ASTERIX UND DIE RÖMER

by Klaus Teuber for Ravensburger, 1990 (in French as Astérix et les Romains)
for 2-6 players
The players are racing to win a bet on who will collect the most Roman helmets. Dice game for ages 8 and above.
A L

ATTILA

by Karl-Heinz Schmiel for Hans-im-Glück, 2000
Despite their joint tradition of presenting systems which adhere closely to their themes, here designer Karl-Heinz Schmiel and publisher Hans-im-Glück have presented one in which point of view is somewhat difficult to locate. Instead in 370 AD one buys "shares" of different tribes such as Huns, Vandals and Goths and then scores points if first or second when the scoring round is triggered. Otherwise interesting however with a significant make-strategy-as-you-go feeling and quite a few interesting dilemmas. Reminiscent of Web of Power and in the tight integration of the subsystems, Die Macher.
Review L

AVE

by Valentin Herman for Fanfor, 2000
Features a map of Rome on a square grid on which are placed buildings, plazas and people. A map of the Mediterranean shows where players, representing Caesars, attempt to conquer. The Forum is where votes are taken to influence these decisions. Players earn victory points by placing buildings, streets, plazas and mines in Rome. But in order to do so, the senator with the right connections must be influenced to do so. At the same time, Rome is expanding its empire around the Mediterranean through conquest. This is also achieved through influencing the right senators. Supposedly much better than its very small and desktop-published print run would indicate. L

AVE CAESAR

by Wolfgang Riedesser for Ravensburger, 1989; for Pro Ludo, 2006
Chariot racing in the Hippodrome. Plays easy and quick, but depends on players not overindulging in blocking moves to avoid becoming processional.
Review L

BACCHUS' BANQUET

by Frederic Moyersoen for Mayfair, 2008
for 2-5 players
Deduction card game of hidden identities and variable victory conditions, a bit like the inventor's previous work, Saboteur. One player is the emperor Caligula, three are conspirators trying to kill him and the rest are his relatives. Players draft and pass cards to further their progress toward victory. L

BEIM JUPITER

by Michael Feldkötter for Kosmos, 2008
for 3-5 players
"By Jupiter" is a trick=taking card game in which trump and point values of tricks are determined by all players before each hand. There are 87 cards in all, including 60 cards ranked 1-14 plus 4 god cards, a Jupiter and a Juno card, 3 sacrificial lamb, 12 number of tricks cards numbered 1-12, 5 marker cards and 5 null trick cards. Played in 8 rounds, it's a game of declaring the number of tricks you can take to earn points. Before each hand, players each remove one card and place it face down. These cards determine not only the trump suit, but also how many points a trick is worth. (Possibly annoyance: if a player has only special cards, the entire hand needs to be re-dealt.) If any suit was chosen more than others, that suit is trump (note that this means there are fewer of these cards in play than any other suit). In case of ties, the suit having the high total number of ranks revealed is trump. If this fails, single highest card decides. If still tied, it's a no-trump hand. Then each player uses his card to indicate how many tricks he plans to take and another card to indicate how much a trick is worth by placing it next to the cards ranging from 1-12. Only once per game is it permitted to aim for zero tricks. Normal-trick taking rules apply with the requirements to follow suit, choice of trump or not if void, highest card (trump) wins, etc. Jupiter and Juno don't belong to any suit except for the trump suit and beat any trump. If both are played in the same trick, the first one down wins it. When god cards are played, the owner declares whether they are the highest or lowest in the trick. Even lower are the sacrificial lamb cards, whose advantage is that they are playable even when one would otherwise have to follow suit. L

BEN HUR

by Historien Spielegalerie, 1987
Brettspiele L

BRUNCH AT THE COLISEUM

by Michael L. Leeke for Inner City Games, 2002
for 2-5 players
Playing the roles of slaves, gladiators or lions, players have a limited number of actions, e.g. run, eat to recover strength, pick up items, attack, taunt, throw a limb into the crowd, beseech the gods or work the crowd for food or weapons. L

CAESAR

by Jeff Siadek for The Gamesmiths, 1993
Players compete to build up legions, gold and aqueducts. The excitement of their being five different strategies to try out is not borne out in practice as it is too chaotic. Rules later revised in re-issue by Prism Games.
Review L

CARACALLA

by Herbert Schützdeller for ASS, 1991
Up to 6 players players try to find their family members in the enormous Roman baths complex. Points are given for arranging to have only certain individuals in the same room; unwanted other player members hamper that. L

CAESAR & CLEOPATRA

by Wolfgang Ludtke for Kosmos, 1997
for 2 players Interesting, finely-tuned two-player card game. Many who find two-player situations uninteresting will like this one, as well as games like Lost Cities and Schotten-Totten, probably because the inherent randomness of the card deck is in effect a third player with whom one must contend. Note for any whose memories may have been blown out by undergraduate work: memory plays a significant role here.
Review L

CAPITOL

by Alan Moon and Aaron Weissblum for Schmidt, 2001
Building houses in Ancient Rome.
Review L

CLAVIGOLA

by Pietro Rubolino, Teodoro Mitidieri, and Francesco Sciacqua for Hasbro, 2009
As Caligula's popularity is faltering every day, the players use commerce, intrigue and manipulation to vault into the imperial throne. L

CLEOPATRAS CABOOSE

by Steve Zamborsky for Z-Man Games, 2006
A humorous train game set in Ancient Egypt?! L

COLOSSEUM

by Wolfgang Kramer & Markus Lübke for Days of Wonder, 2007
Each player is a Roman impresario, producing great spectacles in the hopes of attracting the most spectators. L

COMISSATIO ORGY

by Julie Prior for Comissatio, 1988
Roll a die to move. Buy villas, slaves and chariots and race chariots. L

CREDO

by Chris Gidlow for Chaosium, 1993
Each player represents one of the factions within the Christian church, each one hoping that their particular doctrine will be accepted by the religion and thus become part of the creed.
Review: Game Cabinet L

DER UNTERGANG VON POMPEJI

THE DOWNFALL OF POMPEII

by Klaus-Jürgen Wrede for Amigo and Mayfair, 2004
Players try to make their fortunes and then get out before the volcano explodes. L

FORUM ROMANUM

by Wolfgang Kramer for Kosmos, 1988
Abstract tile-placing game on a grid. Image L

GLORIA MUNDI

by James Ernest & Mike Selinker for Abacus & Rio Grande Games, 2006
Satirical game in which players are alternately bribing barbarians not to attack or abandoning Rome as fast as their little legs will carry them.
Review L

GLORY TO ROME

by Carl Chudyk for Cambridge Games Factory, 2005
Card game in which players compete to be best at re-building Rome following the great fire of the Neronian era.
Review L

HANNIBAL

by Parker Brothers, 1974
Racing game for two players in which they try to get all 12 of their pieces to the opposite base camp by exact count. This is roll and move, Similar to Backgammon. L

HANNIBAL: THE WAR OF THE KINGS

by Kod Kod, 1990
A surrounding game played on an 8x8 grid. There appears to be little connection to the topic apart from the title. L

THE HIPPODROME

by E.O. Clark, 1900
Probably invented in response to the novel Ben-Hur, first published in 1880 by General Lew Wallace. May be the earliest game ever published on the Ancient Romans. Said to sell for $175 or more. L

JOURNEYS OF PAUL

by Prismatech LLC, 2002
Players represent missionaries traveling through the Roman empire and starting churches. L

JOURNEYS OF ST. PAUL

by Eugene Dougherty for Avalon Hill, 1968; re-published by Innovative Game Technologies as Journeys of Paul
Racing game set in the Roman Empire. L

LUDUS ROMANUS

by Oxford Games, 1996
for 2 players
Place your plastic pieces into a mosaic design, then move them to capture opponent's pieces. L

MUNICIPIUM

by Reiner Knizia for Valley Games, 2008
for 3-5 players
In the 2^nd century AD players control powerful families in a western province. Each tries to place family members as Scholars, Merchants, Soldiers and Priests. The player with the most influence in each of these groups exerts power and gains support. L

NEUE SPIELE IM ALTEN ROM

by Reiner Knizia for Piatnik, 1994
English translation called NEW GAMES IN OLD ROME.
Review L

NEW GAMES IN OLD ROME

by Reiner Knizia, 1996
English Translation of rules for NEUE SPIELE IM ALTEN ROM. Is actually a collection of games:

1. CAESAR – for 2-5 players. Tile-laying game.
2. CATILINE CONSPIRACY – for 3-5 players. Logical deduction game akin to Clue. Mainly it seems to be a matter of having luck in asking the right questions to the right players earliest. One wrinkle is that speculation is given a greater chance, but only to a very minimal extent.
3. CIRCUS MAXIMUS – for 2-5 players. Chariot racing.
4. CONSUL – for 2-4 players. Memory game.
5. HANNIBAL VERSUS ROME – for 2 players. Most abstract of all of the many games on the Second Punic War. There is no real hidden information and it is mostly a matter of opportunistic tactics, but it is surprising how interesting this game of maneuver can be. Each player begins with slightly different forces, but with an identical set of cards which are used to resolve combat by simultaneous choose and compare. Engrossing for a few plays.
6. IMPERIUM – for 2-5 players. Secret allocation game for up to five in which players try to dominate the empire. Actually the theme doesn't fit very well. Players each have an identical set of cards as in Raj and once again it is good strategy to try not to be overly ambitious, but this tends to happen as the last scored provinces are the most valuable. Interesting for a play or two, but highly unpredictable depending on the thought processes of the players.
7. MERCATOR – for 3-7 players. Appears to be an early version of the game Medici.
8. THE PRAETORIANS – for 2-4 players. Also a bit like Medici.
9. PROCONSUL – for 3-5 players. Negotiation game.
10. SENATOR – for 2-3 players. Similar to Labyrinth.
11. SEVEN HILLS OF ROME – for 2 players. Card game sans map, the fight for the seven hills is represented by seven cards à la Schotten-Totten. Players compete for them by allocating cards from identical decks something like in Raj. The tricky issue is that cards are secret until both sides have allocated to the same hill in which case these cards become visible. Lacks flavor, but interesting for a play or two. Variants are also provided.
12. SPARTACUS – for 3-5 players. Similar to Ohio.
13. TRIBUNAL – for 4-7 players. Negotiation game.
14. WHEEL OF HISTORY – for 2-5 players. Appears to be an early version of the game Tutanchamun.

Review [Book] L

OSTIA

by Stefan Risthaus for Pro Ludo/Mayfair, 2005
Earn money and goods and donate some of them to the Senate. For 3-5 players. L

PALATINUS

by Alessandro Zucchini for daVinci, 2005
In 780 BC participate in the original settlement of the seven hills of Rome. A tile-laying game for 2-5 players in which farmers, merchants and soldiers participate. Depending on their ratios, only one type controls each hill and score points for the owning players. A great deal of the information is hidden as except for soldiers tiles are not revealed until the area is complete and ready for scoring. L

PALATINUS INSULA TIBERINA

by Alessandro Zucchini & Andrés Voicu for daVinci/Abacus/Mayfair, 2006
2-5 players
This expansion kit was given away at Essen 2006. It is a new area, the Tiberian Island, which replaces an area from the original set drawn at random. L

PECUNIA NON OLET

by Knut Happel & Christian Fiore for Goldsieber, 2005
In this card game for 2-6 players, players represent owners of pay water closets in ancient Rome, and seek to earn the most money. Side note: ancient Romans used urine as an agent to get togas their whitest white. To get the purple stripes, they used a dye made from rotting snails. One can only imagine what these togas must have smelled like. Think about that the next time you're watching Rome.
L

POMPEII

by Morgantini Simonini for Spiel exklusiv, 1989
Make money and then escape before the lava overwhelms. For 2-8 players aged 8 and up.
Review: Game Cabinet L

POMPEJI

by Frank Brandt for Adlung-Spiele, 2001
Light pattern-matching game in which players lay cards so that they do not match the cards next to them, but score by matching cards in the same row, column or diagonal.
Review L

ROMA

by Stefan Feld for Queen, 2005
Abstract two-player power struggle.
Review B L

ROMA II

by Stefan Feld for Queen, 2008
Re-make and/or expansion kit for the above Roma. B L

QUO VADIS

by Reiner Knizia for Hans im Glück, 1992, for Mayfair, 2000
Negotiation game about machinations within the Roman Senate. Those familiar with the cursus honorum (course of honor) actually followed by Roman magistrates will readily recognize it in the board. At first glance appears to be a no-holds-barred negotiation outing – and therefore prone to long delays and boring interludes – but actually plays better than it à priori seems. In fact negotiation is pretty much limited to the first half, after which it shifts gears into becoming an interesting match in lookahead and outguess. Features nice plastic pawn figures representing the acanthus. Title is Latin for "Where are you going?" – probably deriving from the famous novel and film of the same name.
Review Review: Game Cabinet Review: Game Cabinet Review: Game Report L

ROMAN RUINS

by Decipher
Party game.
Review
Part of the "How to Host a Murder" series. Characters include Licentius Caesar, Rotunda Immaculata, Maximus Testosterus, Cleptopatra, Bogus Fortunatus, Flotilla Submergia, Harangus Adnauseum, Mercedes Accelleratti. L

ROME

by Reiner Knizia for GMT, 2001
Three games from the NEW GAMES IN OLD ROME set have been selected for this new offering: CIRCUS MAXIMUS, HANNIBAL VERSUS ROME and IMPERIUM. L

RÖMER

by Rudolf Ross for Hexagames, 1990
For 2-4 players aged 12 and up
Trick-taking card game dealing abstractly with Roman horses and wagons. L

RUBICON

by Giber I/S, 1990
Players roll a die to move towards Rome. Players can make deals that either force or prevent movement. Players not in a deal must move. Whenever a player crosses the Rubicon, he picks up a card that can affect movement, end the round premature, negate other cards or nullify deals. L

KAMPF UM ROM
STRUGGLE FOR ROME

by Klaus Teuber for Kosmos; 2006
For 3-4 players
Barbarians take over the late empire, Catan-style, featuring armies, forts, supply wagons and a map covering the western empire.
Review L

TABULA - THE ROMAN GAME

by Past Times, 1990
Recreation of the ancient Roman version of what is today better known as Backgammon. In ancient times it was also sometimes known as Alea. The board and components do not seem to be trying to be replicate the ancient game except with respect to the rules.
Review L

TITUS

by Uwe Rosenberg for Adlung-Spiele, 2000
for 2 - 4 players aged 10 and up
Card collection game with a memory aspect.
Review
[Spieltrieb] L

TUCHULCHA

by Marco Donadoni for daVinci, 2003
Not strictly actually set in Roman times, but rather in those of their predecessors of a sort, the Etruscans. Players make sacrifices during the 6th century BC.
Review L

12 CAESARS

by Carlo Bertocchini for Game Works, 1997
Card game in which players conduct a series of blind auctions for one of the twelve Caesars named in Suetonius' famous books of the same name. Each Caesar has a different point value based on his chronological order. There are also bonus points gained for gaining a series. There is no attention to theme whatever. Cards are rather flimsy. With blind bidding and luck of the draw, there is little to no stategy.
Review L

Related:

HOW TO HOST A MURDER: ROMAN RUINS

by Decipher
Party game.
Role-playing and solution of a mystery. Episode 11. B

RES PUBLICA

by Reiner Knizia for Hexagames, 1991 (re-issued by Salagames, 1992; re-issued by Avalanche, 1999)
Rummy-like trading game which includes Romans centers around trading and set collection. The innovative mechanism is that the player wishes to arrange a trade, but may only state either what he wants or what he wishes to give away, but not both. This makes for some interesting considerations, but does not seem to work very well at the top end of the number of players where things become very static and slow.
Review Review: Game Cabinet L

REVENGE IN ROME

by Edna Hill Maples and Patricia A. Stewart for University Games,1985
Party game.
For 6 or more players
Games in the Murder Mystery Party series are a throwback to the parlor games of medieval Europe. Guests assume their roles and stay in character throughout the party in an attempt to solve the murder. All guests are given information to read privately which reveals their motives and hidden pasts. A lively cross-examination should ensue. All players must answer questions truthfully, but are not required to provide more information than asked. An exception is the murderer who may lie freely. Accusations are made at the conclusion of the final chapter, the winner being the player who guesses the author's solution correctly. The setting of this particular mystery is Rome in the year 1985 where an American citizen has been found dead in one of the catacombs. The roles in the game are the deceased's son, the son's wife, the wife's parents, the deceased's secretary and the deceased's lawyer. A 33 and a third phonograph record is included to provide a sense of atmosphere.
Review B

Roman History and Culture:

• Cornell, T.J. The Beginnings of Rome: Italy and Rome from the Bronze Age to the Punic Wars (c.1000-264 BC) (1995)
• Crawford, Michael Hewson, The Roman Republic (1993)
• Gruen, Erich S., The Last Generation of the Roman Republic (1995)
• Hamilton, Edith, The Roman Way (1993)
• Langguth, A.J., A Noise of War: Caesar, Pompey, Octavian and the Struggle for Rome (1994)
• Livy, The War with Hannibal (1965)
• Liddell Hart, Basil Henry, Scipio Africanus/Greater than Napoleon (1994)
• Polybius, The Rise of the Roman Empire (1980)
• Rodgers, William Ledyard, Greek and Roman Naval Warfare; A Study of Strategy, Tactics, and Ship Design from Salamis (480 B.C. to Actium) (1964)
• Scarre, Christopher, Chronicle of the Roman Emperors: The Reign-By-Reign Record of the Rulers of Imperial Rome (1995)
• Scullard, H. H., A History of the Roman World 753-146 B.C. (1991)
• Shotter, David, The Fall of the Roman Republic (1994)
• Solomon, Jon, The Ancient World in the Cinema: Revised and Expanded Edition (2001)
• Atlases:
  • Cornell, Tim, John Mathews, Jim Cornell, Atlas of the Roman World (1983)
  • Kinder, Hermann and Werner Hilgemann, The Anchor Atlas of World History (1974)
  • Scarre, Christopher, The Penguin Historical Atlas of Ancient Rome (1995)
• Books on Roman Daily Life

• Military Games Set in Ancient Rome
• Games invented by the ancient Romans
• Roman Music to play by
• Films Set in Ancient Rome (at least 145 of them if you include television series) at the Internet Movie Database
• Internet Top 100 Games List should help to figure out which are the best games.