In the game each player takes control of a Roman family (read the paragraph on Family for more information). Every player starts with some resources and wares that will get you through the early stage of the game, that is the time before the first harvest. At the start every player's family consists of 6 family members, that is a husband and wife and 4 children. Each player also has a starting fund of 80,000 uncia. Uncia is the basic currency of the game.
Time
One season in the game is equal to one real day. So 4 real days make 1 year in the game. One real day or a game season is divided into 3 months. So 1 month is equal to 8 real hours. Each month is divided into 3 weeks. The first week is called the Kalends, the middle week the Ides, and the last week is called the Nones. A gameweek consists of 8 days. A gameyear begins with spring, followed by summer, then autumn and finally winter.
It is important to know that:
All the characters and armies in the game start at the city of Rome, but armies and some characters alike can move to other places on the world map. In all there are 300 different locations on the world map. Some of these locations belong to the Roman Republic, but many more are occupied by various barbarians. Armies may conquer barbarian held locations, traders may trade with barbarians, and diplomats may visit barbarian held locations.
Opening Shop
In order for your family to survive in the game, it has to be stressed that you must make a living in some way and get an income so you can purchase the necessary goods and services that nourish and sustain the members of your family. The usual way to do this, is to open a shop or workshop.
When you register for the game, you are randomly assigned a residence somewhere in Rome. You live here, but you do not own it, so before you can open a shop, you must buy a house or a domus for your family. You can do this by going to a street in Rome that has vacant lots. Buy one of the vacant lots that you think suits you best and construct a shop. With the shop complete, you can visit the pergula or office of your house and build a shop or workshop of your choosing, by selecting a shop or workshop from the dropdown list and press build. That is all there is to it.
There are about 30 different kinds of shops and workshops and some are more profitable than others. With a workshop your family members or your household slaves can produce goods or resources out of other resources (read the paragraph on Production for more information), and sell these products to other players for money.
You can only own one shop.
There is a limit to the number of vacant lots in the city, so if there are lots of players it is possible that you will not be able to find a vacant lot.
Careers
Your characters or family members can get lots of various jobs.
A character can be a workman, or a shopkeeper, or a peasant, these usual jobs are available to both male and female characters. A character has to be at least 14 years old to get a job. Aside from the usual jobs, there are also other jobs and careers avialable. All of these other jobs are available only to male characters, except for the Vestal Virgin.
This is a list of all the other jobs and careers:
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The career of the character often decides to what class he or she belongs. The ordo servus are the slaves. The ordo proletari are the jobless, naturally this is the default class. Those who belong to the ordo nobilis, are characters who are Consul or Praetor. All the other magistrates, promagistrates, ex-magistrates, senators and legati belong to the ordo senatorius. Characters who have a religious career, or who are married to those with a religious career belong to the ordo partricius. Those who work in the civil service or the cavalry or are married to those who work in the cavalry or civil service belong to the ordo equester. Any other characters belong to the ordo plebeius.
Thus from high to low we have the following classes:
The class of the character determines how much and which food and wares that character has to consume to sustain that character (read the paragraph on Consumption for more information).
Win or Lose
You can pretty much choose to do whatever you like in the game and the game is very open ended with no clear defined goals, but there are ways to win or lose the game.
You can lose the game in two ways: (1) you get bankrupt, or (2) your family line is discontinued for some reason (i.e. all of your family members are dead).
One way to win the game is to end up in the rankings at the end of the game. Players can earn points that will allow them to rise in the rankings. There are 4 rankings in the game. The 4 rankings are: prestige, power, piety and wealth.
Prestige is earned by the class of your family characters, the amount of land you have, how many Censors come from your family, and how many public buildings were constructed in your name.
Power is earned by how many magistrates you have and how many legions you lead.
Piety is earned by how many priests you have, how many offerings you made and how many temples were constructed in your name.
Wealth points are earned by how much money and land you own.
The game usually ends in the year 27 B.C., but victory is declared when one player meets all of the following conditions: