The Cicero update to Imperator: Rome makes a number of dramatic changes to the core game, letting the player focus on political consequences and imperial governance instead of waiting for numbers to grow. Provincial populations can now be nudged towards assimilation, but are mostly autonomous in their preferences. Provinces themselves can be developed along a range of settlement sizes, according to your priorities and wealth.

The political and military games have also been enhanced. Advisor loyalty will affect how flexible you are in meeting new political challenges, and balancing the competing factions in your empire will be important in new ways. Your armies must gain experience in order to adopt new traditions, but that might mean risky wars or expensive drilling.

In all, Cicero is an attempt to see if new game design ideas can work in one of our favorite settings.

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Deeper Province Management

• Develop settlements in the provinces, founding new cities or establishing great metropolises at the center of your empire
  
• 17 unique buildings to enhance provincial wealth and capabilities
  
• Population development, migration and conversion now happen dynamically
  
• Food may be stored in a province and depleted over time. Save grain for a coming crisis or starve an enemy into submission.
  

• Monarch power replaced by Political Influence, a store of value based on the loyalty of your advisors. Ruler skills now affect national capabilities, not specific actions.
  
• Each form of government must consider trade-offs when passing new laws. Republics must consider the balance of their factions, while Monarchies risk pitting generals against governors.
  

• Unique national heritages for each culture, reflecting historic strengths and priorities
  
• Unique inventions for many nations
  
• New events and flavor interactions, many tied to the nation you are playing
  
• New Ways of War
  
• Revamped the military traditions available to each culture
  
• Unlock these traditions with Military Experience, which can be earned incrementally or through combat and peace time drilling.
  
• Changes to the AI promote conflict between the non-human controlled nations, making a more dynamic and dangerous world, especially in the endgame.