1.   INTRODUCTION

The ANNALS OF ROME is a vast strategy game based on the rise and fall of the Roman Empire. Starting in the year 273 B.C., the date by which the Roman Republic had gained control of Italy, your role is that of the ruling power group in the Roman Senate, deploying Roman armies and commanders in successive foreign and civil wars.

YOUR PRIME OBJECTIVE IS . . . SURVIVAL.

At any time you will be faced with up to THIRTEEN independent hostile powers, each fighting to extend its own range form the incompetent GAULS to the deadly CARTHAGINIANS, and many more. If you survive the initial centuries of the game and establish an empire, be prepared . . . Beyond your northern frontiers on the RHINE and DANUBE are the teeming hordes of barbarians, including ALLEMANI, MARCOMANNI, FRANKS, GOTHS, DACIANS, HUNS, VANDALS, and more. In the south, your eatern frontier on the EUPRATES is constantly diputed by the PARTHIAN EMPIRE and later by the PERSIAN (SASSANID) EMPIRE.

To give you a military advantage, you have at your disposal the incomparable Roman Citizen LEGIONARIES, reinforced by mobile AUXILIARIES and static Garrison troops (LIMITANEI). In addition, you have up to 21 individual OFFICERS, of a wide range of ability and loyalty. If you deploy the and your armies intelligently you will usually beat the oppostion. But beware . . . The cost of military failure is invasion and loss of territory, with consequent loss of popularity and confidence in your regime. If this becomes too serious some of your COMMANDERS may decide to rebel and attempt to seize power in Rome as DICTATOR, or even reach for the purple and become EMPEROR. This means CIVIL WAR, the consequences of which may be a disastrous weakening of the armed forces and withdrawal of legions from critical frontier regions.

NOTE : History rarely gives second chances. The only skill level in this game is ALL OR NOTHING.

4. GAME-TURNS

A GAME-TURN consists of the following phases:

1. START-SAVE PHASE
2. ECONOMICS PHASE
3. PERSONNEL DISPLAY PHASE
4. PERSONNEL ASSIGNMENT PHASE (if allowed)
5. LOYALTY PHASE
6. CIVIL WAR (if necessary)
7. FOREIGN WARS

There are additional phases which occur automatically, beyond your immediate control, such as COLONISATION of Roman controlled regions and DECOLONISATION from lost territories. Also, some phases occur only under exceptional circustances, such as TRANSFER OF CAPITAL if ROME has been sacked, or IMPERIAL SUCCESSION if the current Emperor has died peacefully.

The various phases are explained in the following sections.

4a). START — SAVE PHASE

After loading and at the start of each game turn, the computer asks you to select either a NEW game, LOAD and OLD game, SAVE the game at its current postion or CONTINUE.

1. NEW GAME: This option allows you to abandon the current game and restart from 273 BC. Press N for this option.
2. LOAD AN OLD GAME: To continue playing a previosly saved game, place the tape or disc with that game into the player/drive and press L.
3. SAVE GAME: To save the game at its present postion insert a blank tape or disk for each saved game.
4. CONTINUE: Simply press ENTER/RETURN to continue with the current game.

4b). ECONOMICS PHASE

In this phase the computer calculates revenue, population growth and army recruitment for each nation, based on populations in regions under control. Rome (ie you) only has the option of increasing revenue at will. This occurs during the TAXATION SUB-PHASE, when the computer asks <TAX RATE (1-2)>.

If you are confident that you can survive on the lowest income rate (1) type <1> and press ENTER. Otherwise, type in a suitable number, such as 1.5, between 1 and 2. A rate of 2 effectively DOUBLES your income for the current game-turn.

WARNING

It is recommended that you use the lowest tax rate of 1 as much as possible. A high tax rate has the following undesirable side-effects, apart from the immediate benefit of an increased revenue:

1. In the subsequent game-turn, the RATE OF INFLATION (displayed) increases, with a corresonding devaluation of your currency. This means that you will pay later for increased revenue now.
2. Your POPULATION may cease to grow and start to decline, because resources are being withdrawn from it.
3. Your POPULARITY may drop, possibly by such an amount that CIVIL WAR breaks out, and you may lose more than the initial benefits from the increased revenue.

The best times to use a high tax-rate are when

1. Your popularity is high and you have used a low tax rate in the previous game-turn, or
2. Your popularity index is already very low and there is a definite frontier crisis calling for more expenditure on the army.

Apart from the tax-rate, all other aspects of ECONOMICS are dealt with automatically and are beyond your immediate control. These include:

1. POPULATION GROWTH or DECLINE (limited by available land.)
2. ARMY RECRUITMENT. Generally, the army is no more than one tenth of the total population. Note that only one branch of the armed forces (ie LEGIONARY, AUXILLIARY or LIMITANEI) can be recruited in any given Roman controlled region. Details are given in TABLE 1.

Although only one nation can control a given region at any time, there may be several different national populations present in that region at that time, reflecting recent historical circumstances. This is because indigenous populations do not in general disappear on conquest, but decline over perhaps several centuries as the successful invaders establish themselves. During decline, certain conquered populations in their homeland regions may provide a source of resistance to the conquerors. Armies recruited in this way come free of recruitment cost.

HISTORICAL NOTE

POPULATION and ARMY size is always in units of ONE THOUSAND. ROMAN population would be much higher, but is not a factor in this game.

ROMAN army size is based on the historically known size of the Roman and Auxiliary armed forces. Although this fluctuates according to circumstances, the army will total several hundred thousand at the height of empire, with less than half mobile legionaries.

Note that on the map, figures on non-Roman controlled territories are in units of TEN THOUSAND soldiers. For Roman controlled territories, the figures are in LEGION units, ie FIVE THOUSAND soldiers. Because of superior training, one Roman Legion is usually comparable with most non-Roman ten-thousand soldier units. However, there are important exceptions, notably with the advent of cavalry based barbarian armies in the late third century and onwards, when the traditional Roman Legion became obsolete. Details of military capability are given in TABLE 2.

4c). PERSONNEL DISPLAY PHASE

This display shows the current status of the 21 Senators and Commanders after the previous game-turn. Some or all may have died,been killed, or retired, etc. The rest will have aged accordingly, and their current ages and official status is displayed. A typical example is:

IT D JULIUS MAXIMUS 34 56 COMMANDER 22

EXPLANATION: The first two letters denote the office’s current location, in this case Italia. Each individual is assigned an identifying PERSONAL LETTER (from A to U), in this case D, which you must use when moving that particular individual. This is followed by the individual’s full name, in this case JULIUS MAXIMUS. Note that in certain displays only the second (family) name is used. The two digits following the name are:

1. the individual’s command ABILITY, ranging from 0 to 5 and
2. the individual’s LOYALTY, ranging from 0 to 5.

In each case, 0 represents the worse and 5 the best value from your point of view. In the example, JULIUS MAXIMUS has an ability of 3 (reasonable) and a loyalty of 4 (good) to the current regime.

An individual’s ability can never change, but his loyalty can change, depending on STATUS changes due to promotion or demotion. The lowest status is that of SENATOR, as the SENATE is the recruitment pool for army officers. This is followed by TRIBUNE (junior offices), LEGATE (General) and finally COMMANDER (Regional Governor). Note that once a commander has been proclaimed DICTATOR by the Senate or IMPERATOR by his troops his new status cannot be altered except by his death.

The two digits following the ability and loyalty give the officer’s current age. In the above example, JULIUS MAXIMUS is currently 56. NOTE that the older a regional commander is, the more likely he is to consider seizing power.

The age is followed by the individual’s current status, in this case JULIUS MAXIMUS is a COMMANDER. Any COMMANDER status is followed by the EFFECTIVE REGIONAL COMBAT STRENGTH under his command. In the example, JULIUS MAXIMUS commands and effective force of 22 (thousand) in ITalia. In this display LEGIONAIRIES AND LIMITANEI are counted with a combat factor of 2 and AUXILIARIES with a factor of 1.

4d) PERSONNEL ASSIGNMENT PHASE

This phase will not occur if only one region is under Roman control or if the POPULARITY INDEX is below zero. The latter condition reflects the loss of organizational control which occurs when a regime is in disarray (as reflected by a negative popularity index). In such a case the next section follows on immediately.

In this phase you have the opportunity to reassign all or none of your available officers to regions under Roman control. On the right hand side there is a table of all regions. A number indicates the effective Roman army strength. An asterisk (*) indicates that there is a COMMANDER currently assigned to that region. A dash (-) indicates that there is at least one non-commanding officer, such as LEGATE or TRIBUNE, in that region.

Note that REGIONS must be referred to by their initial two letters and all officers referred to by their PERSONAL LETTER. There is no need to press ENTER after each personal letter is a group of officers is being moved to a given region.

Note also that it is advisable to ensure large armies have strong commanders (ie high ABILITY factors). Armies CANNOT be moved during this phase.

4e).LOYALTY PHASE

In this phase the display is similar to the PERSONNEL DISPLAY PHASE, section c. Now, however, the objective is to show which regional commanders (if any) are plotting rebellion. In such a case, the entry for the commander concerned will be in reverse field.

The number of commanders who plan to rebel in the next phase is affected mainly by the current POPULARITY INDEX, which ranges from – 5 (extremely unpopular) to + 5 (very popular). Additional factors which contribute to disloyalty are

1. A commander with a low LOYALTY INDEX, perhaps due to demotion,
2. A commander with a large LEGIONARY component under his command. This gives him more confidence in a successful rebellion. Note that only LEGIONARIES can rebel with their commander and march on Rome. Therefore, in this section, the numbers following a COMMANDER status are LEGIONARIES only, counted with a factor of one. AUXILIARIES and LIMITANEI play no role in CIVIL WAR. AUXILIARIES are non-Roman in origin and have no interest in Roman Power struggles, remaining in provinces to safeguard them. Similarly LIMITANEI are fixed garrison troops recruited locally, with no interest or motivation to move beyond their home regions. Both sorts of troops will immediately accept any change in the ruling regime in the capitol.

In this phase there are two ways in which you may attempt to pre-empt or eliminate a rebellion:

1. You may try to bribe the army to remain loyal. The computer asks <HOW MUCH TO THE TROOPS?>.
   You can allocate up to 5000 talents to the troops, if the display shows that any commander is contemplating rebellion. This money is distributed to ALL soldiers in the Empire. Note that you may find yourself in debt (ie the TREASURY INDEX drops below zero). This will cost you resources in the next game-turn. Moreover the troops may take the money and still rebel.
   Clearly, if all commanders plan to remain loyal, there is no need of largesse to the troops and you can just type ENTER.
2. The command of Rome is decisive. If the Capital Commander rebels successfully, he will automatically take over and become DICTATOR or EMPEROR. To prevent this, you have the ability to appoint another commander in his place in the Capital. This is possible in Rome only, because the Senate, being based in Rome is less likely to lose control of the situation there than in other regions. Note that a replacement commander may also decide to rebel, so it is important to consider the LOYALTY INDEX of prospective Commanders. Also, a commander is committed to rebel only if the current regime is in power at the start of the next phase, CIVIL WAR. If reports are received by the Senate that several commanders in the field are likely to rebel, it is possible that some of them will not do so if the current regime is replaced by a popular leader BEFORE they have declared themselves publicly in the next phase and actually implemented their revolt. Note that the sequence in which commanders may rebel is chosen randomly.

There may well be occasions when you (representing the ruling power group in the Senate) will decide to abandon an unpopular leader and support one of the rebel commanders. In such a case you should appoint a commander in Rome with a low Popularity index, making his disloyalty to the current leader more likely.

4f). CIVIL WAR

If any commanders rebel as a result of the previous phase they will first attempt to induce their LEGIONARIES to join them. If any legionaries or non-commanding officers remain loyal to the current regime there is an initial conflict subphase to determine the regional status. If the loyalists win, the region will remain loyal and all rebels will be executed. Otherwise, the successful rebel commander will march on Rome with his legions.

You will then have to decide whether to fight a CIVIL WAR, with the objective of elimination of all rebel forces, or whether to manoeuver your forces to avoid conflict with possibly superior rebel armies. The main objective should be to minimise losses in conflict during this phase, as the Empire can be disastrously weakened by prolonged civil war. Rebel Commanders will attack each other as well as loyal troops. They are able to move through non-Roman controlled territory at will, but once they have done so loyal armies will be able to follow. If a rebel army enters a loyal region without a commander, the loyal troops desert to the rebels.

When a rebel seizes power, he becomes head of the new regime, and you are now considered to be the ruling power group in the Senate supporting him. A new popularity index is assigned, between 0 and 5. If he is relatively unpopular, you may be able to replace him with a better candidate by further intrigue and Civil War.

4g). FOREIGN WARS

The final phase of the game-turn involves foreign wars between any of the power blocks currently on the map. All 28 regions are dealt with in a random sequence, and during the early years of the game when Rome controls only a few regions, you will just have to sit back and watch developments between other power blocks. This occurs automatically, and the results will be reflected by changing patterns on the map.

Note that you may decide to do nothing aggressive in this phase, but you will find yourself under constant attack nevertheless.

When a Roman controlled region has its turn, you will be able to decide where to send your troops (if any), which officers will lead them, and how many troops (LEGIONARY or AUXILIARY) will go. For example, ITalia cannot be reached directly from ILlyricum, because invaders have generally taken the land route to the north.

Once you have sent the Senate’s instructions to the regional Commander they are implemented immediately. Conflict occurs automatically and is out of your hands at this stage. Consequently, you should only send commanders with high ability, as this greatly aids in battle. If a garrison without a current commander is attacked by an invader it defends with a leadership factor of zero.

Conflict takes into account the following factors:

1. the size of the armies concerned,
2. the technological level of the armies,
3. the leadership ability,
4. the inevitable random element.

Conflict takes place as a sequence of BATTLES, the number of which is equal to the length of the game-turn in years. A report of the result of a battle involving Roman forces is displayed as soon as it is resolved, In some cases, control of a region is not decided completely, particularly if the game-turn corresponds to only a few years. In such a case, the map will display a lightly mottled region, indicating UNRESOLVED CONFLICT.

Note that conflict ceases only when ALL oppostion is eliminated, that there is no retreat, and there is a small ATTRITION RATE suffered by all parties involved.

6. MISCELLANEOUS COMMENTS ON THE GAME.

1. CONTROL OF A REGION is assigned to an army only if there are no other armies (of any size) in that region.
2. If you control a region and plan to move on, you must leave AT LEAST one thousand (ie one unit of) Legionaries, Auxiliaries, or Limitanei in that region to maintain control.
3. All armies age according to the length of the game turn, and veterans are retired at a corresponding rate. Roman veterans retire after 25 years service and do not re-enter the recruitment pool, (the POPULATION), whereas non-Romans retire after a longer period, reflecting the semi-professional nature of many national armies. In addition, non-roman veterans do re-enter their recruitment pools. Moreover, Roman veterans have to be pensioned off. This creates a drain on the Roman Treasury.
4. All armies tend to be acompanied by civilians, reflecting camp followers, colonists and traders. Accordingly, when the Romans successfully invade a region there will atuomatically be established in initial nucleus of Roman population in that region which will subsequently grow to the natural limiting size for that region over a period of years.
5. There is a constant process of population movement. In addition to COLONISATION to controlled regions, there is DECOLONISATION from lost territories, and a process of ROMANISATION, whereby native populations slowly become Roman in nature. There is a corresponding process of de-ROMANISATION in lost regions. This latter process occurs at a faster rate than ROMANISATION, reflecting the difficulty of establishing and maintaining a superior Roman civilization.
6. ATTACK and DEFENCE are not differentiated. The action takes place over a time-scale measured in years. On such a scale, both invaders and defenders would be fighting more or less on equal terms, apart from the advantages of superior military technology. For instance, Roman LIMITANEI have an enhanced combat factor reflecting the fixed fortifications built up in certain strategic frontier regions. Generally, barbarian armies have the advantage of large numbers.
7. The Roman Homeland is always ITalia. If ITalia is lost, there will be a national UPRISING by the Romans in ITalia ONLY if Rome is the Capital. If the Capital has been transferred, there is no uprising in ITalia. Moreover, if the new Capital is lost, there is no uprising in that region.
8. TRANSFER OF CAPITAL if Rome is sacked in the late centuries is recommended, since the entire treasury is lost when the current Capital is sacked. During the fourth century onwards, ITalia becomes a frequent target for Barbarian armies, and transfer to ASia is a good move, if possible. ASia will provide an excellent prospect for reviving the empire, at least in the EAST, and with CAppadocia, provides rich source of revenue, population, and Legionary recruitment. Alternative sites for the Capital remain for you to investigate.
9. The unit of ARMY SIZE appears to change from phase to phase, but the program always works in the basic integer unit of one tousand men, ie 1 = 1000 men. However, various display work in other units as follows:
   1. ON THE MAP, non-Roman armies are in 10,000 man units. For example, 4 could mean 46000 Huns. This display size was chosen for several reasons, the most important being that the region display window can accommodate two digits only. If such an army is below this unit in strength, the national code letters are displayed. For example, HU could mean up to 9000 men.
   2. ON THE MAP Roman armies are in 5,000 man units, representing LEGIONS. Historicaly, individual legions existed for extended periods and many had their own historical identities. This feature is NOT incorporated in this game, due to memory limitations.
   3. The PERSONNEL STATUS and PERSONNEL ASSIGNMENT displays give EFFECTIVE ROMAN ARMY SIZE. This takes into account the enhanced combat value of LEGIONARIES AND LIMITANEI and is given by the formula
      
      EFFECTIVE STRENGTH  =  2*LEG  +  AUX  +  1.5*LIM
      This formula is used because when assigning officers to regions, it is important to know the exact fighting strength in a given region.
   4. The LOYALTY PHASE displays LEGIONARY strengths directly, as only legionaries are involved in CIVIL WAR.
10. Various symbols appearing in certain displays have the following meanings:
    PLN: POPULATION SIZE in 1000 man units
    ARM: ARMY SIZE
    POP: POPULARITY
    TRE: TREASURY
    SCO: SCORE
    INF: INFLATION RATE
11. All leaders age and die, either in bed or by being deposed. When a DICTATOR dies naturally, the REPUBLIC is resumed. When an EMPEROR dies peacefully he is succeeded by his son, with a new popularity index, ranging between – 5 and + 5. There is an immediate LOYALTY PHASE with the possibility of CIVIL WAR, over and above the normal run of the game if the imperial heir is unacceptable to the army.
12. POPULARITY
    This ranges from – 5 (highly unpopular) to + 5 (very popular), and reflects attitudes of army officers to the current regime. This index is important in determining the likelyhood of a regional rebellion. The game starts in 273 B.C. with a popularity of + 5.
    Factors altering the populartiy index are:
    1. gain of a region :  +  1
    2. loss of a region :  –  2
    3. Officer killed in battle :  –  0.1
    4. each army unit (one thousand men) lost:  –  0.01
    5. Tax rate : variable effect
    6. age of Dictator or Emperor : proportional drop in popularity
    7. New Dictator or Emperor : reset between 0 and  +  5
    8. Imperial Succession (Emperor dies peacefully and replaced by heir) : reset between  –  5 and  +  5.
13. SCORE
    The score reflects how well you have managed the Empire to date. You may well end up with a negative score.
    Factors changing the score are :
    1. Each region under Roman control per year :  +  1
    2. All 28 regions under control at the end the the conflict phase :  +  1000
    3. Each officer killed in battle :  –  1
    4. Sack of Capital :  –  5000
    5. New Dictator or Emperor :  –  25
    6. Imperial Succession (Emperor dies peacfully) :  +  100
    Clearly, the SCORE is a subjective estimate of the relative importance of various events. Possibly, a better indicator of success is simply the DATE when the very last region is lost to you.
14. HOMELANDS
    Each nation has a HOMELAND assigned to it which it has an absolute PRIORITY to recover if lost. The only exception is ROME. If you lose ITalia, you may decide to TRANSFER YOUR CPITAL to a new region (one under your control), and it will be your new centre of operations.
    You will be able to divert potential invasions of your territory if you launch a successful raid and capture the invader’s homeland. Their armies will have no option but to abort their current campaigns and return home as quickly as possible. The relevant information is displayed in TABLE 2. An immediate benefit of the capture of an enemy homeland is that you also capture their entire current treasury. This will severely affect their ability to recruit armies in the next phase, and greatly aid you. In the initial part of the game you may consider rapid strategic knockout blows aimed at capturing the Carthagininan homeland of AFrica, the Aacedonian homeland in GRaecia, and the Gaul’s homeland in GAllia.
15. THE MELTING POT OF HISTORY
    In certain ways, nations are like organisms; they grow, mature, and decay, sometimes disappearing from history for ever. In this simulation, certain races will disappear spontaneously at predetermined time, reflecting internal dissentions, etc, and other races will appear in their place. Details are given in TABLE 2. After you have played the game several times you will be able to plan ahead to anticipate the arrival of powerful new nations. You may find that your anticipation of developing situations has not greatly helped you, particularly if your fine but obsolete imperial army has been placed in the path of an invading steamroller and been flattened. The ultimate question in this game is :
    WAS THE FALL OF ROME INEVITABLE GIVEN THE CIRCUMSTANCES AT THE TIME?