Introduction

War has never been an easy or simple occurrence to comprehend. Few understand it, even fewer have mastered it. To put war into recent context and historical framing would bring to mind many past masters of the Art of War. Napoleon Bonaparte. General MacArthur. Shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu. And of course, the Master of them all, Sun Tzu.

Rome : Total War brings us back to an age when the word ‘gun’ didn’t exist. To an age where honour and death, glory and sacrifice, were bedfellows. A time when your immortality lay in your doom. A time when the names Julius Caesar, Spartacus and Hannibal invoked more fear than even the terrible retribution promised by Mars, the Roman God of War.

A time when Rome was engaged in Total War.

All Hail Caesar!

You’re caught in a four way battle for Thessalonica. The Greeks are trying to reclaim their city, which YOU invaded. The Carthaginians are intent on making a push into the Aegean Sea. The Egyptians….. Oh dear, this does not look good. Quickly, you try your best to diffuse the situation. Diplomats are sent to everyone involved. You try and get your allies, the other Roman families, to help you.

You send out emissaries to drum up support for your defence of the city. You rush to get your troops into the fleets to reinforce the flimsy garrison you thought would be enough to pacify the populace and keep the city. Wait a minute. Didn’t you just receive a report telling you that the populace is now rebelling? That’s alright, you can hold on to it for at least another turn. Maybe by then, you can get your fleet to support your troops with reinforcements, and maybe force a diplomatic solution with the Greeks, Carthaginians and Egyptians. You end your turn, and sit tight…