Nobody's reading this? 
Augustus scratched his head. "A thousand years? And we haven't even conquered a city? This is not the version of history I have learnt." He then called for his personal escort of slaves, soldiers and servants. They collected the scrolls and made their way back to the imperial palace, and while walking, Augustus pondered about the meaning of these scrolls. Who wrote them? And more importantly, why? Even more mind-baffling, who would record the invention of writing over a thousand years after starting a literary work of himself? None of this made sense! The scrolls would have to be examined in greater detail, at the comfort of his own home.
''1500 anni ab urbe condita''
◊
The city of Antium has been founded. The other despot, who referred to himself as Ramses II, also constructed a new city, close to Antium. With this city, he now controls all of the gems in the immediate vicinity. Thankfully, we control all the dye. He should be dealt with sooner or later, though.
''1925 anni ab urbe condita''
◊
The two small city-states have asked us to destroy the other. However, Ramses II is protecting both of them. The intrusive snob must be dealt with.
''2025 anni ab urbe condita''
◊
Ramses II built yet another city. We met another despot to the North, though. She calls herself Catherine the Great. She seems nicer than the ruler down South. On a side note, we bought territory off the natives to block Ramses' territorial influence at the river. That will show him! Muahahahahaha!
''2500 anni ab urbe condita''
◊
Ramses II remains a problem. We should try to find a way to knock down his walls as fast as possible and then invade him with our superior spearmen. In other words, this guy has so got to die.
edited 23rd Nov '10 11:39:59 AM by Deltasquid
Wasp: I like how your relatives are smokin' hot, while the other girls seem... meh
The Last Of The NZ Men
Hey, I'm reading this. Gotta look at the tactics other Roman rulers use, after all, in preparation for the Civil War. 
What the-
It appears the save is corrupted and the other save is at around turn 50. 
Should I redo my actions and continue anyway?
Defiler of Shops
Sure! In this route, Ramses might commit suicide!
Also, I shall be your Genre Saavy advisor from the future. I ask to see your techresearch facility.
edited 24th Nov '10 8:10:32 AM by Reecer6
Soul is ugly.
Hah, okay. I'll see tomorrow whether I can fix the damage caused.
Wasp: I like how your relatives are smokin' hot, while the other girls seem... meh
Update 3: "Si vis pacem, para bellum." *
I'm going to write this in a different format, though.
So after some tinkering, I got a save that was 90% equal to the one before the corruption. Go me!
Catherine offered a pact of cooperation.
◊
A golden age dawned.
◊ * Not much happened, except for the fact that we made ourselves a nice stash of gold. This will be important.
We founded Cumae to the North.
◊ Also note how I'm researching mathematics.
Building libraries, because we need the science.
◊ Iron is still a far way ahead, and we're kinda lagging behind technologically. 3 other civs have already reached medieval era.
After finding out the closest tile of iron was at Heliopolis, I bought iron from Catherine and went straight to work. We only have 45 turns for this war before our legionnaires magically vanish (I think?), so we're going to have to steamroll the Egyptians and rush for Heliopolis, which has an iron mine right next to it.
I immediately pwn some scouts
◊ with my legionnaires, who take a whopping 0 damage themselves.
My spearmen
◊ move up and eliminate some chariot archers. They, however, have a lot more swordsmen
◊, so I'm going to have to play this smart. No points guessing how it's going to turn out. Now take a look at my finances and tell me I'm not screwed.
Fast forward
◊ a good amount of turns. All my spearmen are dead, but hey, I did take Heliopolis! Adding insult to injury, There was an iron deposit right next to Rome which I somehow missed.
Also, tech tree. Yes, I managed to screw it up somehow and I'm lagging behind.
◊
edited 28th Nov '10 2:03:13 PM by Deltasquid
Wasp: I like how your relatives are smokin' hot, while the other girls seem... meh
Defiler of Shops
I Advise you get everything left in classical era.
Soul is ugly.
I must say, this has certainly grabbed my interest. I'll be keeping an eye on how Rome progresses, and I do wish for great success in your near future.
As for suggestions, out of the various tech from the classical era that your people have yet to master, I'd recommend either Optics or Philosophy first. The former is so you can craft compasses, if you decide to turn Heliopolis into a port and explore the western world before the Egyptian scoundrels get the chance. The latter so you can get Theology, which in turn grants Education, which will no doubt improve the rate of future research developments.
Also, if you can build another city south of Thebes, do so. Surround those insolent fools!
I'm gonna fix the economy before I do anything else, though. After that, I'll most likely rush for theology so I can get my other techs up to date ASAP.
In the meantime, more legions and ballistas, I guess.
Wasp: I like how your relatives are smokin' hot, while the other girls seem... meh
I'll update tomorrow. The exams are coming up, and studying has gained the upper hand.
Ugh, this is annoying. Yesterday Wegame crashed upon startup, and today I fixed that but I get a DX 9 runtime error when loading save games. Does any one know how I could fix this?
Wasp: I like how your relatives are smokin' hot, while the other girls seem... meh
"Arma virumque cano..." *
Tension was in the air. The dark room was only barely lit by the candle Tiberius was holding. Without speaking as much as a word, the slave had followed his master to Rome's library. Meanwhile, Augustus was frantically searching a certain book, which had apparently been lost long ago in between the various thousands of scrolls that littered the library. "It must be somewhere over here. Tiberius, come light this up. These scrolls seem old enough. Maybe it's in here?"
Our slave neared Augustus and held the candle closer to his master's hands. Half a dozen of ancient scrolls fell from the table, and Augustus let out a curse no historian would ever have dared to record. As he crouched to pick up the fallen texts, he let out a deep grunt, only to sigh in relief when he sat back into his chair. "It's fruitless. None of these contain the words I was looking for. Let's just go home."
Tiberius nodded, carefully walked over a few scrolls and waited for Augustus to do the same. Instead, his master was sitting on the floor, one of the fallen scrolls in his hands. Augustus gestured his slave to come closer. As he approached, the letters on the scroll became a lot clearer. Augustus' eyes glazed, and with a satisfied smirk, he indulged deeper into the contents of this text. It had no author, nor any date, but the archaic Latin indicated it had originated from the very beginning of Rome.
''0 anni ab urbe condita''
The men have set up camp. The location isn't an excellent one, but the nearby forests should provide timber for the time being. The marsh can be cleared. Later. Our hunters have found an ancient ruin to the South. It contained spears and fine wooden shields, and they promptly armed themselves with them.
''100 anni ab urbe condita''
◊
Another city with a despot was further down South. He seemed uninterested in us and our warriors. We will leave him alone for the time being, but he may be a good trade partner.
''550 anni ab urbe condita''
◊
A band of adventurers have gathered and explored the coast to the North. Skimming along, they found two other cities, which welcomed us warmly, and a beautiful landmark. The gods have blessed us. Unfortunately, our men abused the hospitality offered at one of the cities and committed a theft. It may take a while to re-establish a bond of trust.
''775 anni ab urbe condita''
◊
The barbarian raids coming from the South have been dealt with. Our adventurers lost a lot of men, but the warriors cut down the enemy without much difficulty. Bless Mars.
''1000 anni ab urbe condita''
◊
Today, our city has existed for exactly one thousand years. Let us never forget Romulus and his great achievement. The city elders will gather today for a meeting on which course of action our city should follow next. There has been a lot of discussion about founding a second one, not far to the South. Our spearmen had found gems and cattle there, but founding too close to the other despot might anger him.
So, fellow tropers, what should we do next? If any one wants me to show particular screens or areas, feel free to ask. *
edited 23rd Nov '10 11:39:41 AM by Deltasquid
Wasp: I like how your relatives are smokin' hot, while the other girls seem... meh