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As we develop the Romans, each week are revealing them to you building by building, unit by unit, and technology by technology. We are not just showing you what the Romans will be, but showing you how we are building them, who is building them, and also why we are building them the way that we are. This week, we are discussing the first set of Roman Advisors and revealing the final member of the Roman Triumverate, who joins Julius Caesar and Pompey the Great, Marcus Licinius Crassus.

As you may know, these three men formed what is known as the First Triumvirate. Very briefly: In 509 BCE, the Romans overthrew a tyrannical Etruscan king and formed the Roman Republic. During the Republic, two co-equal, annually elected Consuls were held in check by the Roman Senate in some sort of vaguely democratic system. The Republic endured like this for about 500 years.

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Around 60 BCE, Caesar, Pompey, and Crassus enjoyed enormous military power and each led separate armies under the Roman flag. As their individual power rose, they each threatened the stability of the Republic.

Julius Caesar was born into an influential Roman family, was son of a provincial governor, and nephew of one of the greatest Romans of his generation, Gaius Marius. Through these connections, Caesar became ruler of Hispania (modern day Spain), where he enjoyed great military success before becoming Pontifex Maximus, which was the head of the Roman religion. From there, he returned to the military and would become one of Rome's greatest commanders, most notably for his conquest of Gaul (modern day France, Switzerland, and Belgium). However, in doing so he faced accusations of raising a private army without the authority of Rome itself.

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Pompey was a bit older than Caesar and by, all accounts, was the greatest military leader of the time. Pompey led the Romans to victory in multiple wars, most notably against Roman rebels in Hispania, against the Persian empire, and on the Mediterranean itself against the Cilician Pirates. Pompey fashioned himself as a modern day Alexander, and it was no coincidence that his troops bestowed upon him the same moniker. Pompey truly was Great.

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Meanwhile, Marcus Licinius Crassus, the eldest of the three, was not only the richest man in the Roman Empire, but one of the wealthiest people to have ever existed. He owned silver mines. He owned entire neighborhoods in Rome. He owned countless slaves. And he bankrolled his own private army as well as much of Caesar’s. His net worth was the size of the total annual budget of the Roman treasury. Crassus stopped at nothing to increase his power. He famously created the only fire brigade in Rome. Whenever a fire broke out (which was frequently and suspiciously often when he was nearby), Crassus would offer to put out the fire only if the owners of the buildings agreed to his unfair terms. In this way he steadily came to own entire neighborhoods of the city. Bored with his fortune, Crassus then sought fame in politics and the military. He is best known for crushing the revolt led by the escaped slave Spartacus.

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Though we have discovered a slew of information on the original Roman designs, including Quest Givers and concept art for Caesar and Pompey, we strangely found no mention of Crassus. But given his standing in the Triumvirate, we felt it was only proper to include him. Therefore, PF2K set to work and created him.

The Triumvirate set the stage for the Roman Republic to collapse under its own weight and the Roman Empire to rise in its place. This falls right at the perfect time for our Romans, which focus on the late Republic, early Imperial era.

These three Generals entered an informal, secret alliance where they agreed to support each other in their attempts to gain further power and control of the Republic. Pompey and Crassus were bitter rivals, and Caesar was skilled enough to persuade them to work together. But after Crassus died in battle, Pompey and Caesar could not peacefully resolve the power vaccuum, leading to civil war. Caesar won, declared himself dictator, and ultimately took sole power over the entire Roman Empire for the rest of his life.

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From a gameplay perspective, we intend to use the Triumvirate in at least three separate ways. While they are all works in progress, we find ourselves this week without any new units to reveal, and we would like to show you our cards a bit.

First, we intend to make Legendary Advisors out of each of them. You may recall that Legendary Advisors are completely original to Project Celeste and that at this point, we have created two Legendary Advisors per civ. Given our desire to focus on the three members of the Triumvirate equally, we will not only be making these three Legendary Advisors but also six additional ones -- one more for each of the other six civs. Therefore, we are looking for inspiration from the players for what those advisors should be.

Second, we plan to bring the rivalry of the triumvirate into the community by allowing players to to choose their preferred leader. You can choose the Legion of Pompey or the Legion of Caesar or the Legion of Crassus. We aren't sure exactly how to implement this, but we intend to include discord roles and are brainstorming ways to translate this allegiance into the game. For now, you can join your favorite Legion on our Discord server by following the instructions below:

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This leads us to our third feature of the Triumvirate.

Third, we also intend to capitalize on the inherent rivalry of the Triumvirate with a unique game mode that will include the use of hero units of Caesar, Pompey, and Crassus leading your army. We are very much in the infancy stages of this idea, as well. But it's been a pretty slow week for Roman development, and we would like to tease you all with these ideas.

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Presently, we envision players choosing one of the three generals to lead their army in some kind of new PvE game mode. Each general would appear on the field, just like Chief Vemundr and Warlord Beorix. Each of them would have unique stats and likely two unique powers. For instance, we are presently thinking that Caesar will buff troops and have some kind of religious power, while Pompey will be a formidible tanky beast unit in his own right, and Crassus will have the ability to convert enemy troops. (Right now we are thinking about a melee-style conversion animation where he hands bags of money to opposing troops in order to lure them onto his team. We cannot wait to see what Phillus will come up with.) We've played around with adding Spartacus as a fourth hero, too, but we will see where we end up before committing to him.

At any rate, this entire line of ideas is nascent and subject to redesign. But we think it is in the spirit of the project to include the players in these discussions, too. We are keeping the design of the civ cordoned off from the public, so we want to include you early on the stages of these new game modes.

Speaking of which, we hope to have some progress for you shortly. Happy Smurf is finishing up classes soon, and Phillus is back from a long needed vacation. Meanwhile, Chaos has moved everything off his desk and is busy chipping away at new Winter Event assets. They are absolutely amazing. Thanks for reading, and we will see you all next week!

PF2K's Personal Note: I've created 3 different Wallpapers for you guys. One for each Legion. check them out below!
- Legion of Caesar
- Legion of Pompey
- Legion of Crassus

Which Legion will you join? Who is your favorite leader? Let us know in the comments below!

Project Celeste Development Team

What do you think about this week's blog? Let us know in the comments below!

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Missed the Roman Civilization's announcement? Find out about it HERE.

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