420AD - Cultural awakening
For thousands of years the people of Rome has been described as a ruthless bunch of dirty peasants, shameless merchants and bloodthirsty warriors. Now, for the first time in history, Rome is gaining culturally over the other populations of the Old World. The first Cathedral of Zeus has been built in Thebes. Another will follow in Elephantine.
Our generals complain that culture is useless on the battlefield. Some more illuminated advisors reply that some culture is necessary to keep into the populace the idea of a national identity. Without something to be proud, apart from the number of enemies slaughtered, the people of Rome is going to lose its loyalty to the Crown.
But military needs are not forgotten, even in peace times. Every year new companies of legionaries are trained and equipped for battle. Our training camps are always busy. We actually have an eccess of 16 legionary companies ready to engage in battle, supported by archer, mounted units, and catapults. Actually, in these "peace times" we are at war with Aztecs. But hostilities with Monty are nothing more than occasional skirmishes between our standing forces and some venturing companies of Jaguars, and in most cases the invading Aztec soldiers are sent home badly beaten.
Monty doesn't bother asking for peace, and i have no reasons to call a cease-fire. Little news come from Aztec lands, but imperial maps receive regular updates from Greece and America. Aztland is still a jungle covered wild land, and Monty seems too obsessed by this useless war to care for the development of its territory. Taken into account the representative form of government actually used in Atzland, it is likely that Aztec people won't tolerate forever such a thing.
Abe has colonized the northern island NE of the main continent. The city of Miami has been build right above that iron spot. I guess they'll build a harbor quickly to connect the source of iron from the mainland. Pukemen and Knights for Abe. America has discovered Engineering and probably will trade this precious knowledge with Greece for Chivalry. Oddly, that iron spot in greek land is still undeveloped.
What is seriously lacking in our Kingdom is science. We have only a full functional public library, in Alexandria. And research is confined between a small circle of men in Elephantine. They're slowly progressing in the development of a printing press machine, a technology that our opponents seem to overlook for now. Good. There is a fair chance that the printing press mechanism, once it's made feasible, will be a good asset to trade.
In the New World, Bob is slowly eating all what remains of Babylon. He captured Samarra. Only 3 cities are still loyal to the Babylonian soon-to-be ex-empire.
In the current shot, the Iroquois core territory covers the most part of the New World's mainland. In the map, it is visible the slowly disappearing Babylonian Empire and the small territory of the Persian Republic.
@AndrewH: .. and here you are.
@HAND: i'd like to leave the city of Thermopylae in the hand of Alex.

What i have in mind is to sign peace with him once he's left with only 1 city, so i can extort the most from Greece during peace negotiations. Having moved my capital from Roma to Athens, the main land of Greece, once conquered, would be quite productive.
The drawback in leaving Thermopylae as the city-state of Greece would be the cultural pressure problem in Elephantine, but i'm already pumping cultural buildings there, so the risk of a culture flip is going to be minimal.
It's obvious that, after peace expires, Thermopylae will be instantly assimilated, and Pi-Ramesses, the last egyptian city, is going to meet the same destiny.
@BlackJAC: thanx! Glad to know it's been also useful.