Quote Originally Posted by Myth View Post
even if Rome's greatest achievements were during Republican times.
Interesting comment, and one with which I agree (at least in terms of "achievements" meaning conquest of additional territory). I've always thought it somewhat ironic that Rome was really at it's most expansionist and "imperial" when it was the "Republic", rather than "Empire". Modern-day France, Spain, North Africa, Egypt, Greece, Turkey, Balkans, and Syria/Levant all came under Roman control during the Republic. The Roman Empire, by contrast, mainly just kinda held on to what had already been won, with Britain and Dacia (I guess that would be roughly modern Romania?) really being the only major additions.

This isn't necessarily because the Empire became somehow "softer". I'm reading an intriguing book right now (The Fall of the Roman Empire by Peter Heather) which argues that Roman expansion stopped at the Rhine/Danube rivers not because they were militarily unable to go further vs the Germanic tribes, but rather because socioeconomic development and inherent wealth in those areas simply made it non-cost-effective to do so. Just wasn't worth the blood, time, money, and effort.

I wouldn't say, however, that Rome immediately started to deteriorate upon becoming the Empire. In terms of achievement, the Republic acquired all these areas, but under the Empire during 1st-3rd centuries, these areas thoroughly Romanized, and continued to assimilate and economically develop. Rome itself may not necessarily have become significantly richer and just a better place to live after the 1st century AD, but large areas under Roman rule certainly did. Worth noting, this was not some sort of top-down imposition, but rather enthusastically pursued by indigenous populations. Whatever the reasons for Rome's "fall" (an endlessly complex and fascinating topic), internal dissent and resistance to Roman rule by previously conquered peoples wasn't one of them. It's actually quite remarkable how little such internal disarray the Roman Empire experienced (not saying it didn't happen in places...just that it was surprisingly little given the Empire's size and manner in which it had been acquired).

Back to the game, this is precisely why I stated that I think the "Empire" rewards are probably economic/cultural in nature. This would make sense to me, just as it's logical to me that the Republic bonuses are military recruitment related.