Aeterna Civitas
From SLeague
| Thumb | Name | Misc | Designer | Genre | Medium |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aeterna Civitas | 281 BCE - 200 AD | McMonkey | Ancient Ages | Civ2 MGE |
Contents |
[edit] Description
PLEASE NOTE THIS GAME IS NOW OBSOLETE. AETERNA CIVITAS II IS THE MOST UP TO DATE VERSION!
The game begins in 281 BC, at the time of the Pyrrhic Wars, and lasts until 200 AD. Each turn equals one year.
Aeterna Civitas is designed to be played as a seven player play by e-mail game. It will also be fun as a single player game though I am not sure how competently the AI will handle the nations. There are loads of barbarian events so it should be fairly tough to expand.
This scenario was primarily designed to be played as a Play by e-mail multiplayer game.
Best played at deity level as any of the nations.
To speed up the Barbarian moves it would be advisable to unclick the 'Show enemy moves' option.
[edit] Objectives
The basic aim of the game is domination of ancient Europe. Each nations capital is an objective and to win a decisive victory you need six points. Five points will give you a marginal victory. Four or less points equals defeat and shame!
[edit] House Rules
- Until you have the relevant technology then I would advise against changing unit production as you will not be able to build some of the units that are set for production initially until later in the game. This is not a rule, just advice.
- Founding new cities is allowed
[edit] Concepts
- ROMANIZING CITY NAMES
All of the cities on the map are located where the Romans founded a major settlement. I have named many of them after the local tribe, the idea being that the Roman player renames them once captured. The founding of some cities will not coincide exactly with the historical foundation date but the location of the cities will be correct. Provided below is a list of Barbarian tribes and the names of the Roman cities that were founded in the area after they were conquered. All cities can be renamed as there are no city related events to mess up.
- VILLAGES AND SLAVES
I have decided to wipe all goody huts and borrow the Village idea used in John Ellis' Hellas scenario. The village is an immobile barbarian unit. When destroyed it triggers an event that gives money to the attacking nation and also creates a slave unit in one of their major cities.
- ROLE PLAYING
When playing as the Germanic civ I would suggest an element of roleplay. The idea would be to run the main tribes, the Germanics, Dacians, Skythians, Sarmatians, Illyrians and Thracians as seperate entities when it comes to war and expansion. This will become blured as the game goes on but would add some realism to the game.
[edit] Nations
- Romans
Between the 5th and 1st centuries BCE, the Roman republic grew from a small city-state into an imperial power dominating the Mediterranean region. It did this amost exclusively by force of arms. Constantly at war, the Romans defeated the other peoples of Italy, then fought a life-or-death strugle with the rival power of Carthage, and finally established Rome's dominance of the Hellenistic kingdoms of the eastern Mediterranean.
Wonder = Roman Senate in Rome. City walls in every Roman settlement and defence doubled against Barbarians.
- Macedonian Greeks
Despite the empire's division into feuding kingdoms ruled by Alexander's generals, Macedonia itself remained a key and fiercely contested territory. Antipater and his son Cassander gained control of Macedonia but it slid into a long period of civil strife following Cassander's death in 297 BC. It was ruled for a while by Demetrius I (294–288 BC) but fell into civil war. Demetrius' son Antigonus II (277–239 BC) successfully restored order and prosperity and repelled a Galatian invasion, though he lost control of many of the formerly controlled Greek city-states. He established a stable monarchy and gave rise to the Antigonid dynasty. His successor Antigonus II (239–221 BC) built on these gains by re-establishing Macedonian power across the region. Under Philip V of Macedon (221–179 BC) and his son Perseus of Macedon (179–168 BC), the kingdom clashed with the rising power of the Roman Republic. During the 2nd and 1st centuries BC, Macedon fought a series of wars with Rome. Two major losses that led to their inevitable defeat were in 197 BC when Rome defeated Philip V, and 168 BC when Rome defeated Perseus. The overall losses resulted in the defeat of Macedon, the deposition of the Antigonid dynasty and the dismantling of the Macedonian kingdom. Andriscus' brief success at reestablishing the monarchy in 149 BC was quickly followed by his defeat the following year and the establishment of direct Roman rule and the organization of Macedon as the Roman province of Macedonia.
Wonder = Aristotles Lyceum in Athens. Pays maintenance for all city improvements that cost one gold per turn.
- Ptolemic Greeks
The Ptolemaic dynasty was a Hellenistic royal family which ruled the Ptolemaic Empire in Egypt for nearly 300 years, from 305 BC to 30 BC. Ptolemy, a Macedonian and one of Alexander the Great's generals, was appointed satrap of Egypt after Alexander's death in 323 BC. In 305 BC, he declared himself King Ptolemy I, later known as "Soter" (saviour). The Egyptians soon accepted the Ptolemies as the successors to the pharaohs of independent Egypt. Ptolemy's family ruled Egypt until the Roman conquest of 30 BC. All the male rulers of the dynasty took the name Ptolemy. Ptolemaic queens, some of whom were the sisters of their husbands, were usually called Cleopatra, Arsinoe or Berenice. The most famous member of the line was the last queen, Cleopatra VII, known for her role in the Roman political battles between Julius Caesar and Pompey, and later between Octavian and Mark Antony. Her suicide at the conquest by Rome marked the end of Ptolemaic rule in Egypt.
In 285, Ptolemy abdicated in favour of one of his younger sons by Berenice - Ptolemy II Philadelphus, who had been co-regent for three years. His eldest (legitimate) son, Ptolemy Ceraunus, whose mother, Eurydice, the daughter of Antipater, had been repudiated, fled to the court of Lysimachus. Ptolemy I Soter died in 283 at the age of 84. Shrewd and cautious, he had a compact and well-ordered realm to show at the end of forty years of war. His reputation for bonhomie and liberality attached the floating soldier-class of Macedonians and Greeks to his service, and was not insignificant; nor did he wholly neglect conciliation of the natives. He was a ready patron of letters, founding the Great Library of Alexandria. He himself wrote a history of Alexander's campaigns that has not survived. This used to be considered an objective work, distinguished by its straightforward honesty and sobriety. However, Ptolemy may have exaggerated his own role, and had propagandist aims in writing his History. Although now lost, it was a principal source for the surviving account by Arrian of Nicomedia.
Wonder = Lighthouse of Alexandria. Movement rate of all ships increased by two.
- Seleucid Greeks
The capture of Demetrius in 285 BC added to Seleucus's prestige. The unpopularity of Lysimachus after the murder of Agathocles gave Seleucus an opportunity for removing his last rival. His intervention in the west was solicited by Ptolemy Keraunos, who, on the accession to the Egyptian throne of his brother Ptolemy II (285 BC), had at first taken refuge with Lysimachus and then with Seleucus. War between Seleucus and Lysimachus broke out, and at the decisive battle of Corupedium in Lydia, Lysimachus fell (281 BC). Seleucus now held the whole of Alexander's conquests excepting Egypt in his hands, and moved to take possession of Macedonia and Thrace. He intended to leave Asia to Antiochus and content himself for the remainder of his days with the Macedonian kingdom in its old limits. He had, however, hardly crossed into the Chersonese when he was assassinated by Ptolemy Keraunos near Lysimachia (281 BC).
Nevertheless, even before Seleucus' death, the vast eastern domains of the Seleucids were proving difficult to assert control over. Seleucus invaded India (modern Punjab Pakistan) in 304 BC, confronting Chandragupta Maurya (Sandrokottos), founder of the Maurya empire. It is said that Chandragupta fielded an army of 100,000 men and 9,000 war elephants. The two monarchs ultimately sealed a treaty, by which Seleucus ceded territories from the Indus to present-day Afghanistan. In exchange Chandragupta gave him no less than 500 elephants, an addition to his army that was to play a prominent part in his victory at Ipsus. The peace was complemented by a "marriage alliance" (Epigamia in ancient sources), implying either a dynastic alliance (in which a Seleucid princess may have been bethrothed to the Maurya dynasty) or the recognition of marriage between Greeks and Indians.
Seleucus also sent an ambassador named Megasthenes to Chandragupta's court, who repeatedly visited Pataliputra (modern Patna in Bihar state), capital of Chandragupta. Megasthenes wrote detailed descriptions of India and Chandragupta's reign, which have been partly preserved to us through Diodorus Siculus. He also later sent Deimakos to the court of Chandragupta's son, Bindusara. Other territories lost before Seleucus' death were Gedrosia in the south-east of the Iranian plateau, and, to the north of this, Arachosia on the west bank of the Indus River.
Antiochus I (reigned 281-261 BC) and his son and successor Antiochus II Theos (reigned 261-246 BC) were faced with challenges in the west, including repeated wars with Ptolemy II and a Celtic invasion of Asia Minor — distracting attention from holding the eastern portions of the Empire together. Towards the end of Antiochus II's reign, various provinces simultaneously asserted their independence, such as Bactria under Diodotus, Parthia under Arsaces, and Cappadocia under Ariarathes III.
Greco-Bactrian secession (C. 245 BC) In Bactria, the satrap Diodotus asserted independence to form the Greco-Bactrian kingdom c. 245 BC.Diodotus, governor for the Bactrian territory, asserted independence in around 245 BC, although the exact date is far from certain, to form the Greco-Bactrian kingdom. This kingdom was characterized by a rich Hellenistic culture, and was to continue its domination of Bactria until around 125 BC, when it was overrun by the invasion of northern nomads. One of the Greco-Bactrian kings, Demetrius I of Bactria, invaded India around 180 BC to form the Greco-Indian kingdom, lasting until around AD 20.
Parthian secession (C. 245 BC) The Seleucid satrap of Parthia, named Andragoras, first claimed independence, in a parallel to the secession of his Bactrian neighbour. Soon after however, a Parthian tribal chief called Arsaces took over the Parthian territory around 238 BC to form the Arsacid Dynasty — the starting point of the powerful Parthian Empire.
Wonder = Silk Road in Seleucia. Counts as a granary in every city.
- Carthaginians
Founded on a natural harbour on the coast of North Africa by Phonecians adventurers, the city of Carthage grew in wealth and influence over the centuries. By 281 BC Carthage was one of the Mediterraneans great powers, vying with Rome for control of Sicily and the valuable trade routes in the area. The Carthaginians produced some outstanding explorers such as Hanno and generals such as Hannibal, but they were unable to strike the killer blow against their rivals and by the end of the Punic wars they had been so severely beaten by Rome that Carthage itself was captured and razed to the ground, never to rise again.
Wonder = Warfleet Arsenal in Carthage. All ships have plus one movement. All ships produced are veteran.
- Celts
At the dawn of history in Europe, the Celts in present-day France were known as Gauls. Their descendants were described by Julius Caesar in his Gallic Wars. There was also an early Celtic presence in northern Italy. Other Celtic tribes invaded Italy, establishing there a city they called Mediolanum (modern Milan) and sacking Rome itself in 390 BC following the Battle of the Allia. The Celts settled much further south of the Po River than many maps show. Remnants in the town of Doccia, in the province of Emilia-Romagna, showcase Celtic houses in very good condition dating from about the 4th century BC. A century later the defeat of the combined Samnite, Celtic and Etruscan alliance by the Romans in the Third Samnite War sounded the end of the Celtic domination in Europe, but it was not until 192 BC that the Roman armies conquered the last remaining independent Celtic kingdoms in Italy. Under Caesar the Romans conquered Celtic Gaul, and from Claudius onward the Roman empire absorbed parts of Britain. Roman local government of these regions closely mirrored pre-Roman 'tribal' boundaries, and archaeological finds suggest native involvement in local government. Latin was the official language of these regions after the conquests. The native peoples under Roman rule became Romanized and keen to adopt Roman ways. Celtic art had already incorporated classical influences, and surviving Gallo-Roman pieces interpret classical subjects or keep faith with old traditions despite a Roman overlay.
Wonder = Stonehenge belonging to the Belgae. Doubles the effect of temples.
- Germanics
The classical world knew little about the people who inhabited the north of Europe before the 2nd century BC. In the 5th century BC the Greeks were aware of a group they called Celts (Keltoi). Herodotus also mentioned the Scythians, but no other barbarian tribes. At around 320 BC, Pytheas of Massalia sailed around Britain and along the northern coast of Europe, and what he found on his journeys was so unbelievable that later writers refused to believe him. He may have been the first Mediterranean to distinguish the Germanic people from the Celts. Caesar described the cultural differences between the Germanic tribesmen, the Romans and the Gauls. He said that the Gauls, although warlike, could be civilized, but the Germanic tribesmen were far more savage, and were a threat to Roman Gaul, and so had to be conquered. His accounts of barbaric northern tribes could be described as an expression of the superiority of Rome, including Roman Gaul. Caesar's accounts protray the Roman fear of the Germanic tribes and the threat they posed. The perceived menace of the Germanic tribesmen proved accurate. The Romans tried crossing the Rhine into greater Germania to conquer it only once. This invasion occurred in 9 A.D. resulting in the Battle of the Teutoburg forest which led to the annihilation of tens of thousands of Roman Legionnaires, and one of the Rome's greatest defeats. Several hundred years later, it was the mainly Germanic tribes that conquered Rome itself. The most complete account of Germania that has been preserved from Roman times is Tacitus' Germania.
Wonder = Fortress of Sarmizegetusa. All new units are verteran. Any unit that wins in combat automatically becomes veteran.
[edit] Links
There is a thread for the development of this scenario at Apolyton. If you would like to leave a comment please follow the following link:[1]
