Trajan takes charge of Rome in Civilization 6

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“All roads lead to Rome,” as the old saying goes, and so it is with the Roman civilization in Civilization 6. As 2K revealed in the latest Civ 6 update, Roman cities will start with a trading post, and new cities within trade route range of the capital also start with a road leading to them.

Rome is led by Trajan, born Marcus Ulpius Traianus and formally known as Imperator Caesar Nerva Traianus Divi Nervae filius Augustus, the 13th Emperor of Rome. (So Wikipedia says, anyway.) He was skilled as both a general and a ruler, and the column celebrating his victory over Dacia remains standing in the city of Rome to this day. In fact, Trajan's Column is his in-game special ability: All Roman cities begin with one free building in their city center, usually a monument. In Civ5, monuments grant +2 Culture to cities, which increases a city's growth and the acquisition of social policies, and also +2 to Happiness to civilizations with the Socialist Realism order tenet.

Rome's unique unit is, naturally, the Legion, an expensive but powerful replacement for the Swordsman unit that also functions as a military engineer, with the ability to create forts and roads. Rome can also taken advantage of Baths, which provides amenities and more housing than the Aqueduct.

Civilization 6 will be out on October 21. Want a hands-on look? We've got one right here.

Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.