Theme: The Republic of Rome is an abstraction of over 250 years of history. It simulates the politics of the Roman Senate during the republic.

In Republic of Rome, players must constantly weight their personal advancement with the welfare of the state for the titular barbarians are waiting for the first sign of weakness. Players build the empire from scratch and thus develop and change the political environment in which they are competing.

Gameplay: In the Republic of Rome, the players take the part of various factions vying for the control of the senate. They control the various powerful families of the time, who compete for state offices, military command, economic concessions and new adherents. To win the player must get their faction to become the most powerful in Rome.

While doing this, however, a balance must be maintained. A hostile world situation, and the vagaries of the public of Rome means that the players must also cooperate so that Rome herself doesn't go down under this pressure. If Rome does not last, neither does the senate, and all players lose!

The game contains three scenarios which divide the color-coded cards into decks simulating the Early, Middle, and Late Republic. Those wishing a larger game can combine them into a Campaign Game of truly epic proportions. A solitaire and two-player version are also included for those unable to muster more players.

This new version contains all new artwork by Kurt Miller, Mark Poole and Patrick Turner and re-written rules by John Rodriguez meant to address and clarify all previous errata. This is a 1 – 6 player game with a playing time of approximately 3 – 5 hours.