilizations has them in the game. Meanwhile Rome, who did ''not'' use them for warfare, does have.

* Just like their civilization altogether, the games's Iberian army combines Mediterranean coastal elements (falcatas, oblong shields, ornated helmets) with Celtiberian ones (white tunics, oval shields, crested helmets), along with Cantabrian (battle axes), Lusitanian (caetras, leather caps, guerrilla fighters) and downright fantastical (the BladeOnAStick weapon wielded by the guerrilla fighters). Also, like Britannia, they feature archers even although cultures from Hispania generally favored javelins over bows.

* The portrala of Carthage's army in the games is ''spectacularly'' wrong. To list it, it lacks any cavalry (in real life, they were known and feared by their varied contingents of horsemen), have ''camel'' riders (which they never used in real life), employ Numidians as footsoldiers (Numidians were historically renowned riders who were barely used as infantry at all), portray Libian as unarmored javelin throwers (in real life, they were heavy infantry in the vein of the game's noblemen) and have unarmored Mauritanian guys DualWielding sabers (which is entirely fantastic).

* In the game, Carthage's specialty as a faction is playing a [[Franchise/StarWars Galactic Empire]]-style [[WeHaveReserves human wave strategy]], with some units even being explicitly designed to inflict damage by dying. While the developers might have got this idea from Carthage's usage of mercenaries over citizen troops, which would admittedly be easier to sacrifice in battle than your own people, this is practically the opposite to how Carthaginians waged war at the time of the Punic Wars (there's a reason why Hannibal is called the "Father of Strategy" and not the "Father of ZergRush") and not a very realistic military policy in any case: which sane mercenary would sign up with a nation that had the reputation of blindly sending entire armies to their deaths? This strategy would rather make sense if employed by Gauls, as they really loved the good ol' frontal charge and considered honorable a stupid death.
* Most of the Egyptian civilization's named warrior classes (Horus warrior, Anubis warriors, Nile guards) are fictional, as well as the first two's weapons and armor. Also, some of their warriors are barefoot, which is inaccurate, as warfare was one of the few fields where they bothered to wear sandals and shin guards.

* The Romans from ''II'' apparently invented TimeTravel, because their Senate in 264 BC somehow features Cato the Elder (234-149 BC) and Cicero (106-43 BC). The former even says his classic quote "Carthage must be destroyed!" despite the fact that the real reason that led him to utter it in real life (namely, that Carthage hadn't been completely destroyed and was slowly rebuilding its power) didn't even exist at the time (Rome and Carthage hadn't really clashed yet).
* At the campaign in Zama, Scipio Africanus is portrayed as an old gentleman, recycling the character picture of CanonForeigner Senator Anteros from the second game. In real life, Scipio was actually in his twenties when he fought in that battle.
* During the UsefulNotes/{{Boudica}} campaign in ''Imperivm III'', her husband Prasutagus is not mentioned, making it look like Boudica had always been the sole governor of the Iceni. This version of Boudicca also revolts only due to Rome's abuses and high taxes, when in real life she had a much more personal reason, namely that she was flogged and her daughters raped by Roman centurions after Prasutagus' death. Finally, the game follows the pop culture trend of portraying her as an ActionGirl, even giving out a picture of her fighting literally at the front lines, which no historical source backs up.

* In real life, Hispania was very diverse in the religious aspect too. Northern tribes apparently had shaman-like "diviners" who were entasked with sacrifices, while southern regions could have believably shared Carthage's Phoenician pantheon and priests. The game, however, opts to portray their religious class as composed by female priestesses clearly based on the ''dama'' statues of Spanish archaeology, despite they were limited to the Mediterranean coast (and we don't even known if they are meant to represent priestesses, goddesses or noblewomen).

* Rather than looking Berber-Phoenician in style, the Carthaginian civilization from the game has somewhat of a Muslim touch, with Arabian-looking architecture, camel cavalry and bearded people in turbans and djellabas, while at the same time having a lot of Sub-Saharian tribal imagery. (By the way, Carthage's religion was carried on by clean shaven priests, not by bearded "shamans", which is also a term for Eurasian religious specialists.) Also, some of their in-game quotes mention Moloch, a posterior and vaguely pejorative Hebrew word for any Phoenician god; a person from Carthage would have referred to his god as Baal Hammon or simply Baal.
* Numidians and Mauritanians in real life were olive-skinned Berber people, while the game portrays them as being fully black and looking trial warriors of the DarkestAfrica (though they did get the right skin tone for the Libyan lancers, even if they still got their gear and weapons wrong). It extends to the hero units too, as the game's tendency to assign them random names and character pictures messes up things: chances are that, after recruiting a Carthaginian hero, you will end up with a guy sporting a Phoenician name and a character pic that represents an AngryBlackMan.

* In opposition to the previous, warrior women are well attested in sources about ancient Hispania, where they appear as defenders of cities, but in-game Iberians are ironically the only barbarian faction that does ''not'' have any female fighting unit (though ''Imperivm II'' compensates this a bit by having some Gaul warrior women among the Iberian forces in campaign, probably in reference to the mentioned records).

* The Britons from the game have archers, when in real life there is little evidence of them. In turn, the sling was a popular weapon in Britannia, yet they don't have any in the game.
* Gauls definitely did not have a caste of sacred warriors wielding tridents, nor used giant double-headed battle axes (they had a minor version which was actually a ''throwing'' axe).

* Carthage's portrayal in the games is ''spectacularly'' wrong. To list it, it lacks any cavalry (in real life, they were known and feared by their varied contingents of horsemen), have ''camel'' riders (which they never used in real life), employ Numidians as footsoldiers (Numidians were historically renowned riders who were barely used as infantry at all), portray Libian as unarmored javelin throwers (in real life, they were heavy infantry in the vein of the game's noblemen) and have unarmored Mauritanian guys DualWielding sabers (which is entirely fantastic).

* In the game, Carthage's specialty as a faction is playing a [[Franchise/StarWars Galactic Empire]]-style [[WeHaveReserves human wave strategy]], with some units even being explicitly designed to inflict damage by dying. While the developers might have got this idea from Carthage's usage of mercenaries over citizen troops, which would admittedly be easier to sacrifice in battle than your own people, this is practically the opposite to how Carthaginians waged war (there's a reason why Hannibal is called the "Father of Strategy" and not the "Father of ZergRush") and not a very realistic military policy in any case: which sane mercenary would sign up with a nation that had the reputation of blindly sending entire armies to their deaths? This strategy would rather make sense if employed by Gauls, as they really loved the good ol' frontal charge and considered honorable a stupid death.

* Gades (at the time actually named Gadir) was a coastal city on a narrow slice of land, not a fortified city deep into land as it was portrayed in ''II''. Also, in the game Gades is an Iberian city the player has to conquer, while in real life it was a Phoenician colony just like Carthage.
* Following the previous point, ''II'' gives the impression that Hispania was a completely unexplored, savage land until Hamilcar's arrival, and implies Romans only came to the peninsula chasing the Barcids. In reality, Carthage had been trading formally with Spanish tribes long before Hamilcar decided to take their territories by force, which is why he already knew exactly where and who he should attack to make a few good conquests (unlike the game, in which he's pretty on the dark until he captures Gades). Similarly, Rome had its own field of influence on Hispania before the Second Punic War, and it was precisely because Hannibal attacked their territory that the war exploded.

* In the game, Carthage's specialty as a faction is playing a [[Franchise/StarWars Galactic Empire]]-style [[WeHaveReserves human wave strategy]], with some units even being explicitly designed to inflict damage by dying. While the developers might have got this idea from Carthage's usage of mercenaries over citizen troops, which would admittedly be easier to sacrifice in battle than your own people, this is practically the opposite to how Carthaginians waged war (there's a reason why Hannibal is called the "Father of Strategy" and not the "Father of ZergRush") and not a very realistic military policy in any case: what sane mercenary would sign up with a nation that had the reputation to send entire armies to their deaths? This strategy would rather make sense if employed by Gauls, as they really loved the good ol' frontal charge and considered honorable a stupid death.

* At the campaign in Zama, Scipio Africanus is portrayed as an old gentleman with a BaldOfAwesome, recycling the character picture of CanonForeigner Senator Anteros from the second game. In real life, Scipio was actually in his twenties when he fought in that battle.

* Although the game doesn't mention it by name, the Roman mission in Germany from ''Imperivm III'' is clearly meant to be the Battle of Teutoburgo, where Varus was defeated by Arminius. However, the events and disposition of the battle are completely divergent from real history: in real life, Arminius attracted Varus out of his camp through deception (Varus believed they were allies by this point) and led him to a large ambush in the forests, while in the game, Arminius is ambushing just a small force of a city ruled by Varus which he has to capture.
* Viriathus' headquarters are located in Mons Herminius in his campaign, probably because it was, for a long time, believed to be his place of birth. However, this theory was already disproven as mere folklore by the time the game was produced. As we don't know Viriathus' birthplace, it would have been more accurate to locate his fortress in Mons Veneris, which sources name many times as his main stronghold.

* The usage of the term "Norman" is a huge AnachronismStew, as it comes from the ''10th century''. Also, Norman chiefs being units from the Britannian civilization in the third game is strange as well, as Normandy is a northern region of France that had little interaction with Britannia at the time (the first and second games get this a bit better by having them in the Gaul civilization, though).
* In the third game, Britannian druid Penut chants the name of Kathobodua, a continental Gaulish goddess who has never been mentioned in the comparatively richer Britannian religious sources. This is presumably an in-game reference to the goddess's role in the first game, though.
* Fand is an ''Irish'' deity, not a Gaul one.

* The Iberian faction in the game is actually an outlandish mishmash of cultures from the Iberian peninsule, including, but not limited to, southern Iberian Greco-Phoenician art style, northern Celtiberian architecture, and some Celtic-looking warrior units - basically a Spanish version of {{Mayincatec}}.

* In real life, Carthage's religion was carried on by priests that were clean shaven for ceremonial reasons, not bearded "shamans" in Arabian attire like their counterparts from the game. Also, some of their in-game quotes mention Moloch, which was actually a posterior and vaguely pejorative Hebrew word for any Phoenician god; a person from Carthage would have referred to his god as Baal Hammon or simply Baal.
* Numidians and Mauritanians in real life were olive-skinned people, while the game portrays them as being fully black and having some Sub-Saharan tribal imagery. This is strange, as they did get the right skin tone for the Libyan lancers, even if they still got their gear and weapons wrong. It extends to the hero units too, as the game's tendency to assign them random names and character pictures messes up things: chances are that, after recruiting a Carthaginian hero, you will end up with a guy sporting a Phoenician name and a character pic that represents an AngryBlackMan.

* Gladiators were entertainers and prizefighters, not soldiers. Rome would have never sent them to the battlefield, at least not while wearing gladiator gear, which was designed only for the spectacle and was quite impractical in serious warfare. Speaking about it, the game mixes up two kinds of gladiators in their portrayal: their unit wears a Murmillo helmet yet wields a Retiarious trident.

* Just like their civilization altogether, the games's Iberian army combines Mediterranean coastal elements (falcatas, oblong shields, ornated helmets) with Celtiberian ones (white tunics, oval shields, crested helmets), along with Cantabrian (battle axes), Lusitanian (caetras, leather caps, guerrilla fighters) and downright fantastical (the BladeOnAStick weapon wielded by the guerrilla fighters). They also feature archers, even although cultures from Hispania generally favored javelins over bows.

* The usage of the term "Norman" is a huge AnachronismStew, as it comes from the ''10th century''. Norman chiefs being units from the Britannian civilization in the third game is strange as well, as Normandy is a northern region of France that had little interaction with Britannia at the time (ironically, the first and second games get this right by having them in the Gaul civilization).

* In real life, Hispania was very diverse in the religious aspect too. Northern tribes apparently had shaman-like "diviners" who were entasked with sacrifices, while southern regions could have believably shared Carthage's Phoenician pantheon and priests. The game, however, opts to portray their religious class as composed by female priestesses clearly based on the ''dama'' statues of Spanish archaeology, which were limited to the Mediterranean coast (and we don't even known if they are meant to represent priestesses, goddesses or noblewomen).
* As with the Iberians, the Britannian civilization is a rather surprising union of tribes that in real life weren't exactly friendly to each other. They have Caledonians, Highlanders and continental units working along with vaguely Iceni-looking warriors.

* Numidians and Mauritanians were olive-skinned people, while the game portrays them as being black and having some Sub-Saharan tribal imagery. This is strange, as they did get the right skin tone for the Libyan lancers, even if they still got their gear and weapons wrong. It extends to the hero units too, as the game's tendency to assign them random names and character pictures messes up things: chances are that, after recruiting a Carthaginian hero, you will end up with a guy sporting a Phoenician name and a character pic that represents an AngryBlackMan.

* Celtic and Germanic warrior women are really recorded in history, but their portrayal in the games is strongly rooted in either RuleOfCool and/or PoliticallyCorrectHistory. In real life, while it ''was'' frequent for women from these cultures to accompany the men to the battlefield, they usually took support roles, acting as cheerleaders and combat medics, and would only join the fight if the men were overpowered (or if they tried to desert, in whose case the women would attack them). Conversely, the game has them forming specialized, AmazonBrigade-style units, which was historically anecdotical and only found in some late Gothic tribes.

* Gauls definitely did not have a caste of sacred warriors wielding tridents, nor used giant double-headed battle axes.

* Related to the previous, though so pervasive in media that it could be its own trope in the vein of EveryJapaneseSwordIsAKatana, the usage of falcatas by Viriathus and the Iberian faction in the game is inaccurate. As said above, the falcata was limited to the Mediterranean coast of Iberia and was rare to find on the rest of the peninsula, where straight swords were much more popular. While Viriathus and the rest of the Lusitanian elite might have probably owned falcatas thanks to trading and plundering of the southern territories, they probably didn't use them as their primary weapon.
* Carthage's portrayal in the games is ''spectacularly'' wrong. It lacks cavalry, when in real life they were known and feared by their varied contingents of horsemen (instead, they employ ''camel'' cavalry, which they never used in real life), employ Numidians as footsoldiers (they were actually renowned riders who were barely used as infantry at all), portray Libian as unarmored javelin throwers (in real life, they were heavy infantry in the vein of the game's noblemen) and have unarmored Mauritanian guys DualWielding sabers (a fantasy touch).
* Carthage's Sacred Band was actually composed by spearmen in the phalanx style, not swordmen as portrayed here (they did carry swords, but just as a secondary weapon). Also, its presence in the game's events is highly anachronistic: while Carthaginian armies always featured commanders and small forces recruited among Punic citizens, the real Sacred Band was disbanded sixty years before the very First Punic War and its unit name was never used again.
* In the game, Carthage's specialty as a faction is playing a [[Franchise/StarWars Galactic Empire]]-style [[WeHaveReserves human wave strategy]], with some units even being explicitly designed to inflict damage by dying. While the developers might have got this idea from Carthage's usage of mercenaries over citizen troops, which would admittedly be easier to sacrifice in battle than your own people, this is practically the opposite to how Carthaginians waged war (there's a reason why Hannibal is called the "Father of Strategy" and not the "Father of ZergRush") and not a very realistic military policy in any case: what sane mercenary would sign up with a nation that had the reputation to send entire armies to their deaths? This strategy would make sense if employed by Gauls, as they really loved the good ol' frontal charge and considered honorable a stupid death, but not by Carthage.

* While it can be forgiven if we interpret that the entire ''Imperivm II'' tutorial level is meant to be non-canon fantasy, it still contains a piece of history where Viriathus is somehow a Celtiberian (there are some fringe theories about it in real life, but mainstream historians are unanimous he was a Lusitanian), learns under Caraunius (who in real life was probably younger than Viriathus) and a Gaul druid (and one with the Germanic-sounding name Haaser), and eventually becomes the chieftain of Lutia (a city that was never allied to either Viriathus or the Celtiberian resistance). He is even given the unit skin of Larax from the first game, who is clearly Gaul in appearance. For extra bizarreness, there is a patch of desert and a Carthaginian settlement in the same map, and the English version of the game turns it UpToEleven by changing the locations to Kebatha (a Gaul village from the first game) and a fictional city named Barezia.
* The Romans from ''II'' apparently invented TimeTravel, because their Senate in 264 BC somehow features Cato the Elder (234-149) and Cicero (106-43 BC). The former even says his classic quote "Carthage must be destroyed!" despite the fact that the real reason that led him to utter it in real life (namely, that Carthage hadn't been completely destroyed by Rome and was slowly rebuilding its power) didn't even exist at the time (as Rome and Carthage hadn't clashed yet and the latter was already a Mediterranean superpower).
* At the campaign in Zama, Scipio Africanus is portrayed as an old gentleman with a BaldOfAwesome (recycling the character picture of CanonForeigner Senator Anteros from the second game). In real life, Scipio was actually in his twenties when he fought in that battle.
* During the UsefulNotes/{{Boudica}} campaign in ''Imperivm III'', her husband Prasutagus is not mentioned, making it look like Boudica had always been the sole governor of the Iceni. This version of Boudicca also revolts due to Rome's abuses and high taxes, when in real life she had a much more personal reason, namely that she was flogged and her daughters raped by Roman centurions after Prasutagus' death. Finally, the game follows the pop culture trend of portraying her as an ActionGirl, even giving out a picture of her fighting literally at the front lines, which no historical source backs.

* In ''Imperivm II'', Numantia is placed in midst of a plain field, when the reason of its legendary resistance in real life was precisely its emplacement in a mountainous terrain with natural defenses. Again, the third game corrected it.

* Gades was a coastal city on a narrow slice of land, not a fortified city deep into the land as it was portrayed in ''II''. Also, in the game, Gades is an Iberian city the player has to conquer, while in real life it was a Phoenician colony just like Carthage, which also means the city was a base to Hamilcar and Hasdrubal the Fair from the beginning.

* The usage of the term "Norman" is a huge AnachronismStew, as it comes from the ''10th century''. Norman chiefs being units from the Britannian civilization in the third game is strange as well, as Normandy is a northern region of France that had little interaction with Britain at the time (ironically, the first and second games get this right by having them in the Gaul civilization).

* "Catriona" is a Britannian form of the Greek name Catherine. In the game's setting, it would have been impossible to find an Iberian person with that name.
* The Iberian faction in the game is actually a rather outlandish mishmash of cultures from the Iberian peninsule, including, but not limited to, southern Iberian Greco-Phoenician art style, northern Celtiberian architecture, and some Celtic-looking warrior units.
* In real life, Hispania was pretty obscure in the religious aspect. Northern tribes apparently had shaman-like "diviners" who were entasked with sacrifices, while southern regions could have believably shared Carthage's Phoenician pantheon and priests. The game opts, however, to portray their religious class as composed by female priestesses clearly based on the ''dama'' statues of Spanish archaeology, a portrayal that has its own problems (namely, that those are actually limited to the Mediterranean coast and that we don't even known if they are meant to represent priestesses, goddesses or noblewomen).
* In real life, Carthage's religion was carried on by priests that were clean shaven for ceremonial reasons, not bearded "shamans" like their counterparts from the game. Also, some of their in-game quotes mention Moloch, which was actually a posterior and vaguely pejorative Hebrew word for any Phoenician god; a person from Carthage would have referred to his god as Baal Hammon or simply Baal.
* The origin and timeline of Tuareg ethnic identity is a complicated matter, but one thing is sure: there were no Tuaregs in the Carthaginian army.

* Gladiators were entertainers and prizefighters, not soldiers. Rome would have never sent them to the battlefield, at least not while wearing gladiator gear, which was designed for the spectacle and was quite impractical in serious warfare. Speaking about it, the game mixes up two kinds of gladiators in their portrayal: their unit wears a Murmillo helmet yet wields a Retiarious trident.

* Celtic and Germanic warrior women are really recorded in history, but their portrayal in the games is certainly rooted in either RuleOfCool and/or PoliticallyCorrectHistory. In real life, it was frequent for women from these cultures to accompany the men to the battlefield in support roles, acting as cheerleaders and combat medics who would join the fight if the men were overpowered (or if they tried to desert, in whose case the women would attack them), but to form AmazonBrigade-style specialized units like the Gaulish warriors and Germanic huntresses from the game was much rarer, if not anecdotical.
* Opposite to the previous, Spanish Celtic women are recorded as often defending their cities along with the men, but the in-game Iberians are ironically the only Celtic/Germanic faction that does ''not'' have warrior women (though ''Imperivm II'' compensates this a bit by having some Gaul warrior women among the Iberian forces in campaign, probably in reference to the mentioned records).
* Celts, especially Britons and Gauls, were famous for using war chariots, but none of those civilizations has them in the game. Meanwhile Rome, who did ''not'' use them for warfare, does have them.
* Gauls definitely did not have a caste of sacred warriors wielding tridents, nor used double-headed battle axes.

* Just like their civilization altogether, the games's Iberian army combines Mediterranean coastal elements (falcatas, oblong shields, ornated helmets) with Celtiberian ones (white tunics, oval shields, crested helmets), along with Cantabrian (battle axes), Lusitanians (caetras, leather caps, guerrilla fighters) and downright fantastical (the BladeOnAStick weapon wielded by the guerrilla fighters). Also, all the cultures from Hispania favored javelins over bows, so it would make more sense for them to have a javelin caster unit than an archer one.

* Carthage's portrayal in the games is ''spectacularly'' wrong. For starters, it lacks cavalry, which is a huge departure from history, where they were known and feared by their varied contingents of horsemen. Secondly, real Numidians were known for being the biggest part of this cavalry, not for being infantry as ''Imperivm'' shows. Next, historical Libian mercenaries working for Carthage were heavy infantry, not unarmored javelin throwers as portrayed in the games. Also, the presence of unarmored Mauritanian guys DualWielding sabers is similarly fantastic, as it would be in any real culture of the time. Finally, there's no record of Carthage using Tuaregs or dromedary cavalry on the battlefield.

* Most of the Egyptian civilization's named warrior classes (Horus warrior, Anubis warriors, Nile guards) are fictitious, as well as the first two's weapons and armor. Also, some of their warriors are barefoot, which is inaccurate, as warfare was one of the few fields where they always wore sandals.

* The first game has a scenario set in 132 BC, in which the very first words of the description claim that Augustus Caesar currently has a firm hold on Rome as the first Emperor. This is off by more than a hundred years: UsefulNotes/JuliusCaesar (let alone his adoptive son Augustus) hadn't even been born yet. This is not hard to notice if you're aware of the widely known fact that Julius Caesar was assassinated in 44 BC.
* While it can be forgiven if we interpret that the entire ''Imperivm II'' tutorial level is meant to be fantasy, it still contains a piece of history where Viriathus was somehow a Celtiberian (there are some fringe theories about it, but historians are unanimous he was a Lusitanian), an apprentice to Caraunius (who in real life was probably younger than Viriathus), a Gaul druid named Haaser, and eventually the chieftain of Lutia (a city that was never allied to either Viriathus or the Celtiberian resistance). He is even given the unit skin of Larax from the first game, who is clearly Gaul in appearance. For extra bizarreness, there is a patch of desert and a Carthaginian settlement in the same map, and the English version of the game turns it UpToEleven by changing the locations to the Gaul village of Kebatha and a fictitious city named Barezia.

* At the campaign in Zama, Scipio Africanus is portrayed as an old gentleman with a BaldOfAwesome (recycling the character picture of CanonForeigner Senator Anteros from the second game). In real life, Scipio was actually a young man when he fought in that battle.
* Numidians and Mauritanians were olive-skinned people, while the game portrays them as being black and having some Sub-Saharan African imagery. This is strange, as they did get the right skin tone for the Libyan lancers, even if they still got their gear and weapons wrong. It extends to the hero units too, as the game's tendency to assign them random names and character pictures messes up things: chances are that, after recruiting a Carthaginian hero, you will end up with a guy sporting a Phoenician name and a character pic that represents an AngryBlackMan.
* ''Imperivm III'' follows the pop culture trend of portraying UsefulNotes/{{Boudica}} as an ActionGirl, but no source ever mentions her having personal involvement with her battles. The game also avoids mentioning her husband Prasutagus and their daughters, instead making it look like Boudica had always been the sole governor of the Iceni.

* The second game has the Senate receiving the news about Sicily and deciding to send Appius Claudius Caudex to intervene against Carthage, thus giving the impression that they were the masterminds of the move. In real life, most of the Senate was actually opposed to the intervention, and it was Appius himself who forced them to allow it by appealing to the citizens.
* Gades was a coastal city on a narrow slice of land, not a fortified city deep into the land as it was portrayed in ''II''. Also, in the game, Gades is an Iberian city the player has to conquer, while in real life it was a Phoenician colony just like Carthage, which also means the city was allied to Hamilcar and Hasdrubal the Fair from the beginning.
* Following the previous point, ''II'' gives the impression that Hispania was a completely unexplored, savage land until Hamilcar's arrival, as well as that Romans only came to the peninsula chasing the Barcids. In reality, Carthage had been trading formally with the Spanish tribes long before Hamilcar decided to take their territories by force, which is why he already knew exactly where and who he would attack to make a few good conquests (unlike the game, in which he's pretty on the dark about it until he captures Gades). Similarly, Rome had its own field of influence on Hispania before the Second Punic War, and it was precisely because Hannibal attacked it that the war exploded.
* Although the game doesn't mention it by name, the Roman mission in Germany from ''Imperivm III'' is clearly meant to be the Battle of Teutoburgo, where Varus was defeated by Arminius. However, the real battle was not a random ambush to a Roman force trying to reach a city ruled by Varus as it is portrayed in the game, but almost the complete opposite: in real life, Varus commanded the Roman force personally and was attracted out of his camp through deception by Arminius, who then ambushed and killed him.

* In the first game, the Battle of Gergovia is portrayed as a massive, Napoleonic-style open field battle in a plain. This was fortunately corrected in the third game, where it is accurately portrayed as a montainous assault, as it was in real life.

* In the third game, Britannian druid Penut chants the name of Kathobodua, a continental Gaulish goddess who has been never mentioned in the comparatively richer Britannian religious sources. This is presumably a in-game reference to the goddess's role in the first game, though.

* "Catriona" is a Britannian form of the Greek name Catherine. By time and place, it would have been impossible to find an Iberian person with that name.
* The Iberian faction in the game is actually a rather outlandish mishmash of cultures from the Iberian peninsule, including but not limited to southern Iberian Greco-Phoenician art style, northern Celtiberian architecture, and some Celtic-looking warrior units.

* There were really foreign slaves who gained their freedom and became soldiers and officers in the Roman army, just like the game's ''liberati'', but upon doing so they would naturally adopt the Roman army's attire and weapons. In the game, they are portrayed as barbarian-looking guys wearing loincloths and wielding axes.

* Celtic and Germanic warrior women are really recorded in history, but their portrayal in the games is certainly rooted in either RuleOfCool and/or PoliticallyCorrectHistory. In real life, it was frequent for women from these cultures to accompany the men to the battlefield in support roles, acting as cheerleaders and combat medics who would join the fight if the men were overpowered (or if they tried to desert, in whose case the women would attack them!), but to form AmazonBrigade-style specialized units like the Gaulish warriors and Germanic huntresses from the game was much rarer, if not anecdotical.

* Celts, especially Britons and Gauls, were famous for using war chariots, but none of those civilizations has them in the game. Meanwhile Rome, who did ''not'' use them for warfare, does have.

* In the game, Carthage's specialty as a faction is playing a [[Franchise/StarWars Galactic Empire]]-style [[WeHaveReserves human wave strategy]], with some units even being explicitly designed to inflict damage by dying. While the developers might have got this idea from Carthage's usage of mercenaries over citizen troops, which would admittedly be easier to sacrifice in battle than your own people, this is practically the opposite to how Carthaginians waged war (there's a reason why Hannibal is called the "Father of Strategy" and not the "Father of ZergRush") and not a very realistic military policy in any case (what sane mercenary would sign up with a nation that had the reputation to send entire armies to their deaths?). This strategy would make sense if employed by Gauls, as they really loved the good ol' frontal charge and considered a honor to die stupidly, but not by Carthage.
* Most of the Egyptian civilization's named warrior classes (Horus warrior, Anubis warriors, Nile Guards) are fictitious, as well as the first two's weapons and armor. Also, some of their warriors are barefoot, which is inaccurate, as warfare was one of the few fields where they always wore sandals.

* While it can be forgiven if we interpret that the entire ''Imperivm II'' tutorial level is meant to be fantasy, it still contains a piece of history where Viriathus was somehow a Celtiberian (there are some fringe theories about it, but historians are unanimous he was a Lusitanian), an apprentice to Caraunius (who in real life was probably younger than Viriathus) and a Gaul druid named Haaser (?), and eventually the chieftain of Lutia (a city that was never allied to either Viriathus or the Celtiberian resistance). He is even given the unit skin of Larax from the first game, who is clearly Gaul in appearance. For extra bizarreness, there is a patch of desert and a Carthaginian settlement in the same map, and the English version of the game turns it UpToEleven by changing the locations to the Gaul village of Kebatha and a fictitious city named Barezia.
* The Romans from ''II'' apparently invented TimeTravel, because their Senate in 264 BC somehow features Cato the Elder (234-149) and Cicero (106-43 BC), and at the same time nothing less. The former even says his classic quote "Carthage must be destroyed!" despite the real reasons that led him to utter it in real life (namely, that Carthage hadn't been completely destroyed by Rome and was slowly rebuilding his power) didn't even exist at the time (as Rome and Carthage hadn't clashed yet and the latter was already a Mediterranean superpower).

* Numidians and Mauritanians were olive-skinned berber peoples, while the game portrays them as being black and having some Sub-Saharan African imagery. This is strange, as they did get the right skin tone for the Libyan lancers, even if they still got their gear and weapons wrong. It extends to the hero units too, as the game's tendency to assign them random names and characters captions messes up things: chances are than, after recruiting a Carthaginian hero, you will end up with a guy sporting a Phoenician name and a character pic that represents an AngryBlackMan.
* ''Imperivm III'' follows the pop culture trend of portraying UsefulNotes/{{Boudica}} as an ActionGirl, but no source ever mentions her having personal involvement with her battles. The game also avoids mentioning her husband Prasutagus and their daughters, instead making it look like Boudicca had always been the sole governor of the Iceni.

* Gades was a coastal city on a narrow slice of land, not a fortified city deep into the land was portrayed in ''II''. Also, while in the game Gades is an Iberian city the player has to conquer, in real life it was a Phoenician colony just like Carthage, which also means the city was allied to Hamilcar and Hasdrubal the Fair from the beginning.
* Following the previous point, ''II'' gives the impression that Hispania was a completely unexplored, savage land until Hamilcar's arrival, as well as that Romans only came to the peninsula chasing the Barcids. In reality, Carthage had been trading formally with the Spanish tribes long before Hamilcar decided to take their territories by force, which is why he already knew exactly where and who attack to make a few good conquests (unlike the game, in which he is pretty on the dark about it until he captures Gades). Similarly, Rome had its own field of influence on Hispania before the Second Punic War, and it was precisely because Hannibal attacked it that the war exploded.

* Viriathus's headquarters are located in Mons Herminius in his campaign, probably because it was for a long time believed to be his place of birth. However, this theory was already disproven as mere folklore by the time the game was produced. As we don't know Viriathus's birthplace, it would have been more accurate to locate his fortress in Mons Veneris, which sources name many times as his main stronghold.

* ''Imperivm II'' gives the impression that Hispania was an unexplored, savage land until Hamilcar's arrival, as well as that Romans only came to the peninsula chasing the Barcids. In reality, Carthage had been trading formally with the Iberians long before Hamilcar decided to take their territories by force, which is why he already knew exactly where and who attack to make a few good conquests (unlike the game, in which he is pretty on the dark about it until he captures Gades). Similarly, Rome had its own field of influence on Hispania before the Second Punic War, and it was precisely because Hannibal attacked it that the war exploded.

* In the second game, Numantia is placed in midst of a plain field, when the reason of its legendary resistance in real life was precisely its emplacement in a mountainous terrain with natural defenses. Again, the third game corrected it.
* ''Imperivm II'' has the Senate receiving the news about Sicily and deciding to send Appius Claudius Caudex to intervene against Carthage, thus giving the impression that they were the masterminds of the move. In real life, most of the Senate was actually opposed to the intervention, and it was Appius himself who forced them to allow it by appealing to the citizens.

* Norman warriors serving as allies to either Gauls and Britannians would have been shocking in real life. This is somewhat justified in-game in the first installment because the only named one, Thoric, is a rogue warrior chosen by the goddess like the protagonists, while the others are mentioned to be "not people who like to be ordered around", but it still surprising that the Gallic heroes immediately trust them.

* In real life, Hispania was pretty obscure in the religious aspect. Northern tribes apparently had shaman-like figures which historical chronicler Strabo called "diviners", while southern regions could have believably shared Carthage's Phoenician-style priests. The game opts, however, to portray their religious class as composed by female priestesses clearly based on the ''dama'' statues of Spanish archaeology, a portrayal that has its own problems (namely, that those are actually limited to the Mediterranean coast and that we don't even known if they are meant to represent priestesses, goddesses or noblewomen).

* Praetorian guards weren't exclusive to Imperial Rome as the third game shows. In real life, they were present in Roman Republic as well serving as bodyguards for praetors (hence their name). Also, military tribunes definitely didn't fight at the front lines nor DualWielding gladii.
* Celtic and Germanic warrior women are really recorded in history, but their portrayal in the games is certainly glamourized. In real life, it was frequent for them to accompany the men to the battlefield in support roles, acting as cheerleaders and combat medics who would join the fight if the men were overpowered (or if they tried to desert, in whose case the women would attack them!). However, to form Amazon-like specialized units like the Gaulish women and Germanic huntresses from the game was much rarer, if not anecdotical. A sort of exception to this were the Spanish Celtic women, who were recorded as defending their cities among the male warriors, but the in-game Iberians are ironically the only Celtic/Germanic faction that does ''not'' have warrior women (though ''Imperivm II'' compensates this a bit by having some Gaul warrior women among the Iberian forces in campaign).

* Carthage's portrayal in the games is ''spectacularly'' wrong. For starters, it lacks cavalry, which is a huge departure from history, where they were known and feared by their varied contingents of horsemen. Secondly, real Numidians were known for being the biggest part of this cavalry, not for being infantry as ''Imperivm'' shows. Next, historical Libian mercenaries working for Carthage were known for being a heavily armored Hellenic-style phalanx, not a body of unarmored javelin throwers as portrayed in the games. Also, the presence of unarmored guys DualWielding sabers is similarly fantastic, as it would be in any real culture of the time. Finally, there's no record of Carthage using dromedaries on the battlefield.
* Carthage's Sacred Band was actually composed by spearmen in the phalanx style, not swordmen as portrayed here (they did carry swords, but just as a secondary weapon). Also, its presence in the game's events is an AnachronismStew: while Carthaginian armies always featured commanders and small forces recruited among Punic citizens, the real Sacred Band was disbanded sixty years before the very First Punic War and its unit name was never used again.
* In the game, Carthage's specialty as a faction is playing a [[Franchise/StarWars Galactic Empire]]-style [[WeHaveReserves human wave strategy]], with some units even being explicitly designed to inflict damage by dying. While the developers might have got this idea from Carthage's usage of mercenaries over citizen troops, which would admittedly be easier to sacrifice in battle than your own people, this is practically the opposite to how Carthaginians waged war (there's a reason why Hannibal is called the "Father of Strategy" and not the "Father of ZergRush") and not a very realistic military policy in any case (what sane mercenary would sign up with a nation that had the reputation to send entire armies to their deaths?). This strategy would make sense if employed by Gauls, as they really loved the good ol' frontal charge and considered a honor to die stupidly, but not by the city of Dido.
* Most of the Egyptian civilization's named warrior classes (Horus warrior, Anubis warriors, Nile Guards) are fictitious, as well as the first two's weapons and armor. Also, some of their warriors are barefoot, which is unaccurate, as warfare was one of the few fields where they always wore sandals.

* While it can be forgiven if we interpret that the entire ''Imperivm II'' tutorial level is meant to be fantasy, it still contains a piece of history where Viriathus was somehow a Celtiberian (there are some fringe theories about it, but historians are unanimous he was from the Lusitanian area), an apprentice to Caraunius (who in real life was probably ''much'' younger than Viriathus) and a Gaul druid named Haaser (?), and eventually the chieftain of Lutia (a city that was never allied to Viriathus or the Celtiberian resistance). He is even given the unit skin of Larax from the first game, who is clearly Gaul in appearance. For extra bizarreness, there is a patch of desert and a Carthaginian settlement in the same map, and the English version of the game turns it UpToEleven by changing the locations to the Gaul village of Kebatha and a fictitious city named Barezia.

* The Romans from ''II'' apparently invented TimeTravel, because their Senate in 264 BC somehow features Cato the Elder (234-149) and Cicero (106-43 BC), and at the same time nothing less. The former even says his classic quote "Carthage must be destroyed!" despite the reasons that led him to utter it in real life (namely, that Carthage hadn't been completely destroyed by Rome and was slowly rebuilding his power) didn't even exist at the time (as Rome and Carthage hadn't clashed yet and the latter was already a Mediterranean superpower).

* Numidians and Mauritanians were olive-skinned berber peoples, while the game portrays them as black and having some Sub-Saharan African imagery. This is strange, as they did get the right skin tone for the Libyan lancers, even if they still got their gear and weapons wrong. It extends to the hero units too, as the game's tendency to assign them random names and characters captions messes up things: chances are than, after recruiting a Carthaginian hero, you will end up with a guy sporting a Phoenician name and a character pic that represents an AngryBlackMan.

* ''Imperivm II'' has the Senate receiving the news about Sicilia and deciding to send Appius Claudius Caudex to intervene, thus giving the impression that they were the masterminds of the move. In real life, most of the Senate was actually opposed to the intervention, and it was Appius himself who forced them to allow it by convincing the Roman citizens.
* Although the game doesn't mention it by name, the Roman mission in Germany from ''Imperivm III'' is clearly meant to be the Battle of Teutoburgo, where Varus was defeated by Arminius. However, the real battle was not a random ambush to a Roman force trying to reach a city ruled by Varus as it is portrayed in the game, but almost the complete opposite; in real life, Varus commanded the Roman force personally and was attracted out of his camp through deception by Arminius, who then ambushed and killed him.
* Viriathus's headquarters are located in Mons Herminius in his campaign, probably because it was for a long time believed to be his place of birth. However, this theory was already disproven as mere folklore by the time the game was produced; as we don't know Viriathus's birthplace, it would have been more accurate to locate his fortress in Mons Veneris, which sources name many times as his main stronghold.

* Carthage's portrayal in the games is ''spectacularly'' wrong. For starters, it lacks cavalry, which is a huge departure from history, where they were known and feared by their varied contingents of horsemen. Secondly, real Numidians were known for being the biggest part of this cavalry, not for being infantry as ''Imperivm'' shows. Next, historical Libian mercenaries working for Carthage were known for being a heavily armored Hellenic-style phalanx, not a body of unarmored javelin throwers as portrayed in the games. Also, unarmored guys DualWielding sabers is similarly fantastic, as it would be in any real culture of the time. Finally, there's no record of Carthage using dromedaries on the battlefield.

* In the third game, Britannian druid Penut chants the name of Kathobodua, a continental Gaulish goddess who has been never mentioned in the comparatively rich Britannian religious sources. This is presumably a in-game reference to the goddess's role in the first game, though.

* Praetorian guards weren't exclusive to Imperial Rome as the third game shows. In real life, they were present in Roman Republic as well serving as bodyguards for praetors (hence their name).
* Celtic and Germanic warrior women are really recorded in history, but their portrayal in the games is certainly glamourized. Apparently, it was frequent for them to accompany the men to the battlefield in support roles, acting as cheerleaders and combat medics who would join the fight if the men were overpowered (or if they tried to desert, in whose case the women would attack them!). However, to form Amazon-like specialized units like the Gaulish women and Germanic huntresses from the game was much rarer, if not anecdotical. A sort of exception to this were the Spanish Celtic women, who were recorded as defending their cities among the male warriors, but the in-game Iberians are ironically the only Celtic/Germanic faction that does ''not'' have warrior women (though ''Imperivm II'' compensates this a bit by having some Gaul warrior women among the Iberian forces in campaign).

* Germans did use battle axes and clubs, but certainly not the exaggerated giant halberds and spiked maces they wield in the game. Also, they rarely used helmets, most of the time being only the leaders who wore them, while their in-game civilization has an impressive variety of helms.

* Related to the previous, though so pervasive in media that it could be its own trope in the vein of EveryJapaneseSwordIsAKatana, the usage of falcatas by Viriathus and the Iberian faction in the game is inaccurate. As said above, the falcata was limited to South East Iberia and was rare to find on the rest of the peninsula, where straight swords were much more popular. While Viriathus and the rest of the Lusitanian elite might have probably owned falcatas thanks to trading and plundering of the southern territories, they probably didn't use them as their primary weapon.

* In the game, Carthage's specialty as a faction is playing a [[Franchise/StarWars Galactic Empire]]-style [[WeHaveReserves human wave strategy]], with some units even being explicitly designed to inflict damage by dying. While the developers might have got this idea from Carthage's usage of mercenaries over citizen troops, which would admittedly be easier to sacrifice in battle than your own people, this is practically the opposite to how Carthaginians waged war (there's a reason why Hannibal is called the "Father of Strategy" and not the "Father of ZergRush", people) and not a very realistic military policy in any case (what sane mercenary would sign up with a nation that had the reputation to send entire armies to their deaths?). This strategy would make sense if employed by Gauls, as they really loved the good ol' frontal charge and considered a honor to die stupidly, but not by the city of Dido.

* The Romans from ''Imperivm II'' apparently invented TimeTravel, because their Senate in 264 BC somehow features Cato the Elder (234-149) and Cicero (106-43 BC), and at the same time nothing less. The former even says his classic quote "Carthage must be destroyed!" despite the reasons that led him to utter it in real life (namely, that Carthage hadn't been completely destroyed by Rome and was slowly rebuilding his power) didn't even exist at that year (as Rome and Carthage hadn't clashed yet and the latter was already a Mediterranean superpower).

* Numidians and Mauritanians were olive-skinned berber peoples, while the game portrays them as black and having some Sub-Saharan African imagery. This is strange, as they did get the right skin tone for the Libyan lancers, even if they still got their gear and weapons wrong. It extends to the hero units too, as the game's tendency to assign them random names and characters captions esses up things: chances are than, after recruiting a Carthaginian hero, you will end up with a guy who sports a Phoenician name and a character pic that represents an AngryBlackMan.

* In real life, Carthage's religion was carried on by priests that were clean shaven for ceremonial reasons, not bearded "shamans" like their counterparts from the game. Also, some of their in-game quotes mention Moloch, but this was actually a posterior and vaguely pejorative Hebrew word for any Phoenician god; a person from Carthage would have referred to his god as Baal Hammon or simply Baal.

* Gauls definitely did not have a caste of sacred warriors wielding tridents.
* Celtic and Germanic warrior women are really recorded in history, but their portrayal in the games is certainly glamourized. Apparently, it was frequent for them to accompany the men to the battlefield in support roles, acting as cheerleaders and combat medics who would join the fight if the men were overpowered (or if they tried to desert, in whose case the women would attack them!). However, to form Amazon-like specialized units like the Gaulish women and Germanic huntresses from the game was much rarer, if not anecdotical. A sort of exception to this were the Spanish Celtic women, who were recorded as defending their cities next to the male warriors, but the in-game Iberians are ironically the only Celtic/Germanic faction that does ''not'' have warrior women (though ''Imperivm II'' compensates this a bit by having some Gaul warrior women among the Iberian forces in campaign).

* Just like their civilization altogether, the games's Iberian army combines southern elements (falcatas, oval shields, ornated helmets) with Celtiberian ones (caetras, white tunics and leather caps), along with Cantabrian (battle axes), Lusitanians (guerrilla fighters) and downright fantastical (the BladeOnAStick weapon wielded by the guerrilla fighters). Also, all the cultures from Hispania favored javelins over bows, so it would make more sense for them to have a javelin caster unit than an archer one.
* Related to the previous, though so pervasive in media that it could be its own trope in the vein of EveryJapaneseSwordIsAKatana, the usage of falcatas by Viriathus and the Iberian faction in the game is unaccurate. As said above, the falcata was limited to South East Iberia and was rare to find on the rest of the peninsula, where straight swords were much more popular. While Viriathus and the rest of the Lusitanian elite might have probably owned falcatas thanks to trading and plundering of the southern territories, they probably didn't use them as their primary weapon.
* In the game, Carthage's specialty as a faction is playing a [[Franchise/StarWars Galactic Empire]]-style [[WeHaveReserves human wave strategy]], with some units even being explicitly designed to inflict damage by dying. While the developers might have got this idea from Carthage's usage of mercenaries over citizen troops, which would admittedly be easier to sacrifice than your own people, this is practically the opposite to how Carthaginians waged war (there's a reason why Hannibal is called the "Father of Strategy" and not the "Father of ZergRush", people) and not a very realistic military policy in any case (what sane mercenary would sign up with a nation that had the reputation to send entire armies to their deaths?). This strategy would make much more sense if employed by Gauls, as they really loved the good ol' frontal charge and considered a honor to be killed in battle - even if it was in the first seconds.
* Carthage lacks cavalry in the game, which is a huge departure from history, where they were known and feared by their varied contingents of horsemen. Many of them were Numidians, who were much more famous for their cavalry than their infantry, contrary to what ''Imperivm'' shows (also, Numidians were olive-skinned, not black as in the game). Similarly, the real Libian mercenaries working for Carthage were known for being a heavily armored Hellenic-style phalanx, not a body of unarmored javelin throwers as portrayed in the games. Finally, there's no record of Carthage using dromedaries on the battlefield.

* Carthage lacks cavalry in the game, which is a huge departure from history, where they were known and feared by their varied contingents of horsemen. Many of them were Numidians, who were much more famous for their cavalry than their infantry, contrary to what ''Imperivm'' shows. Similarly, the real Libian mercenaries working for Carthage were known for being a heavily armored Hellenic-style phalanx, not a body of unarmored javelin throwers as portrayed in the games. Finally, there's no record of Carthage using dromedaries on the battlefield.

* Norman warriors serving as allies to either Gauls and Britannians would have been shocking in real life. This is somewhat justified in-game in the first installment because the only named one, Thoric, is a rogue warrior chosen by the goddess like the protagonists, while the others are mentioned to be "not people who like to be ordered around", but it still surprising that the Gaul heroes immediately trust them.
* In the third game, Britannian druid Penut chants the name of Kathobodua, a continental Gaul goddess who has been never mentioned in the comparatively rich Britannian religious sources. This is presumably a in-game reference to the goddess's role in the first game, though.

* The Iberian faction in the game is actually a rather outlandish mishmash of cultures from the Iberian peninsule, including but not limited to southern Iberian Greco-Phoenician art style, northern Celtiberian architecture and some Celtic-looking warrior units.
* In real life, Hispania was pretty obscure in the religious aspect. Northern tribes apparently had shaman-like figures which historical chronicler Strabo called "diviners", while southern regions could have believably shared Carthage's Phoenician-style priests. The game opts, however, to portray their religious class as composed by female priestesses clearly based on the ''dama'' statues of Spanish archaeology, which has its own problems (namely, that those are actually limited to the Mediterranean coast and that we don't even known if they are meant to represent priestesses, goddesses or noblewomen).

* Celtic and Germanic women warriors are really recorded in history, but their portrayal is tricky. Gaul women often acted as judges and figures of authority, while their Germanic homologues actually accompanied the men to the battlefield to serve as cheerleaders and combat medics, and both of them would actually take weapons and fight to defend themselves if the men were overpowered (or if the men tried to desert, in which case the woman would attack them!). However, there is no record of them fighting on the battlefield next to the men or forming Amazon-like specialized units like the Gaul women warriors and Germanic huntresses from the game. The only historical exception to this were the Spanish Celtic women, who were recorded as defending their cities among the male warriors, but the in-game Iberians are ironically the only Celtic faction that does ''not'' have warrior women.

* Just like their civilization altogether, the game's Iberian army combines southern elements (falcatas, oval shields, ornated helmets) with Celtiberian ones (caetras, white tunics and leather caps), along with Cantabrian (battle axes), Lusitanians (guerrilla fighters) and downright fantastical (the BladeOnAStick weapon wielded by the guerrilla fighters). Also, ironically, all the cultures from Hispania favored javelins over bows, so it would make more sense for them to have a javelin caster unit than an archer one.

* Carthage lacks cavalry in the game, which is a huge departure from history, where they were known and feared by their horsemen. Most of them were Numidians, who were much more famous for their cavalry than their infantery, contrary to what ''Imperivm'' shows. Similarly, the real Libian mercenaries working for Carthage were known for being a heavily armored Hellenic-style phalanx, not a body of unarmored javelin throwers as portrayed in the game. Finally, there's no record of Carthage using dromedaries on the battlefield.
* Carthage's Sacred Band was actually composed by spearmen in the phalanx style, not swordmen as portrayed here (they did carry swords, but just as a secondary weapon). Also, its presence in the game's events is an AnachronismStew: while Carthaginian armies always featured commanders and small forces recruited among Punic citizens, the real Sacred Band was officially disbanded sixty years before the very First Punic War and its unit's name was never used again.

* The game follows the pop culture trend of portraying UsefulNotes/{{Boudica}} as an ActionGirl, but no source ever mentions her having personal involvement with her battles. The game also avoids mentioning her husband Prasutagus and their daughters, instead making it look like Boudicca had always been the sole governor of the Iceni.

* Although the game doesn't mention it by name, the German mission is clearly meant to be the Battle of Teutoburgo, where Varus was defeated by Arminius. However, the real battle was not a random ambush to a Roman force trying to reach a city ruled by Varus as it is portrayed in the game, but almost the opposite; in real life, Varus commanded the Roman force personally and was attracted out of his camp through deception by Arminius, who then ambushed and killed him.

* It is in ancient chronicles that Celtic women accompanied their men to the battlefield and sometimes participated in the fights, but we don't know how standardized was this custom nor whether the Gauls practiced it, so the existence of a women warrior class as in the game's Gaul civilization has little historical basis. In contrast, there are also reports of Iberian warrior women tasked with protecting their cities, but this is not shown in the game.
* Celts were famous for using war chariots, especially Brittanians and Gauls, but none of those civilizations has them in the game, while Rome, who used them much less often, has.
* Just like their civilization altogether, the game's Iberian army combines southern elements (falcatas, oval shields, ornated helmets) with Celtiberian/Lusitanian ones (caetras, white tunics and leather caps), along with Cantabrian (battle axes) and downright fantastical (the BladeOnAStick weapon wielded by their guerrilla fighters). Also, ironically, all the cultures from Hispania favored javelins over bows, so it would make more sense for them to have a javelin caster unit than an archer one.

* Carthage lacks cavalry in the game, which is a huge departure from history, where they were known and feared by their citizen and mercenary horsemen. Among them there were Numidians, who were much more famous for their cavalry than their infantery, contrary to what ''Imperivm'' shows. Similarly, the real Libian mercenaries working for Carthage were known for being a heavily armored Hellenic-style phalanx, not a body of unarmored javelin throwers as portrayed in the game. Finally, there's no record of Carthage using dromedaries on the battlefield.
* Carthage's Sacred Band was actually composed by spearmen in the phalanx style, not swordmen as portrayed here (they did carry swords, but just as a secondary weapon). Also, its presence in the game's events is a huge anachronism: while Carthaginian armies always featured commanders and small forces recruited among Punic citizens, the real Sacred Band was officially disbanded sixty years before the very First Punic War and its unit's name was never used again.
* Most of the Egyptian civilization's named warrior classes (Horus warrior, Anubis warriors, Nile Guards) are fictitious, as well as the first two's weapons and armor. Also, some of their warriors are barefoot, which is unaccurate, as warfare was one of the few fields where they ''always'' wore sandals.

* At the campaign in Zama, Scipio Africanus is portrayed as an old gentleman with a BaldOfAwesome. In real life, Scipio was actually a young man when he fought the battle.

* In the first game, the Battle of Gergovia is portrayed as a massive, Napoleonic-style open field battle in a plain. This was fortunately corrected in the third game, where it is accurately portrayed as the montainous assault it was in real life.

* The Iberian faction in the game is actually a rather outlandish mishmash of cultures from the Iberian peninsule. Their architecture combines southern Iberian Greco-Phoenician influences with northern Celtiberian cities, while their military forces mix up tribal warriors and more professional-looking soldiers.
* In real life, Hispania was a pretty mixed bag in the religious aspect too. Northern tribes might have had Celtic druids, while southern regions could have shared Carthage's Phoenician priests. The game opts to portray their religious class as an universal caste of female priestesses clearly based on the ''dama'' statues of Spanish archaeology, but this has its own problems (namely, that those are actually limited to the Mediterranean coast and that we don't even known if they are meant to represent priestesses, goddesses or noblewomen).
* In real life, Carthage's religion had priests that were clean shaven for ceremonial reasons, not bearded "shamans" like their counterparts from the game. Also, some of their in-game quotes mention Moloch, but this was actually a posterior and vaguely pejorative Hebrew word for any Phoenician god; a person from Carthage would have referred to his god as Baal Hammon or simply Baal.

* Just like their civilization altogether, the game's Iberian army combines southern elements (falcata sabers, scutum shields, ornated helmets) with Celtiberian/Lusitanian ones (gladius swords, caetra shields, white tunics and leather caps), along with Cantabrian (battle axes) and downright fantastical (the BladeOnAStick weapon wielded by the guerrilla fighters guerrilla fighters doesn't have a historical counterpart). Also, ironically, all the cultures from Hispania favored javelins over bows, so it would make more sense for them to have a javelin caster unit than an archer one.
* Related to the previous, though so pervasive in media that it could be its own trope in the vein of EveryJapaneseSwordIsAKatana, the usage of falcatas by Viriathus and his people in the game's cutscenes is unaccurate. As said above, the falcata was limited to South East Iberia and was rare to find on the rest of the peninsula, where straight swords were much more popular. While Viriathus and the rest of the Lusitanian elite might have probably owned falcatas thaks to trading and plundering of the southern territories, they probably didn't use them as their primary weapon. (The game gets it right in the gameplay itself, though, as Viriathus's hero unit wields a straight sword.)

* Most of the Egyptian civilization's named warrior classes (Horus warrior, Anubis warriors, Nile Guards) are fictitious, as well as the first two's weapons and armor. Also, some of their warriors are barefoot, which is inaccurate, as warfare was a field in which they ''always'' used sandals.

* The game follows the pop culture trend of portraying UsefulNotes/{{Boudica}} as an ActionGirl, but no source ever mentions her having personal involvement in battle. The game also avoids mentioning her husband Prasutagus and their daughters, and instead makes it look like Boudicca had always been the sole governor of the Iceni.

* Norman warriors serving as allies to Gauls and Britannians would have been shocking in real life. This is somewhat justified in-game in the first installment because the only named one, Thoric, is a rogue warrior chosen by the goddess like the protagonists, while the others are mentioned to be "not people who like to be ordered around", but it still surprosing that the Gaul heroes immediately trust them.

* The Iberian faction in the game is actually a rather outlandish mishmash of cultures from the Iberian peninsule. Their architecture combines the southern Iberian Greco-Phoenician influence with the northern Celtiberian cities, as well as their military forces, which mix together tribal warriors and more professional-looking militiamen.
* In real life, Hispania was a pretty mixed bag in the religious aspect too. Northern tribes might have had Celtic druids, while southern regions could have shared Carthage's Phoenician priests. The game opts to portray their religious class as an universal caste of female priestesses clearly based on the ''dama'' statues of Spanish archaeology, but this has its own problems: not only they are actually limited to the Mediterranean coast, but we don't even known if they are meant to represent priestesses, goddesses or noblewomen.
* In real life, Carthage's religion had priests that were clean shaven for ceremonial reasons, not bearded "shamans" like their counterparts from the game. Also, the latter ones feature in-game quotes about Moloch, which was actually a posterior and vaguely pejorative Hebrew word for any Phoenician god; a person from Carthage would have referred to his god as Baal Hammon or simply Baal.

* Gladiators were entertainers and prizefighters, not soldiers. Rome would have never sent them to the battlefield, at least not while wearing their gladiator gear, which was designed for the spectacle and was quite impractical in serious warfare. Speaking about it, the game mixes up at two kinds of gladiators in their portrayal: their unit wears a Murmillo helmet yet wields a Retiarious trident.
* There were really foreign slaves who gained their freedom and became soldiers and officers in the Roman army, just like the game's ''liberati'', but upon doing so they would naturally adopt the Roman army's attire and weapons. In the game, they are portrayed as wearing just loincloths and wielding axes, implying they are former Celtic slaves who choose to fight in their own culture's style.

* It is in ancient chronicles that Celtic women accompanied their men to the battlefield and sometimes participated in the fight, but we don't know how standardized was this custom nor whether the Gauls practiced it, so the existence of a women warrior class as in the game's Gaul civilization has little historical basis. In contrast, there are also reports of Iberian warrior women tasked with protecting their cities, but this is ignored in the game.
* Celts were famous for using war chariots, especially in Britannia and Gaul, but none of those civilization has them in the game, while Rome, who used them much less often, has.
* Just like their civilization altogether, the game's Iberian army combines southern elements (falcata sabers, scutum shields, possibly archers) with Celtiberian/Lusitanian ones (gladius swords, caetra shields, white tunics and leather caps), along with Cantabrian (axe warriors) and downright fantastical (the BladeOnAStick weapon wielded by the guerrilla fighters guerrilla fighters doesn't have a historical counterpart). Also, ironically, all the cultures from Hispania favored javelins over bows, so it would make more sense for them to have a javelin caster unit than an archer one.
* Related to the previous, though so pervasive in media that it could be its own trope in the vein of EveryJapaneseSwordIsAKatana, the usage of falcatas by Viriathus and his people in the game's cutscenes is unaccurate. As said above, the falcata was limited to South East Iberia and was rare to find on the rest of the peninsula, where straight swords were much more popular. While Viriathus and the rest of the Lusitanian elite might have probably owned falcatas thaks to trade and plundering of the southern territories, they probably didn't use them as their primary weapon. That said, the game gets it right in the gameplay itself, as Viriathus's hero unit wields a straight sword.
* Carthage lacks cavalry in the game, which is a great departure from real history, where they were known and feared by their citizen and mercenary horsemen. Among them there were the Numidians, who were much more famous for their cavalry than their infantery as presented in ''Imperivm''. Similarly, the real Libian mercenaries working for Carthage were known for being a heavily armored Hellenic-style phalanx, not a body of unarmored javelin throwers as portrayed in the game. Finally, there's no record of Carthage using dromedaries on the battlefield as the game shows.
* Carthage's Sacred Band was actually composed by spearmen in the phalanx style, not swordmen as portrayed here (they did carry swords, but just as a secondary weapon). Also, its presence in the game's events is a huge anachronism: while Carthaginian armies always featured commanders and small forces recruited among Punic citizens, the real Sacred Band was officially disbanded sixty years before the very First Punic War and its unit name was never used again.
* Most of the Egyptian civilization's named warrior classes (Horus warrior, Anubis warriors, Nile Guards) are fictitious, as well as the first two's weapons and armor.

* At the campaign in Zama, Scipio Africanus is portrayed as a old gentleman with a BaldOfAwesome. In real life, Scipio was actually a young man when he fought the battle.
* The game follows the pop culture trend of portraying UsefulNotes/{{Boudica}} as an ActionGirl, but no source ever mentions her personal involvement in battle. The game also avoids mentioning her husband Prasutagus and their daughters and make it look like Boudicca had always been the sole governor of the Iceni.

* In the first game, the Battle of Gergovia is portrayed as a massive, Napoleonic-style open field battle in a plain. This was fortunately corrected for the third game, in which it is accurately portrayed as the montainous assault it was in real life.
* Although the game doesn't mention it by its name, the German mission is clearly meant to be the Battle of Teutoburgo, where Varus was defeated by Arminius. However, the real battle was not a random ambush to a Roman force trying to reach a city ruled by Varus as it is portrayed in the game, but almost the opposite; in real life, Varus commanded the Roman force personally and was attracted out of his camp through deception by Arminius, who then ambushed and killed him.

* The game follows the pop culture trend of portraying UsefulNotes/{{Boudicca}} as an ActionGirl, but no source ever mentions her personal involvement in battle. The game also avoids mentioning her husband Prasutagus and their daughters and make it look like Boudicca had always been the sole governor of the Iceni.

* Norman warriors serving as allies to Gauls and Britannians would have been shocking in real life. This is somewhat justified in-game in the first installment because the only named one, Thoric, is a rogue warrior chosen by the goddess like the protagonists, while the others are mentioned to be "not people who like to be ordered around".

* The Iberian priestesses are clearly based on the ''dama'' busts of Spanish archaeology, but in real life it is actually unknown whether those are meant to represent priestesses or noblewomen. In any case, It's admittedly difficult to represent the religious class of ancient Hispania, as the land was a pretty mixed bag at this stuff; northern tribes might have had Celtic druids, while southern regions could have shared Carthago's Phoenician priests (which ''Imperivm'' sort of gets right, as the priestesses from the game pray to the Phoenician goddess Astarte).
* In real life, Carthago's religion had priests that were clean shaven for ceremonial reasons, not bearded "shamans" like their counterparts from the game. Also, the latter ones feature in-game quotes about Moloch, which was actually a posterior and vaguely pejorative Hebrew word for any Phoenician god; a person from Carthago would have referred to his god as Baal Hammon or simply Baal.

* The weapon wielded by the Iberian guerrilla fighters, a sort of a BladeOnAStick, doesn't have a historical counterpart. Real life Iberians also favored javelins over bows, so it would make more sense for them to have a javelin caster unit than an archer one.
* Related to the previous, though so pervasive in media that it could be its own trope, the usage of falcatas by Viriathus and all Iberian footsoldiers is inaccurate. The falcata was limited to South East Iberia and was rare to find on the rest of the peninsula, where straight swords were much more popular. Ironically, some Iberian heroes ''do'' wield straight swords in the game, when in real life chieftains would have been possibly the only warriors wealthy enough to acquire falcatas from any point of the peninsula.
* Carthago lacks cavalry in the game, which is a great departure from real history, where they were known and feared by their Numidian and Iberian mercenary horsemen. Similarly, there's no record of Carthago using dromedaries on the battlefield as the game shows.
* Carthago's Sacred Band was actually composed by spearmen in the Hellenic phalanx style, not swordmen as portrayed here (they did carry swords, but just as a secondary weapon). Also, its presence in the game's events is a huge anachronism: while Carthaginian armies always featured commanders and small forces recruited among Punic citizens, the real Sacred Band was officially disbanded sixty years before the very First Punic War and its unit name was never used again.

* Catriona, Viriathus's main priestess, sports a Britannian name that would have been incredibly odd to hear in continental Europe.