After all of these, the Empire was restored – there was no split into separate states, even the great split into East and West is not worth simulating in the game, since it would only last a couple of turns.Įqually, I have not attempted to recreate the rise of other political states. A decision made early on was to make no attempt to simulate Rome’s interminable internal squabbles – from provincial rebellions to full-scale civil wars. The gradual erosion of the East came about later.

The original aim was to see how to simulate the growth of the Empire and then the subsequent collapse of the West. The game is vast in scope, covering nearly 2000 years of the history of the Roman Empire, from the early battles with Carthage to the stamping out of the Byzantine embers by the Ottomans.

As with my solitaire game, Barbarossa Solitaire, Solitaire Caesar was developed because I needed a game that could be played quickly, did not require finding someone to play against, and gave me the option to simulate (and alter) history.