Rome

Attributes: | +40% XP Earned in Combat, +25% Formation Strength, +20% Vineyard Output

**Rome** is a medium-sized faction located in Latium, and the only playable faction in the Latin faction group.

Despite being the most well-known of all factions and the historical winner of the game, Rome isn't an easy faction to play as for beginners, as its early-game units are very weak and its starting position is surrounded by other factions and not the easiest to defend.

Its starting neighbours are Veii, the Sabines, the Marsi and the Volsci.

### In-game Description

"Rome is traditionally said to have been founded in 753 BCE by the twins Romulus and Remus, who were thrown into the wilderness as infants when their grandfather, the king of Alba Longa, was overthrown by their uncle. Romulus and Remus survived in the wilderness thanks to a female wolf who found and nursed them. Though they would later restore their grandfather to his throne, they opted to found their own city seperate from his kingdom. During a disagreement over which hill to place their city on, Romulus slew Remus, and the city was then called Rome. The Latin population of Latium was at the time splintered save for an alliance centred on Alba Longa designed to resist Etruscan dominance, but as Rome's power grew the Latin League became as wary of Rome as they were of Etruscans, and in one war between them Alba Longa was destroyed. Rome would eventually grow into the greatest city of Latium and unite its various tribes beneath its banners."

### Starting Cities

* **Rome**: The seven hills of Rome show signs of human settlement for about 10 000 years, but the city proper is held to have been founded when Romulus organized it into a single city centred around the Palatinate hill over the protestations of his twin Remus who preferred the Aventine Hill. Built near the only near ford of the Tiber river, nestled between defensive hills, and surrounded by resources, the city sits in a strong position capable of dominating a vast area.
* **Ostia**: Ostia is a Roman colony located at the mouth of the River Tiber believed to have been the first colonia established by Rome. Originally a nearby town called Ficana sat on the banks of the Tiber, but Ficana was destroyed by Rome's fourth king Ancus Marcius, who then established the city of Ostia closer to the sea.
* **Lanuvium**: Located on a southern promontory of the Alban Hills, Lanuvium holds a commanding position over the surrounding countryside. While frequently at war with Rome during the early years of the Republic, Lanuvium was eventually conquered in 338 BCE.
* **Anagnia**: Anagnia is the most important city and spiritual centre of the Hernici, a Marsic tribe whose name meant "Those who live on the stony hills". It is thought to have been a confederation of smaller villages around a hill that traded with the Etruscans and the Greeks. They would remain a loyal ally of Rome until the Romans forcibly dissolved and annexed them.
* **Carsioli**: Carsioli is a Roman town founded in the territory of the Aequi (a Sabellic tribe that existed in Latium prior to the founding of Rome) around the turn of the third century BCE to protect a major road.

### Historic Starting Generals

When playing this faction in a sandbox setting, the player may choose to start with one of the following pre-defined historic generals instead of a generic one. These characters usually have far better bonuses than can be obtained with the generic starting generals.

 Publius Cornelius Scipio
 Romulus

### Strategy

Unit-wise, Rome has a weak early roster, initially only having access to Spearmen and Leves with slightly worse stats than the equivalent brigades of other factions. Their mid-game Hoplites and Heavy Hoplites, while still dependable, have worse stats than those of other faction groups as well, though this is somewhat compensated by the faction's Formation Strength bonus which is of benefit to Hoplites. Regardless, Rome's roster doesn't shine until the late-game, when they can unlock access to strong, flexible infantry.

As such, a Roman player shouldn't neglect the military skill tree so that they can reach their more competitive late-game units, and compensate for their lacking unit stats in the early game by promoting officers on their brigades, which is facilitated by their bonus to XP Earned in Combat.

Geographically, Rome's starting position is rather surrounded. The Tiber river separates the player from Veii and can act as a natural boundary in the early game, so it is recommended to focus on stabilizing your other borders before expanding across this river. Veii's Etruscan roster is also stronger in the early-game than that of your Sabellic neighbours.

Rome's border with the Volsci is the most awkward and the least defensible, with the Volscian city of Antium having a line of attack on much of your territory. It can be beneficial to focus on stabilizing this side of your territory first by conquering some or all of the Volsci as your first major land grab, as this will result in a better defensible eastern border.

Be aware that the Sabines and to a lesser extent the Marsi have significant bonuses to melee combat, and should be treated with caution in the early game.

It will most likely be necessary to use diplomacy in the early game to gain truces with some of the bordering factions, as defending all borders at once can be overwhelming given your starting position.

### Trivia & History

* Though it would eventually become one of history's greatest empires, Rome started out as a small regional power, taking over 400 years from its foundation in 753 BC to fully unite its home region of Latium at the end of the Latin War in 338 BC. Subsequent Roman growth was explosive, however, and they would gain control over most of the peninsula and most of Sicily in just the next 100 years.
* Early Roman expansion is very hard to replicate in the game, as the Romans conquered a few disjointed cities such as Tarracina, Veii and Capua before having even united their in-game native cities.

* The Romans historically completed their conquest of the in-game map in the 180s and 170s BC when they annexed the Po Valley, Venetia and Histria, though they already owned large overseas territories in other parts of the Mediterranean by then, most notably in Spain.

* Historically, Anagnia and Carsioli were not originally Latin cities but belonged to the Sabellic Hernici and Aequi respectively. These were presumably merged with the Roman faction in-game to simplify the faction roster and give Rome a stronger start.

* The faction icon is a reference to the legend of the origin of Rome and depicts a female wolf suckling Romulus and Remus, who would grow up to be Rome's founders. As with most faction icons in the game, the exact design was probably taken from engravings on ancient coins.