Whenever I play Rome, I always kinda get miffed by the fact that Rome herself never ends up that powerful. That, and that I find Rome's gameplay relatively boring outside of early war with a Legion rush. I think it would be neat to give incentives for Rome to build up their capital, it would also help to represent the administrative aspect of Rome's legacy irl, in addition to their militaristic side that is currently in the game.
For example, I would change the Civilization's trait; All Roads Lead To Rome, to something like this:
Alternatively, having domestic trade routes give regular yields to the origin city and bonus yields to the destination if it is Rome is another interesting idea. Essentially, this means that after developing a market, each city you own can contribute 1 population to Rome, while also making it a more powerful city production-wise, thereby enabling rather than incentivising the development of your capital. As you build Wonders in Rome, your domestic trade routes gain additional yields. All this also make building your UD more worth it since the extra food from domestic trade means housing is welcome.
The effect of these can be powerful, especially early on, but still will not be as strong as mid-late game international trade routes, as international trade route policies are quantitatively and qualitatively better. The first idea is balanced by not including City Center's +3 gold, while the latter just does not provide much gold in general. Therefore, Domestic trade will not be strictly better all the time. Conceptually, because Rome stood as a beacon of culture and education, and was the seat of political, religious and administrative power for much of the history of the empire, this ability would make a lot of sense, merchants come to Rome, enriching the city, and leave bearing the cultural and scientific discovery of the capital.
Some other things could change to support this trade-centric Rome. Trajan's Column could add:
The ability does not require you to conquer capitals, which still allows you to keep the path to culture/science victory open. Rome's domination game falls off a bit later on, so it would be nice to be able to more effectively pivot to other victory conditions, since later war with generic units/abilities is a bit of a slog. Rome's domination snowball is weird since they only really have the Legion, being able to conquer some territory early on and pivoting should be more accessible and rewarding for them.
For example, I would change the Civilization's trait; All Roads Lead To Rome, to something like this:
- Founded or conquered cities start with a Trading Post and, if within Trade Route range of the Capital, a road to it. Trade Routes generate +1 additional Gold from Roman Trading Posts they pass through. Districts in the Capital not including the City Center provide both Domestic and International yield bonuses.
- Founded or conquered cities start with a Trading Post and, if within Trade Route range of the Capital, a road to it. Trade Routes generate +1 additional Gold from Roman Trading Posts they pass through. Trade Routes to the Capital provide 2 Food, 2 Production and 2 Gold to the Capital. For the first Wonder and every two afterwards in the Capital, Trade Routes to the Capital provide and additional 1 Faith, 1 Science and 1 Culture to the origin.
Alternatively, having domestic trade routes give regular yields to the origin city and bonus yields to the destination if it is Rome is another interesting idea. Essentially, this means that after developing a market, each city you own can contribute 1 population to Rome, while also making it a more powerful city production-wise, thereby enabling rather than incentivising the development of your capital. As you build Wonders in Rome, your domestic trade routes gain additional yields. All this also make building your UD more worth it since the extra food from domestic trade means housing is welcome.
The effect of these can be powerful, especially early on, but still will not be as strong as mid-late game international trade routes, as international trade route policies are quantitatively and qualitatively better. The first idea is balanced by not including City Center's +3 gold, while the latter just does not provide much gold in general. Therefore, Domestic trade will not be strictly better all the time. Conceptually, because Rome stood as a beacon of culture and education, and was the seat of political, religious and administrative power for much of the history of the empire, this ability would make a lot of sense, merchants come to Rome, enriching the city, and leave bearing the cultural and scientific discovery of the capital.
Some other things could change to support this trade-centric Rome. Trajan's Column could add:
- All founded cities start with a free building in the City Center. (A Monument if the game is started in the Ancient Era). Conquering a city from another Civ for the first time grants 1 trade route capacity.
The ability does not require you to conquer capitals, which still allows you to keep the path to culture/science victory open. Rome's domination game falls off a bit later on, so it would be nice to be able to more effectively pivot to other victory conditions, since later war with generic units/abilities is a bit of a slog. Rome's domination snowball is weird since they only really have the Legion, being able to conquer some territory early on and pivoting should be more accessible and rewarding for them.
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