A game for

2 players by
Stefan Feld
English

OBJECT OF THE GAME

The revolt in Rome will not end for a long time to your victory points with Templarius and Triremis
come! Join the action and find out who is the most - you will be the winner if you use your charac-
powerful ruler by skillfully playing your cards. No ters and buildings with wits. You may also combine
matter if you strengthen your own position with “Roma II - Arena” with “Roma” and discover even
strong cards like Arena or Ballista or if you augment more options.

GAME COMPONENTS
r55 Cards – 26 character cards and 29 building r0JVUIHY– composed of 5 parts, which have to
cards be assembled before playing the game. It shows
The cost for all possible die results from 1 to 6 plus the icons
playing the card. for “bribery”, “money” and “cards”.
5 6
3 4
If, during battle,
the defense value
is matched or beat
the card must be
discarded.
MAGISTER BALLISTA
You attack a directly or
diagonally opposite building
You perform the same action as
the opposite card. Name of the card card. Your battle die roll is
increased by 1.

Character cards Card text describes Building cards

are yellow. the effect of the are green.
card.
r36 Victory points – available as 1 VP and 2 VP
pieces.
This sign shows that you need 1 die
3
in order to activate the card.
5

You don’t need a die for this

4 card. It is active as long as it r Money – the Sestertii, in various
4 is face up on the table.
TRIREMIS denominations, are used for
You gain 3 victory points from
the general supply if you have paying the cost for playing cards.
more face up characters than
your opponent.

5
r3 Action dice for each player in their own color –
FONS BACCHI 5 these dice are used to activate cards, collect
At the start of your turn you may
reroll, only once, as many action
money or draw cards.
dice as you want.

You need two dice for this

card. 1 die to activate it, 1 die FORUM r1 White battle die – used for battle.
to find out how many victory You gain as many victory points
from the general supply as the
points you will gain from it. result of one of your unused
action dice. r1 Rules leaflet
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 SETTING UP
Assemble the icon bar and place it in the middle of This is where one player plays
the playing area. their cards …
Both players take 10 victory points each (referred to
as VP hereafter) as their personal supply and the
3 action dice of the color of their choice. … and here is where the other player
All the money, the remaining 16 VP and the battle plays their cards.
die are placed within easy reach of both players.
One card may be played next to each die icon on either side.
Shuffle the cards, deal 5 cards to each player. The
players take these cards into their hand and give
2 cards face down to their opponent. The remai-
ning cards are placed face down on the table as
draw pile. All cards discarded during the game are
The players start the game with 10 victory points each.
placed on a common discard pile.
The youngest player is the start player. They play Please note that “Arena - Roma II” is a complete game
all their hand cards face up on their side of the but can also be played in combination with the cards from
icon bar. The cards can be played next to any die “Roma”. Please see page 5 for details.
number (die icon) from 1 to 6 and next to the bri-
bery icon. The player chooses the icons they play
their cards next to. A player may play only 1 card
next to any icon on their side of the icon bar.
Then the other player plays their cards the same
way on their side of the icon bar, again it’s their
choice next to which icons (1 to 6, bribery) they
play their cards.

Please note: If you play “Arena” for the first time and
have not played “Roma” so far, you may try the fol- Each card played must clearly be assigned to one die
lowing rules for beginners: Turn over the part of the icon. The spaces next to the icons “cards” and “money”
always remain vacant.
icon bar containing the “bribery” icon so that it is con-
cealed and use only the icons which are visible now.
Deal only 4 cards to each player at the beginning of
Icon “money” Icon “cards”
the game instead of 5.

SEQUENCE OF PLAY
Starting with the start player both players alter-
natingly perform their complete turn. Each turn
consists of 3 phases, which have to be performed
in the following order.
Phase 1: Evaluate vacant spaces
Phase 2: Roll action dice
Phase 3: Perform actions
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 During their first turn, the start player has
Phase 1: Evaluate vacant spaces
If not all spaces on their side of the icon bar are
occupied, the active player has to forfeit 1 VP of
to forfeit 2 VP. They start with 5 cards only,
therefore there are 2 vacant spaces.
✗
their personal supply for each vacant space on their
side. Put the VP back to the general supply.

Note: The icons “Money” and “Cards” are not

considered for this, as no cards can ever be played
there.
✘ ✘

Phase 2: Roll action dice

The active player rolls their 3 action dice. In case Note: Depending on the current situation it may even be
all three dice are showing the same result the play- profitable for the player to accept a roll of three identical
er may repeat the complete roll. results.

Phase 3: Perform actions Example of a complete turn:

There are four possible actions the players may It’s Stefan’s turn. After forfeiting 2 VP (because of
choose from. It’s up to the player how often and 2 vacant space) he rolls his dice, rolling “3”, “4” and
“6”. He decides to perform the following actions:
in which order they perform which actions.
1. He uses “3” to draw cards. He keeps one in his hand
The action (a “Taberna” card) and discards the other two.
rPlay card(s) 2. He uses “6” to collect money. He takes 6 Sestertii
from the general supply.
does not require any dice. Instead the player has 3. He plays one card (the “Taberna” which he just
to pay money, depending on the card(s) played. acquired) on the vacant place next to the die icon “4”.
He does not need an action for this. However he has to
All following three actions pay the card’s cost and puts 7 Sestertii into the general
r*VSSLJ[TVUL` supply.
r+YH^JHYKZ 4. He uses his last action die “4” to activate the
“Taberna” he had just played. He gains 2 VP from the
r(J[P]H[LHJHYK general supply because there are 2 face up characters
require 1 action die each. on his opponent’s side.

The player assigns their die results rolled in phase

2 individually to the actions they want to perform.
Each single die result may not be split and they
may not assign any die result to several actions.

Please note: During their turn,

a player may assign only 1 die
to the “bribery” icon. More than
1 die may be assigned to all
other icons, which means these
actions may be performed more
than once during a player’s turn.

-3-
The actions are now explained in detail:

r7SH`JHYKZ
Cards are played face up from your hand onto
your side of the icon bar. Each card must clearly
be assigned to one icon, i. e. played next to one
specific item.

Adding cards
If you play a card on a place already occupied
by a card, put the original card on the discard
pile. Example: It costs 3 Sestertii to play the card “Triremis”.
In order to play a card you have to pay into the
general supply as many Sestertii as shown by its
cost. If you cannot afford the complete amount, Example: You rolled “6” with one of
you cannot play the card. your action dice. If you place the “6”
on the “money” icon, you receive
r*VSSLJ[TVUL` 6 Sestertii from
the general
You place one of your action dice on the “money” supply.
icon of the icon bar and take as many Sestertii form
the general supply as shown by the die.

r+YH^JHYKZ
You place one of your action dice on the “cards”
icon of the icon bar and draw as many cards form
the face down draw pile as shown by the die. You
keep 1 of these cards and place the remainder of
the cards drawn on the face up discard pile.
When the draw pile is exhausted, the discard pile is
shuffled and placed face down as new draw pile.
There is no limit to the number of hand cards a
player my hold.

r(J[P]H[LHJHYK Example: You rolled “4” with one of your action dice.
You place one of your action dice on the die icon If you place the “4” on the “cards” icon, you draw
4 cards from the draw pile and retain 1 of them.
of the icon bar showing the same number as the
action die or on the “bribery” icon.
The card next to this icon is now activated, which
means that the effect as described on the card
takes place immediately.
In order to activate the card next to the “bribery”
icon the player must additionally pay as many
Sestertii into the general supply as shown by the
action die used for activating this card. Example: You activate your card “Aquaeductus” by pla-
cing your “3” action die on the “3” die icon and remove
3 VP out of the general supply from the game.

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If there is an identical result on several dice, you
may activate the same card more than once.
Please don’t forget the one and only exception to
this rule: The players may use the “bribery” icon
only once during their turn.
[The effects of all cards are explained in the adden-
dum, please see pages 6 to 8.]

Battle Example: The player places their action die “5” on the
Some cards allow the players to attack their icon “bribery”, paying 5 Sestertii. The card “Bestia”
next to it is activated now. The player is attacking their
opponent’s cards [for details please check the opponent’s card with the weakest defense value, a battle
card texts]. If there is a battle, the active play- starts …
er - always being the attacker - rolls the battle The result of the battle die is
die once, the result is their attack value. If “4”, the opponent’s defense
value is only “3”; the card is
the attack value is higher than or equal to the defeated and has to be dis-
defense value, the attacker wins and the defeated carded.
card is discarded. If the result is lower than the
defense value, nothing happens.
Please note - the following cards may initiate a battle:
Please note: Both attack and defense value may be modified
Arena, Ballista, Bestia, Decurio, Mercennarius.
by other face up cards. All modifications are cumulative.
The cards Aries, Elephantus Militaris, Equitatus and
After a player’s turn has ended, the other player Veneficus also affect the opponent’s cards, but in these cases
takes their turn. A player’s turn ends after they it’s not a battle.
have completed all actions they had wanted to
perform.

END OF THE GAME

The game ends immediately if one of these condi-
tions is met:
r;OLpersonal supply of VP’s of one of the players
is exhausted. Please note: In case there are not sufficient VP’s in the
r;OLgeneral supply of VP’s is exhausted. general supply when a player gains their last VP’s, the mis-
The player with most VP’s is the winner of the sing VP’s are still counted virtually.
game.

VARIANTS
“Arena - Roma II” and “Roma”:
“Arena” is a complete game of its own, but it may very well be combined with the cards from “Roma”.
These are the options:
1. You mix all the cards of both games. There is one large pile to play with.
2. Both players take one set of cards, both players will have their own draw and discard piles.
3. If both players can use the cards of both games, they may compile their own decks of 55 cards each. Again both players
will have their own draw and discard piles.

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CARD SUMMARY

5 5 5 4
5 3 3 4

ELEPHANTUS
DECURIO TUBA VENEFICUS MILITARIS
You attack a directly or diagonally You may repeat each of your The opposite character card is The opposite card is destroyed if
opposite character card. Your battle die rolls once. placed on the discard pile. its defense value is 4 or less.
battle die roll is increased by 1
[2x] [1x] [1x] [2x]
DECURIO TUBA VENEFICUS ELEPHANTUS MILITARIS
attacks a directly or dia- is always active once being The opposite character If the opposite card’s
gonally opposite charac- played face open. Attack card is placed on the dis- defense value is 4 or less
ter. The battle die roll is die rolls may be repeated card pile. it is discarded.
increased by 1. once.

6 5 3 5
3 3 4 3

MAECENAS MAGISTER PICTOR PHILOSOPHUS

You activate one of your other You perform the same action as Each player gains 1 victory point In his next turn your opponent
face up cards by paying its costs. the opposite card. from the general supply for each has one die less to roll with.
of his face up building cards.
[2x] [2x] [2x] [2x]
MAECENAS MAGISTER PICTOR PHILOSOPHUS
allows to activate one of The Magister has no action Both players gain 1 victory The player’s opponent has
your other face up cards, of his own, instead he point from the general one die less to roll with
the costs of which have to copies the action of the supply for each of their in their next turn.
be paid anew. opposite character or buil- own face up buildings.
ding card.

2 8 4 5
2 4 3 5

PRAEDATOR EQUITATUS RESTAURATOR MERCENNARIUS

Place one of your face up building All of your opponent‘s face up You may search the discard pile You attack the opposite card. For
cards on the discard pile. You forums are destroyed. Place the and take one building card of each 3 Sestertii you pay you may
gain the equivalence of its defense cards on the discard pile. your choice on your hand. increase your battle die roll by 1.
value as victory points. [2x] [1x] [1x] [2x]
PRAEDATOR EQUITATUS RESTAURATOR MERCENNARIUS
The player discards one The entire opponent’s The player may search the attacks the opposite card.
of their face up buildings face up Forum cards are discard pile and take one Per 3 Sestertii the player
and gains the equivalence destroyed and put on the building of their choice on pays they may increase
of its defense value as vic- discard pile. their hand. their battle die roll by 1.
tory points.

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 3 1 3
4 4 3

SPECULATOR TEMPLARIUS BESTIA

You may look at your opponent‘s Roll the battle die. You gain half You attack your opponent‘s card
hand and take one of his cards on of its result as victory points from with the weakest defense value. If
your hand. the general supply. several cards qualify, choose one.
[2x] [2x] [2x]
SPECULATOR TEMPLARIUS BESTIA
The player may look at The active player rolls the attacks the opponent’s card
their opponent’s hand and battle die. They gain half of with the weakest defense
add one of these cards to its result (rounded up) as value. If several cards qua-
their hand. victory points from the gene- lify, the active player chooses
ral supply. one.

1 6 4 6
5 3 4 4

AQUAEDUCTUS ARENA FONS BACCHI BALLISTA

One after the other (from 1 to 6), At the start of your turn you may You attack a directly or
Remove 3 victory points of the you attack all of your opponent‘s reroll, only once, as many action diagonally opposite building
general supply from the game. character cards. After the first one dice as you want. card. Your battle die roll is
is defeated, your attack is finished. increased by 1.
[1x] [2x] [1x] [2x]
AQUAEDUCTUS ARENA FONS BACCHI BALLISTA
3 victory points of the The player attacks all of At the start of their turn the attacks a directly or diago-
general supply are removed their opponent’s charac- player may reroll once as nally opposite building. The
from the game. ters, one after the other many action dice as they battle die roll is increased
(from 1 to 6). After the want. by 1.
first one is defeated, their
attack is finished.

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 0 5 3 3
2 5 5 5

FORTUNA FORUM TRIREMIS PORTUS

Place all your hand cards on the You gain as many victory points You gain 3 victory points from You may swap one of your face
discard pile. Refill your hand with from the general supply as the the general supply if you have up cards for one of your hand
the same number of cards from result of one of your unused more face up characters than cards.
the draw pile. [2x] action dice. [4x] your opponent. [2x] [2x]
FORTUNA FORUM TRIREMIS PORTUS
The player puts all their The player puts all their The player gains 3 victory allows the player to swap
hand cards on the discard hand cards on the discard points from the general one of their face up cards
pile and draws an equal pile and draws an equal supply if they have more for one of their own hand
number of cards from the number of cards from the face up characters than cards.
draw pile. draw pile. their opponent.

6 9 5 3
4 6 10 4 2

CASTRA STATUA JOVIS CARRUS BOVINUS OFFERTORIUM

Play the top card from the draw You may destroy any 1 of your Place one of your face up
pile on one of your unoccupied opponent‘s face up cards if you Your personal supply of victory character cards in the discard
die tokens without paying for it. pay 10 Sestertii. points is refilled up to 5. pile. You gain the equivalence of
[2x] [1x] [1x] its defense value as victory points. [2x]

CASTRA STATUA JOVIS CARRUS BOVINUS OFFERTORIUM

The player draws the top The player may destroy If the player’s personal The player discards one of
card from the draw pile and any 1 of their opponent’s supply of victory points is their face up characters
plays it on any unoccupied face up cards if they pay less than 5, they fill it up and gains the equivalence
space on their side without 10 Sestertii. to 5. of its defense value as
paying for it. victory points.

7 7 5 4
4 3 5 4

ARIES TABERNA VIA CASSIA TELONIUM

You gain 1 victory point You may perform the action of Each time you use the die token
The opposite building card is from the general supply for each your adjacent card to the right or „Money“ you receive 2 Sestertii
placed on the discard pile. of your opponent‘s face up to the left. additionally.
[1x] character cards. [2x] [2x] [2x]
ARIES TABERNA VIA CASSIA TELONIUM
The opposite building card The player gains 1 victory Allows the player to per- is always active once being
is placed on the discard point from the general form the action of their played face open. Each
pile. supply for each of their adjacent card to the right time the player performs
opponent’s face up cha- or to the left. the action “collect money”
racters. they receive 2 Sestertii
additionally.

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