Government Center

Government Center
Building information
Introduced in	Age of Empires
Type	Research
Civilization	All civilizations
Age	Bronze Age
Use	Research technologies
Required for	Town Center
Construction
Requires	Market
Wood	175
Build time	60 seconds
Statistics
Size	3×3 tiles
Hit points	350
Melee armor	0
Pierce armor	0
Line of Sight	5

“	Used to research technologies that improve buildings and military units. Required to build additional Town Centers.	”
—In-game description in the Definitive Edition

The Government Center is a research building in Age of Empires where many technologies can be obtained. Building it also allows players to build more than one Town Center.

Its counterpart in Age of Empires II and Age of Empires IV is the University.

Gameplay

Upon reaching the Bronze Age, a Government Center should be built as quickly as possible, as it unlocks the ability for Villagers to construct additional Town Centers. This allows the player to train multiple new Villagers simultaneously, or to continue training Villagers while researching the Iron Age, or to establish new bases in other parts of the map.

The Government Center is a research building, and its technologies have a wide range of uses, primarily military. Some provide stat improvements, others add new capabilities. Several technologies are also prerequisites for unlocking elite units, especially in the original and Definitive Edition versions of Age of Empires.

To build the Government Center, a Market must be built beforehand, which itself requires a Granary. This requirement is waived if the match starts from the Bronze Age or later, and additional Town Centers can be built without a Government Center if the match starts in the Iron Age.

Technologies

Age	Technology	Cost	Effect
	Nobility	175 food 120 gold	Mounted units (except elephants) have +15% hit points Enables the Scythe Chariot upgrade (before Return of Rome)
	Writing	200 food 75 gold	Allies share exploration (Unavailable if Shared Exploration is enabled in match settings)
	Architecture	150 food 175 wood	Builders work 50% faster Buildings have +20% hit points
	Logistics	180 food 100 gold	Barracks units take up half population space
	Urbanization*	300 wood 100 stone	Houses provide +4 population each
	Aristocracy	175 food 150 gold	Academy units move +0.225 tiles/sec faster Enables the Centurion upgrade (before Return of Rome)
	Ballistics	200 food 50 gold	Projectiles are aimed to anticipate target movement Enables the Ballista Tower upgrade
	Alchemy	250 food 200 gold	+1 attack for all ranged units +6 attack for Fire Galley
	Engineering	200 food 100 wood	Units from the Stone Thrower, Ballista, and Catapult Trireme lines have +2 range and Line of Sight Enables the Juggernaught upgrade (before Return of Rome)
	Conscription*	450 food 250 gold	-20% training time (+25% faster creation) for units from the Barracks, Archery Range, Stable, Academy, and Siege Workshop

Technology availability

Writing and Ballistics are not included in this list, as they are available to all civilizations.

	= Available
	= Unavailable
	= Researched for free

Civilization									All
Assyrians
Babylonians									X
Carthaginians									X
Choson
Egyptians
Greeks
Hittites
Lac Viet
Macedonians
Minoans
Palmyrans
Persians
Phoenicians
Romans
Shang
Sumerians									X
Yamato
Civilization									All

Upgrades

Hit points	Architecture (+20%)
Line of Sight	City Watch (+3) Writing (share Line of Sight with allies)
Construction time	Architecture (-33%)

Civilization bonuses

• Macedonians: Government Center are four times more resistant to conversion.
• Romans: Government Center cost -10%.

Team bonuses

• Babylonians: Government Centers are built 10% faster.
• Choson: Government Centers have +2 Line of Sight.
• Palmyrans: Government Center technologies are researched 30% faster.

Changelog

Age of Empires

• Government Centers have 6 Line of Sight.

Definitive Edition

• Government Centers have 5 Line of Sight.

Return of Rome

• Team bonuses added:
  • Babylonians: Government Center are built 10% faster.
  • Palmyrans: Government Center technologies are researched 30% faster.
• The technologies City Watch, Conscription, and Urbanization can be researched at the Government Center.
• With update 93001, City Watch is researched at the Town Center.
• Choson (team bonus): With update 93001, Government Centers have +2 Line of Sight.

History

“	The government center was the administrative center of the town, village, city, kingdom, or empire. It was often the palace of the strongman or king. It was here that justice was dispersed, records kept, taxes collected and stored, diplomacy conducted, and plans made. The development of the government center spurred technology such as architecture through the commission of public works and writing for the keeping of records. The expansion of kingdoms led to a hierarchy of elites, often a nobility, that were needed as middle managers when the expanse of lands exceeded the ruler's ability to control directly. The provinces of the Persian Empire, for example, were ruled like independent stores by satraps who owed tribute and allegiance to the king in Susa.	”
—Age of Empires manual

Tech tree

Blue: Units

Red: Buildings

Green: Technologies

				Requires Market	Additional
	➞		➞		➞

Gallery

All Government Centers in the Bronze Age in the Definitive Edition: Greek, Mesopotamian, Egyptian, East Asian, Roman

All Government Centers in the Iron Age in the Definitive Edition

All Government Centers in the Iron Age in The Rise of Rome: Egyptian, Greek, Roman, Mesopotamian, East Asian

Government Center of Babylonian architectural style in the Bronze Age as shown in the Definitive Edition

Government Center of Babylonian architectural style in the Iron Age

Close up of the Iron Age Greek government center

Government Center of Egyptian architectural style (in the Bronze Age) as shown in Age of Empires

Icons

Greek Iron Age

Greek Bronze Age

East Asian Iron Age

East Asian Bronze Age

Egyptian Iron Age

Egyptian Bronze Age

Mesopotamian Iron Age

Mesopotamian Bronze Age

Roman Iron Age

Roman Bronze Age

Greek in Definitive

Greek (original)

East Asian (original)

Egyptian (original)

Mesopotamian (original)

Roman (original)

Notes

Buildings in Age of Empires
Stone Age Starting Tool Age Bronze Age Additional Iron Age