Quote Originally Posted by Macilrille View Post
Whether the Res Publica Romana was a conscious imperialist or not is a question still being debated (Imperialist or "Stumbling-into-empire). These two represent each extreme in the opposite viwpoints Badian, E.: Roman Imperialism in The Late Republic, Oxford, 1968.
and
Harris, W. V.: War and Imperialism in Republican Rome, 327- 70 BC, Oxford, 1979.

With most others in between, for example
Beard, Mary & Crawford, Michael: Rome in The Late Republic, London, 1999.

My own point of view is that the Roman constitution forced young patricians into searching for military glory in their Cursus Honorum, but I have elaborated on that elsewhere and even quite recently.

But my point is that whether or not the enemy had provoced them or not, in fact especially if the enemy had provoced them, the Romans did not treat war like a game or in a sort of chivalric manner. The Romans were very practical and very brutal. When I put the timeline online, you will see many cities with "Exterminated", so play as you want to, but be aware that you are playing ahistorically if you have Romans acting like chivalric Kings in the Middle Ages. If so it is indeed SwissBarbarians, not Romans.

But whatever ticks your dicker is fine by me, enjoy your own style


Of course I enjoy my own style, I don't say that you should not enjoy YOUR style. My style is not better, but different from yours.

IIRC the queston in this thread was not "how would the ancient Romans play EB" but "What are YOUR houserules when playing the romans?". So I answered to that.


Remember the EB-FAQ: "EB is about making your own Julius Caesar or Hannibal" and so it is also about making your own Romans or Carthaginians. If you want it REALLY 100% historical, without your own influence, read a history book.