Persians

Economy:

Persia has a +30 % hunting bonus – the Villagers gather food faster and carry more. Of course this bonus only makes sense if there’s enough to hunt. If used properly it can make Persia very fast at the start. 
In AOE farms give 30% less food. On maps with little other food that’s a crippling penalty. 
Persia gets only Tool Age Market technologies – this weakens their economy from Bronze Age onwards and weakens their archery as well. It is no exaggeration to say that the designers went to great lengths to weaken Persia. 
Persia is gold dependent. If you can find enough to hunt early in the game Persia can be very fast, otherwise it’s slow.

Religion:

Persia gets all Temple technologies. Countering enemy Priests is a bit of a problem here, your best chance is archers and cheap infantry units.

Military:

Persia gets fast War Elephants and Elephant Archers (+50%) and Triremes with double fire rate. They also have a good Iron Age army but they have a long way to go to get there. In the Bronze Age your best chance is in Cavalry. (Infantry might work but the upgrade to broadies takes much time and in RM Persia has to strike early and hard to survive). 
All Barracks units are available. Getting all Pit technologies they’re fairly strong. Of course infantry isn’t popular so that isn’t a great help. The only fast unit with good line of sight before Iron Age is the Scout. The archery suffers because of the poor range. 
Persia doesn’t get the Academy. Many people would say that Persia can’t afford that anyway. 
All Cavalry upgrades are available. With all Pit technologies they’re fairly strong. 
Siege gets most technologies. Persia has no HCats and Ballistas though. 
All walls but no Ballista Tower. Towers have poor range. The navy is poor because of the limited range but the Triremes have a 50% higher fire rate and are pretty good.

Best in Age(s):

Iron.

RM Ranking:

A special civ, more designed for DM than RM really.

Single Player:

The hunting bonus can give you a fast start. If you can’t find anything to hunt you’re in trouble though. The CP can be really fast as well and comes into its own in late Bronze and Iron. Persia can be really tough to counter then – one of the best challenges the game has to offer. They can be a good ally too but they can fail just as well.

Multi Player:

Most people groan when they get Persia in an RM where you have random civs. They also lose out with missile weapons in Iron because they don’t get ballistics, and you realise how important that is when you can’t have it. That said, some of the greats like Matty love them. See Strategies at the bottom of the page.

DM Ranking:

Good civ for DM. Armoured Elephants rock – fast, hard and very dangerous. Back them up with Priests. 

Score: 75%

Ranking: 3rd (potentially)

Description: The best ele rushing civ around, made better in RoR with the new AE. Better than Carthage because their eles have that extra speed, cutting 30 crucial seconds in an early ele rush. Heles won’t scare them and they even give priests a run for their money. But like Choson, attack second or fail with the first rush and you are virtually dead.

Multiplayer: Like Choson, practice first. When you can rush 50+ eles at 4 mins then you are virtually unstoppable. Like Palmyra, you may want to cheat and add HHA into the mix. You should cause havoc and give no time for recovery.

Best when: You can rush 50+ eles at 4 mins.