Gold

**Gold** is one of the four primary resources players must collect in *Rome at War*. Gold is used for creating/researching most units/upgrades, and is a precious resource that becomes more important as the game progresses.

A small number of Gold Mines can usually be found around the map, which can be mined by Villagers for gold.

There are also several alternative ways of gathering gold, which are all listed below.

## Sources of gold

### Trade

Trade Carts travel between Markets to generate gold. The farther the distance between the two Markets, the more gold is generated.

Merchant Ships travel between Ports to generate gold. The farther the distance between the two Ports, the more gold is generated.

* The Phoenician team bonus increases the amount of gold returned by trade units by 25%
* The Syracusan unique technology, Lex Hieronica, allows Trade Carts to produce 10% more gold.
* The Kushan unique technology, Pax Kushana, halves trade unit cost.
* The Kushans have a unique building shared with their team, the Caravanserai, which heals and increases the speed of the owner's and allied Trade Carts.

### Market

The Market allows the player to sell food, wood, or stone for gold. However, this includes a 30% fee and each time a resource is sold, the price of that resource will be lowered for all players. For many civilizations, the 30% fee can be reduced to 15% by researching Guilds.

* The Phoenicians have a reduction of the trading fee to 5% as one of their civilization bonuses.

### Relics

Relics can be picked up by Priests and put into a player's Temple, where they will generate 30 **gold**/min. The Judean team bonus increases Relic gold generation by 33%. The Syracusan unique technology Lex Hieronica increases Relic gold generation by 10%, and the Judean unique technology Ark of the Covenant increases Relic gold generation by 25%.

### Technologies

Several civilizations have unique technologies that improve the player's gold gathering:

* Solonian Reforms: The first Athenian Middle Antiquity Age technology, which makes farmers slowly generate gold in addition to food.
* Cretan Pirates: The second Cretan Imperial Age technology, which makes Hemiolias slowly generate gold when attacking ships or civilian units.
* Marauders: The first Middle Antiquity Age technology for the Huns, which makes Tarkans generate gold for killing economic units and Priests.
* Raiding Bands: The first Middle Antiquity Age technology for the Iberians, which makes Caetratii slowly generate gold whilst fighting and for killing units.
* Tyrian Dye: The first Phoenician Imperial Age technology, which makes Town Centers slowly generate gold.
* Lex Hieronica: The first Syracusan Middle Antiquity Age technology, which makes all gold income 10% faster (mining, trading, and relics).

The following technologies benefit gold mining:

* Gold Mining (+15% mining speed) -  Gold Shaft Mining (+15% mining speed)
* Wheelbarrow (+25% carry capacity) -  Hand Cart (+50% carry capacity)

### Bonuses

The following civilizations have gold-related bonuses:

* Armenians: Stone Miners also slowly generate gold.
* Egyptians: Relics are visible on the map at the start of the game.
* Gauls: Gold Miners don't require drop off points.
* Illyrians: Gold Miners drop off 15% more gold.
* Kushan: Start with +50 gold.
* Nanda: Receive +300 gold for each Fort built.
* Nubians: Gold Miners work 20% faster.
* Pontus: Starts with a Gold Mine under the Town Center.
* Scythians: Gold Mines last 5% longer (team bonus).

### Buildings

* Royal Mint: Unique building of the Kushan, available from the Middle Antiquity Age. It slowly generates gold, serves as a gathering point for Gold Miners, and makes nearby Gold Miners work 30% faster. Royal Mints are limited to three at a time (researching Pax Kushana increases this limit to five).

## Strategy

Gold is scarce and it is a common competitive tactic to raid the enemy Mining Camps to disrupt the opponent's gold mining and prevent them from making gold-heavy units. This makes scouting gold deposits early in the game important so they can be easily found later on.

Unless allied players have set up trade, gold will inevitably run out before food or wood. Gold is required to create the game's most powerful units, such as Cavalrymen, siege weapons, and unique units, so a player with gold available to them will have a huge advantage over a player without. Of the units that require gold, infantry units tend to cost the least per unit.

Here lies the importance of getting the Relics well before the opponent to have some gold generation when the games get so long that the gold has been depleted from the map in a 1v1 match. The difference of a Relic can be crucial for the creation of units that can finish the game, such as Palintonons or Catapults.

The three unit lines which cost no gold are known as "trash units". When fully upgraded, these are the Auxiliary Spearman/Hoplite, the Auxiliary Cavalry, and the Elite Skirmisher. They form the bulk of players' armies when gold is scarce late game.

Whether gold is available in the late game can have a huge impact on the viability of certain civilizations: for example, the Nubians have very weak trash units, and so are extremely dependent on gold in order to be strong in the late game. The Roman Empire, however, excels at trash wars due to their cheaper trash.