Caesar3 Augustus Ultimate Handbook

oman cities differed from modern cities in obvious ways: No skyscrapers, no motor vehicles, no subways, no electric lighting, and so on. But they were remarkably similar in some ways, too: Many Roman cities were large, busy places where hundreds of thousands of people lived (historians estimate that Rome itself housed one million residents). Cities used road networks, and had buildings several stories high

People in ancient times had the same basic needs that we have today: food, water, clothing and other goods; a job to provide income to pay the bills; entertainment, education, religion and other services and diversions. For a Roman city, just as for a modern one, the wide variety in kinds of people and buildings, the hustle and bustle, the noise and dust all gave a city its character.

The center of a Roman city should be full of fine buildings. The Senate, the center of government for a Roman city, should be the center point around which other buildings are located. It will probably be surrounded by lavish plazas, a governor's palace, and some of the wealthiest villas imaginable. There will be numerous large, grand temples, and perhaps an oracle, providing religious service for the rich and powerful who live in and around the city center.

The bathhouse, of course, will be close by. This is where the wealthy come to wash away the dirt, and also to see and be seen, to talk and to plot. And after a bath, rich Romans enjoy a stroll in one of the many gardens that are usually to be found in this part of the city, perhaps bord e red by statues marking various triumphs of Rome's glorious expansion.

Other grand structures, too, will be close by: academies, schools, and libraries, where the young are educated in the ways of Rome. Theaters are there, and actor colonies to train the actors who perform the drama so popular with the wealthy of Rome.

Not far away from that, though hidden away so as not to upset the desirability of the very center, will be the bases for the essential services needed: barbers and doctors, police stations, markets and engineering stations; a reservoir and fountains to provide the enormous volumes of water needed by such a thriving metropolis; a granary to allow the market traders easy access to food stores.

Beyond the tidy central core of the city are the productive areas, where most of the work gets done, and where those who perform that work live. Here you'll find farming districts, mines and workshops, a thriving port, and warehouses close to the main road out of the province. These outer areas of a Roman city also house more popular, if noisier and dirtier, entertainment venues like amphitheaters, where gladiators fight to the death to the delight of cheering crowds, and the colosseum, where lions are brought to battle each other and the better gladiators. The finest cities of all have a hippodrome, like Rome's Circus Maximus – one of the largest buildings I've ever seen; the fiercely competitive chariot races held there are surely the finest entertainment anywhere in the Empire . Some cities, it is true, also have areas they are less proud of. Dirty and dangerous, full of tents, hovels and shacks, these slums can house an amazing number of citizens. You would be well advised not to venture there alone. As you create your own city, keep a watchful eye on any such districts. They are often the source of crime, occasionally even riots! It's often not even worthwhile sending tax collectors round, since the people there are so poor there's precious little tax to collect.

No portrayal of Roman cities is complete without mentioning their lifeblood: The people. How can I describe the feeling of abundant, thriving life that I get just from watching the city center as all manner of people go about their busy lives? Of course, you expect to see the many plebs, priests, prefects and market traders, and maybe the cart pushers as well. But would you imagine gladiators, lion tamers, merchants from distant lands, engineers, barbers and doctors, too? It is quite a sight to behold.