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Western Civilization · Chapter 3

The Manpower Engine

Most ancient conquerors destroyed a defeated city or taxed it. Rome did something stranger: it offered graded membership, and every tier carried a military obligation. Set a settlement for each people Rome beat in Italy, watch the manpower pool move, then run the year 216 BCE — Hannibal has been in Italy for two years and is about to destroy your army at Cannae.

Settle the defeated

Italy under your settlement

Schematic map of Roman ItalyA simplified peninsula with seven regions, each coloured by the settlement you have chosen. Each region is clickable.
0thousand infantry
Rome can call on
Troops tied down policing subjects
Loyalty of the surviving peoples

The test: 218–216 BCE