Line #37 VideoGame/ExpeditionsRome


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/expeditionsrome_sq_1642614368461.jpg]]
2	''Expeditions: Rome'' is a [[StrategyRPG tactical]] RolePlayingGame developed by Danish Video Game developer Logic Artists and published by Creator/THQNordic on January 20th 2022. It is the third game in the ''Expeditions'' series following ''VideoGame/ExpeditionsConquistador'' and ''VideoGame/ExpeditionsViking''.
3
4	It is 74 BC, Lucius Licinius Lucullus is consul of Rome, fighting a war against pirates and rebelling Greeks in Asia Minor. In Rome, the Pater Familias (The male head of house) of a prominent family close to the Consul is assassinated. The sons of the prominent Vitellius family quickly move to marry the eldest daughter of the family to seize its assets. Worried for the fate of her children, the mother of the family sends her youngest child (the player character) to the Island of Lesbos, in Asia Minor, alongside an agent of Lucullus to join the Consul. Lucullus is eager to employ the child of his former ally as his right hand, and soon the child find themselves leading the war across Asia Minor, with a goal to use the glory and reputation for a successful campaign as a diveboard to free their family from the Vitellius brothers when returning to Rome. However things are rapidly going to spiral out of control, as Rome is at a crossroad, with the corruption and factions of the Senate threatening the fate of the Republic. The player's actions will determine if the Republic is to survive, or should it transform into [[TheEmpire something else, under an absolute autocratic leader]].
5	----
6	!!Tropes:
7	* AGodAmI: Both Cleopatra and her brother Ptolemy absolutely believe that they are living gods, and the player can choose to go along with it or not as they wish. TruthInTelevision, as this is exactly how Egyptian Pharaohs were viewed, even up to the time of the Ptolemies.
8	* AlternateHistory: [[spoiler:Julius Caesar dies early in the game, leaving the player (and others) free to navigate the political troubles he faced in the real world, and those may be handled very differently]].
9	* AnimalMotif: Raia, the priestess of the cat goddess Ubaste, unsurprisingly has a cat motif. Her voice even sounds a little like a cat’s meowing.
10	* AnnoyingArrows: Downplayed. Arrows can be little more than a minor inconvenience for a character with a high armour score, or a working shield. Characters without these, however, are extremely vulnerable to arrows. Arrows which cause damage over time are among the most dangerous weapons on the battlefield. Add that it's not rare for enemy archers to spawn in hard to reach locations with great height advantages, and decent cover, which lets them constantly pepper vulnerable troops with arrows while facing little in the way of retaliation. And as the game progresses, arrows inflicting bleeding/poison/fire become more and more common.
11	* ArbitraryHeadcountLimit: The Legatus can only start a combat situation with a team of 6. Somewhat averted. Speculatores are meant to be a commando-esqe unit who strike with precision. During larger sieges and certain encounters there may be other friendly combatants or more than 6 characters under the player's control.
12	* ArtisticLicenseHistory:
13	** ZigZagged With the issue of Gender. The game acknowledges women in Rome do not fight (And have little in the way or legal rights). If the player is female, much of the dialogue is changed to have people react to this, and attempt to handwave the situation. For example [[spoiler:When your family is freed, Lucullus is legally the Pater Familias, but he trusts the player to run their own family - he's merely rubber stamping the legal paperwork]]. For most of Act 1, only the closest of the Player's Legion know the player is female, the troops widely believe the player to be male, as the player dresses as such. It's only at the end of Act 1 that the truth becomes widely known. Furthermore, one of the companions (and love interest) exists to explore the issue. That said there's no denying that the characters in the game are way more accepting than they'd be, even if it's a consul pushing a woman in this position.
14	** The Roman Army retains many of the pre-Marian reform ranks (Hastati, Principes, Velites and Triarii) despite taking place in post reform times, and using post reform legion structures. Principes, Velites and Triarii are in fact used as character class, as Tank, DPS and Support classes, respectively. Triarii in particular, while they can still use heavy equipment and be built to fight quite well, most prominently appear in a CombatMedic role, rather than as the elite infantry reserves for emergencies they historically were. Velites also function as melee assassins in the vein of the traditional RPG rogue, when in reality they were ranged skirmishers who usually tried to avoid melee engagements due to not being equipped for it.
15	** Lucullus [[spoiler:was not murdered by Egyptian assassins in North Africa]].
16	** Archelaus is the StarterVillain, a thuggish bandit fighting for Mithridates. In real life he was a nobleman who had defected and was fighting ''for Rome'' in this (Third) Mithridatic War.
17	** The game takes place when Lucullus and Cotta are consuls - so 74 BC. Cleopatra was born in 69 BC and her brother 10 years later yet she appears in game, as a grown woman (and potential romance) and her brother appears as an adult, not the teen he was during their conflict. One of the loading screens acknowledges that they shuffled this part of the timeline ahead for narrative reasons.
18	** It is strongly implied that [[spoiler:the player is responsible for the outbreak of Spartacus’s revolt]], when the player completes a quest set at a gladiator school in Thrace. In reality, this took place in Capua, in Italy.
19	** Lorica segmentata - the laminated plate armour that most people think of when they think of Roman soldiers - is present in the game, despite it only being introduced around a century later.
20	** The political structure of Rome bears only superficial resemblance to the late Republic, and in actual operation is an almost completely different system that happens to use the same titles. [[spoiler:One of the biggest examples is a major plot point in which Lurcos becomes dictator in wake of the Gauls' attack by nominating himself. In real life, a Consul could not nominate himself as dictator. Furthermore, his decision could easily be vetoed by his fellow Consul Cicero, who does not implement said veto despite having vocally opposed Lurcos's decision.]]
21	** Greek Fire, introduced early in the game as a weapon used to fight the Romans in Asia Minor, wasn't first used until 672 CE, during the Byzantine Empire(who ironically considered themselves Roman). It's a good 700 years too early as shown in game and being used by the wrong faction to boot.
22	* ArtisticLicenseMilitary: A big point of the Marian Reforms was to standardize the kit of the Roman Legionnaire. As this would make for some pretty boring RPG element if everyone had the same weapons, the player and their party carry various gear, armors, and loadouts. This is somewhat handwaved by the fact that the players are acting as Speculatores - basically commandos and special forces. Troops during army battles are presumably suitably geared.
23	* AmazonChaser: Bestia absolutely turned on when he learns [[spoiler:Julius Calidus is a woman]] particularly because she kicks so much ass. [[spoiler:He can feel the same towards a female PC.]]
24	* BadassArmy: With a little more experience Legio Victrix can become one of the most formidable fight forces.
25	* BaitAndSwitchLesbians: Of a sort. Characters of either sex can express an interest in and flirt with Cleopatra and she reacts with approval and encouragement. However, her final romance-concluding scene only plays for a male PC. There is no scene for a female PC where Cleopatra's preferences are addressed, the game simply skips ahead in the story where the romance scene would normally be if you are not male. This is notably different from Julia, the game's straight female love interest, where the option to flirt does not even appear for female protagonists, presumably to avoid leading them on.
26	* BackStab: An attack for dagger wielding characters. It deals double damage against flanked opponents.
27	* BeingGoodSucks: [[spoiler: If you want to preserve the Republic, at least one of your companions will be murdered. That's what you get when you try to uphold the rule of law when your enemy has nothing but contempt for it.]]
28	* BittersweetEnding: The Republic endings: [[spoiler:Lurco is publicaly disgraced and arrested for his crimes and the Republic is saved, but Lurco kills at least one of your companions before you can take him down.]]
29	* BloodKnight: Bestia in spades. Potentially the Legatus as well.
30	* CatsAreSuperior: According to the giant cat you can see in a hallucination/trip to the Underworld, anyway, being reincarnated as a human is a punishment for bad cats rather than a reward for good ones.
31	* CharacterCustomization: The player can choose the name, gender and appearance of the Legatus, and can rename any of the centurions who are recruited from the barracks. Notably, in a case of ShownTheirWork, female protagonists are not able to have a first name, as was Roman custom.
32	* CharacterSelectForcing: In pacification missions, you get one companion, and the rest of your party must be made up of generic Praetorians. It's a way to make you not just use the core team all the time.
33	* CriticalExistenceFailure: Surviving characters will heal immediately after combat. There are even chances that injuries will be avoided after losing all their hp.
34	* DamagerHealerTank
35	** Principes are the Tanks, wearing the heaviest armor and having the ability to soak damage and make enemies attack them.
36	** Triarii are the healers, having the ability to buff themselves and restore hp to others.
37	** Velites and Sagitarius are damagers, inflicting high damage in melee and at range, but with little ability to take it.
38	** Gladiators in the DLC are a hybrid tank and damager, with the ability to punish enemy actions via retribution attacks. They can also like the Principes goad attacks towards themselves.
39	* DeadlyGas: In the start of act 2 the berbers employ this liberally while being resistant to it. The Legatus can also learn schematics to craft their own.
40	* DeliberateValuesDissonance: Being Roman, the main character is always generally fine with slavery. It's even one of the game's resources, and one of the starting companions is the player's loyal elderly slave and mentor. That said the player is given the chance to object to mistreatment of slaves.
41	* DeployableCover: A shield ability can allow the principe to become a wall that will deflect any attack coming from one direction, but they will become vulnerable in the opposite direction.
42	* TheDictatorship: Being based on the last days of the Roman Republic, the discussion of declaring Dictator perpetuo does come up. [[spoiler: Lurco takes the title in Act 3]]
43	* DiscOneFinalBoss: [[spoiler:Vitellius Scaevola is set up to be the main antagonist, being the person who married the player character’s older sister in order to seize control of the family and the villa. This is further helped by his appearance assisting Mithridates against Rome, and the Legatus can choose to gather evidence of his treason. If the Legatus secures evidence against him, then this all comes to nothing; he is killed off at the end of Act One, offscreen, by his brother.]].
44	* DisproportionateRetribution: After it emerges that [[spoiler:the legion has been infiltrated by traitors]], the player has the option of decimating the legion, a brutal punishment even by Roman standards in which every tenth man was beaten to death by his comrades. If this is done, some soldiers around the camp can later be heard arguing that the decimation was an example of this trope.
45	* DroppedABridgeOnHim: As an alternate history game [[spoiler: Julius Caesar is killed by an arrow in an ambush.]]
46	** In the start of Act 2 [[spoiler: Lucullus is found dead by assassins]]
47	** In the endgame. [[spoiler: Syneros is poisoned while testing food for the Legatus on the Republic path.]]
48	** If the Legatus gets the evidence against Scaveola [[spoiler: then Lurco kills Scaveola offscreen. Which eventually causes the Legatus's sister, Liviana to be killed offscreen by raiders.]]
49	* EarnYourBadEnding: [[spoiler: On the Republic path, it is possible to bungle the Senate hearing so badly that you lose the trial and are exiled in disgrace. This is generally done by making baseless claims and accusations without evidence, feeding Lurco's populist grandstanding. Keep in mind you have the entire game to accrue witnesses to testify on your behalf; even if you only have Felix Hadrianus, you can still win the trial by calmly punching holes in Lurco's narrative.]]
50	* EasyLogistics: Averted with the Legatus's party. Each character needs to eat food every 8 hours, except for those with the Ascetic trait. However the Legions can travel anywhere and do every mission available as long as they move back to the garrison after completing the mission.
51	* EgyptIsStillAncient: By the time the game takes place, Egypt had been significantly Hellenized due to the conquests of Alexander the Great, and wouldn't have looked that different from a Greek army (even most of the military came from Greek and Macedonian stock). The Egyptians as depicted ingame, being dark-skinned, barechested, and loinclothed, look to be closer to to the era of the New Kingdom, down to wielding khopeshes in battle, a weapon that had been out of favor in combat for almost 1300 years.
52	* ElitesAreMoreGlamorous: Despite either being told he'd be a tribune or that she would have no part in the war, Lucullus will tell the PC they would be joining the Speculatores.
53	* TheEmperor: Lurco's goal. [[spoiler: A potential ending for the Legatus.]]
54	* EvilFormerFriend: In the endgame [[spoiler: The Legatus can become this if he crosses the Rubicon with the legion. Caeso will abandon the party and protect the senators because the Legatus has gone too far. Cato, Cicero, and Pompei are ready to fight the Praetorians of Victrix. However, they all can be talked down.]]
55	* FighterMageThief: Principes are Fighters, acting as tank, blocking enemies, soaking damage, and with a great ability to shrug off assaults. Triarii are Mages, with high damage attacks, and various AOE and Support abilities to buff their allies. They are not as durable as Principes. Veles and Saggitarius are the Thieves. The former focusing on mobility, high damage, stealth and flanking, as well as debuffs. The later being the game's sole ranged class, using bows. Both are very vulnerable to damage and rely on being out of the enemy's reach for safety. The Gladiator class, added in DLC, is a second fighter class, focusing on control instead of direct tanking, having multiple means to retaliate against enemies.
56	* FireForgedFriends: Your companions start argumentative and mistrustful of each other, but by the end of the Asia Minor campaign they all have some level of respect for each other.
57	* GuideDangIt: Early in Act I, you're approached by a Greek trader who offers to buy the rights to sell all of your prisoners as slaves exclusively for a one-time payment. Since slaves are a resource used for construction and gained after battle, this sounds like sacrificing longterm resource gain for short-term gain. It's not - it's just free money as a gift to the player from the developers and doesn't affect anything else, so there's no reason to turn him down. Nothing indicates this.
58	* GlassCannon: Sagittarius can deal high damage but is limited to light armor. Veles investing in only the Assassin tree can deal really high damage in the first two turns but are limited to medium armor and very little dodge rate.
59	* HappinessInSlavery: Syneros is your character's family most trusted slave, and he's quite happy this way. He lives a comfortable life of luxury, got a very thorough education and is generally trusted enough to be left to do his own things.
60	* HistoricalDomainCharacter: As is normal for the series. Julius Caesar, Cato, Cicero, Lucius Licinius Lucullus and Cleopatra among many, many others.
61	** Titus Pullo and Lucius Vorenus may be familiar to many as the protagonists of the HBO series ''Rome''. However, both were real men who served as centurions in Caesar’s army, and were singled out for special mention by Caesar in his account of the Civil War. Both are recruitable centurions in-game.
62	** Many of the recruitable Praetorians are named after Caesar's generals and officials:
63	*** Gaius Fufius Cita was an ''eques'' who served as Caesar's overseer over the Carnutes. He and several Roman merchants and soldiers were massacred in Cenabum by the Carnutes, sparking the Gallic revolt of Vercingetorix and providing the justification for Caesar's Gallic campaign.
64	*** Marcus Petronius was a centurion of Caesar who disobeyed his order to retreat from Gergovia and stormed the gates of the town. Upon realizing his error, he sacrificed his own life to buy his men time to escape.
65	*** Gaius Arpineius was an ''eques'' who was sent to treat with Ambiorix before the latter's revolt.
66	*** Titus Terrasidius and Quintus Velanius were an ''eques'' and a tribune, respectively, who were captured by Breton tribes while trying to procure winter provisions during Caesar's Gallic conquests.
67	*** Gaius Volcatius Tullus was an officer under Caesar who was entrusted with fortifying the Rhine after two Germanic tribes, the Ubii and the Suebi, were allied with and defeated, respectively. He later fought at the battle of Dyrrhachium, holding off five of Pompey's legions until his forces were relieved.
68	*** Quintus Atrius was an officer who was left in charge of the beachhead during Caesar's second invasion of Britain.
69	** Legio Victrix and Legio Ferrata both appear in the game. Victrix campaigned in Spain and Britain. While Ferrata served under Caesar at the Siege of Alesia.
70	* IdiosyncraticDifficultyLevels: Augustus (Easy), Caesar (Normal), Pompeius (Hard), Crassus (Insane)
71	* IfYouKillHimYouWillBeJustLikeHim: Invoked and justified in the Republican ending. [[spoiler: Lurco is holding a public execution for your companions. Legally, he no longer has the rights to do this, as passing the death penalty on Roman citizens is a matter for the Senate. However, the same thing applies to you should you choose to kill him in order to save them...]]
72	* IHaveYourWife: ''You'' are the one doing this to one of the Nasamonian chieftains. While theoretically to minimize bloodshed in the upcoming assault by taking his forces out of the fight, the game encourages you to really ham it up with supervillain dialogue options.
73	* InstantWinCondition: When you reach the victory conditions for a battle, it's over, which is a good way to keep downed party members from bleeding out.
74	* {{Irony}}: Lurco chastises Marcellus for letting the Legatus's party out of his sight, and Marcellus tries to defend himself by saying "it's not like they'll set the palace on fire!" That's exactly what Bestia had just done.
75	* JavelinThrower: Pila tactical items can be used to shred armor, destroy shields, and push a little extra damage.
76	* JokeEnding: An otherwise gritty military and political simulator of the late Roman Republic has one NonStandardGameOver where your PlayerCharacter is transformed into a cat and spends the rest of their life happily doing cat things instead of saving Rome.
77	* KillItWithFire: Greek fire, torches, oil, and certain combat abilities invoke this.
78	* LukeIAmYourFather: As revealed in the epilogue, [[spoiler: the protagonist's true father is Lucullus, explaining why he was so involved in the personal life of the PC, the female PC in particular]].
79	* MagicAntidote: The medic tree of the triarius allows them to remove poison and heal the damage in an instant.
80	* MarriageOfConvenience:
81	** Female characters can enter this with Cato in order to obtain a right to own property and greater political reach. He does not mind if you continue your regular romance with a companion, either.
82	** Male characters can get married to Julia to shut down her problems from before she joined your party, even though the two of them clearly love each other, the wedding isn't shown and the story moves on with barely any references to it.
83	** Senator Scaevola is married the Legatus' sister. It is believed he did this before killing their father for power.
84	* MauveShirt: Praetorians hired at the barracks have voice acted lines in combat and their own personality traits. However they don't have the dialogue companions do, start at lower levels, and might be dropped in between campaigns.
85	* MenOfSherwood: The randomly generated Speculatores can be built to be just as strong as the Legatus and their companions.
86	* MsFanservice: Cleopatra's portrait prominently displays a NavelDeepNeckline, and much of her dialogue with a male character [[TheTease is flirtatious]], with many [[DoubleEntendre suggestive phrases and innuendo]]. Given that the player is effectively [[spoiler:taking the place of Caesar, whom Cleopatra had a very famous affair with]], this is not entirely surprising.
87	** The Egyptian priestesses on the load screen make sure to expose their midriffs.
88	* MultipleEndings: There are two core paths opening up in the endgame, Republic or Empire, with different potential endings associated with them. In addition, there is a modular WhereAreTheyNowEpilogue, with your choice of gender, outcomes of companion quests, decisions during the story, etc. all coming together for slightly different results. The actual core ending options are:
89	** Politics (Republic path only): [[spoiler: At the cost of your companions' lives (which can be as few as only one companion lost if your decisions are good enough), you saved the Republic while remaining within the bounds of its laws. You can now begin your senatorial career properly, [[AlmightyJanitor applying for the position of quaestor]].]]
90	** Retirement (Republic path only): [[spoiler: At the cost of your companions' lives, you saved the Republic while remaining within the bounds of its laws. You retire to your vineyard afterwards.]]
91	** Dictatorship (Empire path only): The path closest to real history. [[spoiler: Knowing you cannot defeat Lurco while remaining within the confines of the law, you cross the Rubicon with your legion and seize power, becoming the first emperor/empress. This alienates Caeso and Julia, starts a brief civil war against Pompey if you haven't killed him, and slowly hollows out the power of the Senate over time. However, the coup can be as bloodless as you wish it to be and as a ruler, your character is beloved as a bringer of prosperity for the common people and, in the case of a female PC, gender equality.]]
92	** Exile (either path): [[spoiler: Having broken the laws of Rome in order to save it, either by crossing the Rubicon with your legion or by attacking Lurco before he could execute your companions, you cannot remain there. Rather than facing judgment, you go into exile to an ally you have made along the way. If Cleopatra is alive, you retire into luxury at her court as an advisor. On the Republic path, you aide Rome from a distance as its closest ally, while on the Empire path, you rebuild Egypt into an independent nation, jointly ruled by you and Cleopatra.]]
93	** Execution (either path): [[spoiler: Having broken the laws of Rome in order to save it, either by crossing the Rubicon with your legion or by attacking Lurco before he could execute your companions, your guilt overwhelms you and you accept trial and execution. This makes you a martyr-hero on the Republic path, but plunges Rome into chaos and destruction on the Empire path.]]
94	* MultiplePersuasionModes: Persuasion checks in the dialogue are done by one of three rhetorical styles: ''Ethos'' (appeal to authority/tradition), ''Pathos'' (appeal to emotion), or ''Logos'' (appeal to reason), with the Legatus getting one style for free at character creation and optionally learning one more from Cicero at the start of Act 2. Mechanically, each style is exactly the same: having it unlocks corresponding conversation options in dialogue trees, which always succeed automatically; but there are very few instances after the tutorial where more than one of the three options are available, so if you don't have the necessary style at that point, you have to make do with the inferior default dialogue options.
95	* NeverMyFault: Lurco blames the Legatus for all his problems by the end of the game.
96	* NoGuyWantsAnAmazon: Deianera struggles with this, as a former Gladiator, Roman men tend to find her being a capable, strong woman to be off putting. [[spoiler:The player doesn't have to feel that way]].
97	* NonStandardGameOver: There are a few ways to end your game prematurely.
98	** Going through the gold door in the afterlife will reincarnate you as a cat.
99	** When meeting in Alexandria, you are advised not to antagonize Ptolemy and stall for time so your companions can infiltrate the library. If you do the exact opposite and demand his and Lurco's heads, however, Lurco will accuse you of trying to assassinate Ptolemy and have Corvinus kill you.
100	** [[spoiler: On the Republic path, it is possible to lose the trial against Lurco if you deliberately throw it by making baseless accusations.]]
101	* OddFriendship: Bestia and Syneros form one. Bestia is a young, proud warrior guy (and freed slave) looking for glory and combat who has an affection for warrior women. Syneros is a scholar who'd rather be sipping wine, favors negociation and is content with his slavery. He distrusts women who act outside of their station (Except for the Player). The two bond over their opposites, and Bestia asks Syneros to teach him philosophy.
102	* PressXToDie: At one point the player is in the afterlife, and one of their past life (A giant cat), suggests they could simply give up on returning to life and reincarnate as a cat. It offers two doorways. Red to go back to life, Gold to die and reincarnate as a cat. Choosing the later results in a game over.
103	-->'''Game Over''' You reincarnated as a Cat.
104	* PoisonedWeapons: The Legatus and their praetorians may craft poison to put on their weapons.
105	* RedIsHeroic: The default colors of Legio Victrix.
106	* RelationshipValues: Played with, the game has approval values, based on a character's personality traits. That said your companions will never turn on you - generic Praetorians can however.
107	* TheRepublic: Choosing the Consuls and the virtue of the senators is a point of pride for the Romans.
108	* RidiculouslyFastConstruction: Camp buildings go up instantly, but they are mostly tents and legionaries really were that fast. Less realistic is the local roads instantly becoming paved on the campaign map as soon as you capture a quarry.
109	* RomanceSidequest: You can romance several companions.
110	** Bestia and Cato can be romanced by female characters.
111	** [[spoiler:Julia Calida]] and Cleopatra can be romanced by male characters.
112	** Deianera and Caeso will romance characters of either genders.
113	* RubberBandHistory: [[spoiler: Julius Caesar is your colleague, but gets killed early on. PlayerCharacter takes up his historical place and role, while the majority of historical events involving Caesar take place one way or another]].
114	* SadisticChoice: A mandatory quest in Gallia requires you to participate in a Celtic HumanSacrifice. You may either sacrifice one of your [[MauveShirt Mauve Shirts]], a slave (offending your CoolOldGuy mentor who is also one, [[EyeScream one of your own eyeballs]] (resulting in a permanent -50% critical hit chance), or a character who you capture during the regions Gladiator DLC missions.
115	* SeeminglyHopelessBossFight: The surprise ambush fight with Ambiorix is extremely difficult and the player is not expected to win, with Lurco coming to save the player after the player is defeated. The quest tracker even tells the player to "die with honor". However, it IS possible to win the battle.
116	* ShoutOut: A couple.
117	** In Gallia, one of the side missions is to defeat a small band of Gauls who believe [[ComicBook/{{Asterix}} they have discovered a magic potion granting them]] SuperStrength. In the same vein, a sidequest requires you to purchase a menhir off a crafty merchant, and a huge Gaul with incredible strength then carries it for you on his back.
118	** [[https://steamuserimages-a.akamaihd.net/ugc/1839156124558745441/D92734F823D4C4AB164F555273D8232E6BA1359C/?imw=5000&imh=5000&ima=fit&impolicy=Letterbox&imcolor=%23000000&letterbox=false A loading screen tip]] quotes the [[https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/001/209/105/7b2.jpeg Absolutely Barbaric! meme]] before saying a bit on the etymology of the word barbarian. [[https://store.steampowered.com/points/shop/app/987840/reward/153009/ An emoticon on Steam]] similarly named and designed after the meme also exists.
119	** The proclamations read by the newsreader in the Dictator ending are taken almost exactly word for word from HBO’s ''Rome''.
120	* ShownTheirWork: The game gets a lot of historical details about 1st century BC Rome correct. From Roman naming convention (including how they change between gender), political structures, and other such things. Some of the loading screen will even acknowledge some of the deliberate anachronisms the game makes for narrative reasons.
121	* SiegeEngines: Catapults are employed in certain battles, as well as in legion combat. In player battles, catapult shots are more there to tell fighters to get out of the way than to actually kill them, though if used properly and luckily, you can get a OneHitPolykill with a catapult stone.
122	** Ballistae and Catapults can also be made at the workshop as consumables for Legion battles.
123	* SlaveMarket: The Legatus can randomly come across these in the open world. Selling Servi can be very lucrative as well.
124	* StoneWall: Principe can wear heavy armor, increase their shield strength, and have the highest resistances to receiving damage.
125	* SommelierSpeak: Syneros engages in this a when describing the family's wine. The Legatus can call him out on it.
126	* SweetPollyOliver: Done in act 1 by a female PC and [[spoiler:Julius Calidus]].
127	* TamperingWithFoodAndDrink: The Legatus can do this with bay leaf in order to poison guards.
128	** [[spoiler: In The Republic path Lurco attempts to poison the Legatus the same way. It doesn't work the way he hoped.]]
129	* TheseQuestionsThree: Syneros's side quest ends with him and the Legatus answering riddles.
130	* TimedMission: Certain missions have time limits. The game itself, despite tracking the passage of days, does not have any time limit for story events, and the loading screen even tells the player that they can take as long as they want.
131	* TheUnfought: The main antagonist Lurco [[spoiler: will not have combat on the Republic path if the player allows him to execute a companion because the people will rise up againt him.]]
132	* UngratefulBastard: Lucullus’s co-Consul, Marcus Aurelius Cotta, is [[spoiler:captured by Mithridates early in the game (which really happened), and the first act is largely focused on rescuing him.]] Once you get back to Rome, Cotta is short with the Legatus to the point of outright rudeness, and his only expression of gratitude is also highly sarcastic. His relatives assure the Legatus he's actually grateful, but his ego is bruised at having been rescued by a junior, fresh new commander, and he's fully aware his rescue serves to empower Lucullus and the Legatus politically.
133	* WellIntentionedExtremist: Lurco sees himself as this.
134	** After the Gallia campaign [[spoiler: The Legatus can become this by crossing the Rubicon with Victrix. After Caeso leaves the party Julia can tell the Legatus they sound like Lurco.]]
135	* WineIsClassy: The Legatus comes from a family of winemakers.
136	* YoungFutureFamousPeople: At the very beginning of the game the player meets a friendly young man, one Gaius Julius Caesar. [[spoiler: Ultimately subverted, as it turns out that this game is an alternate history in which Caesar is killed during the Mithridatic War. This version of Caesar will never get the chance to become Pontifex Maximus, conquer Gaul, or become Dictator for Life. The player, on the other hand…]]

Context VideoGame / ExpeditionsRome