Therefore, your first small settlement is crucial to your future success. Many a promising gubernatorial career has been cut short by the business end of a lion. This would be an unfortunate situation-while Caesar is very fond of his money, he has no particular attachment to his underlings. And without a stable income, you’ll soon end up in debt to Rome. Without enough food, workers will scoff at the notion of moving to your city. Two things are vital to a brand-new city: food production and trade. Match these up with the items your neighbors are willing to buy. Look at your Raw Materials, Farming, and Workshop options. (Hey, it’s the Roman way.) Return to your city view and check the Industry list for this particular assignment. Most of your city’s income will be in the form of trade, so it’s important to plan your economy around fleecing your neighbors. Find the cities which are willing to trade goods with you, and make a list of all the items they are ready to purchase. Now, before you clear a single tree or place the first stone block for your new roads, check the Empire map. In particular, locate every possible source of food production and keep those in mind while you make your plans. Examine the terrain for defensibility and available resources. Remember that you cannot run an aqueduct over rocks, and that an impassable line of trees will prevent settlers from getting through. Take a good look at natural landscape features.

This will give you time to survey your new domain and plan your initial settlement. Of course, you have one option the ancient Romans never dreamt of: when a new assignment starts, crank the Speed setting all the way down to 10%. You would be well advised to follow their lead whenever you start a new city. From the development of aqueducts and plumbing to the invention of the suburb (“suburbium”-housing located near a city), they had their architectural act together. The Romans were the original city planners. The only way to keep both your fortunes and your precious hide intact is to turn the barren wilderness of Europe into civilized real estateâ€¦. Fail, and your head will be set on a pike outside the city walls as a warning to your successor. Succeed, and you will find yourself showered in riches and bathed in the glow of Imperial favor. Here, you must build a series of ever-more impressive cities, all for the glory of Caesar and the advancement of your own career. Welcome to the Roman Empire-cradle of Western civilization, conqueror of half the known world, nightmare of every high school Latin student, and a darned fine place to make a quick denarius.

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