Senate and citizen popularity?

[orangat]

What exactly influences the popularity of the senate and citizens when playing a Roman faction? Completing senate tasks is probably one but what are the others?

[Oaty]

Factors from my observations and opinion.

The obvious is traits and retinue that either increase or decrease popularity. The death of a faction leader can have a significant impact on these factors, all due to retinue.

Your strength compared to your Roman allies strength, I think it factors in your overall ranking with the other Roman factions.


Senate missions, hard to pinpoint the factors here but it appears too many succesful missions in a row has a huge impact. It appears accomplishing 3/4 on average keeps the senate happy and keeps enough failures in your name that the plebs don't honour you enough.

Canceling trade rights has a huge impact and provokes other Romans to attack you and possibly getting them in more trouble than you. Ah yes politics

[Cras]

sometimes the senat has wrediculous assignments... attack some city when you absolutely have no army to send. And you never have enough time to make one.
Another is when you are already at war with a few factions they will ask you to block a neutral port... WAR!!!!
grrrrrrrr

[orangat]

........
Canceling trade rights has a huge impact and provokes other Romans to attack you and possibly getting them in more trouble than you. Ah yes politics

Will attacking a faction that has trade rights without cancelling it with a diplomat first be just as bad?

I never cancel trade rights anyway because it would seem like a big announcement to attack regardless whether the AI is smart enough to pick it up or not.

Ridiculous assignments are ok. I just ignore them.

[econ21]

My impression was that fulfilling Senate missions raises your popularity with them up until the point where you become too dominant and then your continued expansion tends to embitter them more and more.

Conversely, with the people, I always thought it was just expansion (conquest) that mattered. Once you have conquered "enough", the game gives you the go ahead to launch a civil war (telling you enough of the people would support you).

But to be honest, I never worried too much about it. I liked to do the Senate missions for rewards (they seldom got nasty on me) and had to expand to win the game anyway.