Anno 117 Pax Romana : Beginner’s Guide

In Anno 117: Pax Romana, you are a governor appointed by the Roman Emperor to develop provinces across the known world. Your mission is to transform untouched wilderness into thriving economic and cultural hubs. This means:

• Building & Managing: You’ll construct everything from humble woodcutters’ huts to majestic villas, ensuring your citizens are happy and your production chains are efficient.
• Satisfying Needs: Your population is your greatest asset. They have demands—for food, clothing, entertainment, and more. Meeting these needs makes your city grow and your treasury swell.
• Exploring & Expanding: No single island has everything. You’ll send ships to discover new lands, secure vital resources, and establish a network of specialized islands.
• Diplomacy & Defense: You’re not alone in this world. You’ll interact with other Roman governors, trade with neutral factions, and defend your shores from pirates.

The Golden Rule of Anno: Happiness = Profit

Before we dive into menus and mechanics, understand this one core principle: A happy population is a profitable population.

Your citizens are organized into social tiers. You start with the Liberti (the common people). Each tier has its own set of needs. When you provide for these needs, three wonderful things happen:

1. Your Population Grows: More people move into existing houses.
2. You Earn More Taxes: Each fulfilled need adds a bonus to the taxes each house pays.
3. You Can Upgrade: A happy population can upgrade to the next, more advanced social tier, unlocking new buildings, workers, and opportunities.

Your entire economy is built on this simple cycle: Build → Satisfy Needs → Grow & Earn → Upgrade → Repeat.

Your Roadmap to Success

This Beginner’s Guide is designed to walk you through this cycle step-by-step. We’ll cover:

• Setting Up for Success: We’ll help you choose the perfect game settings so you can learn without being overwhelmed by hostile pirates or cutthroat rivals.
• The First Settlement: We’ll break down your first 30 minutes, from placing your initial roads to setting up your first complex production chains, like turning logs into timber and hemp into tunics.
• Mastering the Mechanics: You’ll learn how to use crucial tools like the Statistics Menu (Ctrl+Q)—your economic crystal ball—and how to leverage powerful “Artisan Buildings” that give your income a massive boost.
• Expanding Your Horizons: When your starter island isn’t enough, we’ll show you how to find, settle, and connect new islands through automated trade routes.
• Embracing the Divine: You’ll learn how to choose a patron god like Saras, Goddess of Agriculture, to give your farms and population a divine boost.
• Preparing for the Future: Finally, we’ll guide you through building your first defenses, raising an army, and constructing a shipyard, setting you up for a dominant mid-game.

This journey will be detailed, but we’re taking it at a casual pace. The key to enjoying Anno 117 is to pause often, plan carefully, and not be afraid to make mistakes. Your first city might not be perfectly laid out, and that’s okay! The fun is in the process of learning and optimizing.

So, take a deep breath. Your flagship is waiting, and a blank slate of an island is ready for your vision. Let’s begin.

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Part 1: Picking Your Playground (Game Setup)

This decision is the most consequential of the early game, defining your available resources, cultural challenges, and long-term strategic options.

Latium: The Heart of the Empire
Choosing Latium means building within the established, beating heart of Rome. The advantages are immediate:

• Established Infrastructure: Benefit from technologies and buildings that reflect Roman engineering prowess from the outset.
• Centralized Power: Position yourself closer to the political center, potentially influencing imperial politics.
• Predictable Resources: Access to known and reliable goods and production chains.

Albion: The Celtic Frontier
Venturing to the Celtic shores of Albion is a path for the ambitious and adaptable. The challenges are greater, but so are the unique opportunities:

• Cultural Crossroads: Navigate the fascinating process of blending Roman and Celtic traditions, creating a unique hybrid culture.
• Novel Resources: Gain access to unique goods and raw materials not found in Latium.
• Strategic Positioning: Operate from a distant shore, potentially insulated from the immediate conflicts of the empire’s core.

Before you even start building, you’ve got some choices to make. This is where you set the training wheels on or off.

• Game Mode: For your first time, jump into “Endless Mode.” It’s the main sandbox where you can just build and explore without a strict story.
• Difficulty is Your Friend: Seriously, start on “Normal.” The “Advanced” and “Veteran” settings are for masochists later on. “Normal” is basically the game giving you a helpful pat on the back.
• Tweak the Rules (The Important Stuff):
  • Starting Fleet: Go with “Flagship with Starting Island.” This means you begin on a decent, pre-picked island with your main ship already in the harbor. It’s the safest and easiest way to learn. If you pick “None,” you start with no ships, which is a huge pain.
  • Map Type: “Archipelago” is a classic—lots of little islands. “Traditional” gives you a few bigger central islands. Both are great for beginners.
  • Island Size & Resources: Crank that Island Size to “Large” and Resources to “Abundant.” This gives you tons of room to make mistakes and plenty of raw materials to play with.
• Dealing with Neighbors (and Pirates):
  • AI Opponents: Add just one easy opponent, like Silanus or Faustus. These guys are super chill. They’ll actually ask your permission before settling on islands and might even send you gifts. It’s a low-stress way to learn diplomacy.
  • Pirates: You can turn them off, but if you want a tiny bit of excitement, leave them on and set them to “Easy.” They’ll be more of a minor annoyance than a real threat.
• Picking an Emperor: Choose Empress Austa. She’s the more forgiving ruler. Her tasks for you are simpler, and it’s easier to get on her good side, which gives you awesome perks later.

Difficulty & Game Rules – What to Pick for Your First Game

Setting	What It Means	Recommended Beginner Choice	Why This is the Best Choice
Difficulty	How hard the AI and economy are.	Normal	It’s the “easy” mode in disguise. The game gives you a helping hand.
Starting Fleet	What you begin the game with.	Flagship with Starting Island	You get a safe home base and a ship to explore. No stressful early scramble.
Map Layout	How the world is shaped.	Archipelago or Traditional	Lots of options for expansion, with clear, manageable islands.
Island Size	How big the islands are.	Large	More room for error. You won’t run out of space while you’re learning to build.
Resources	How much stuff is on the map.	Abundant	You’ll have plenty of wood, clay, and iron without having to fight for it immediately.
AI Opponents	Other Roman factions to compete with.	1 Easy Opponent (e.g., Silanus)	They’re friendly, give you gifts, and ask before settling new islands. Low stress.
Pirates	Hostile factions that raid your ships.	On – Easy Difficulty	Adds a little excitement without being a game-ending threat.
Emperor	The ruler you need to impress.	Empress Austa	Her tasks are simpler and easier to complete, giving you nice rewards faster.

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Part 2: First Steps on Your New Island

Alright, you’ve landed! You’ll see your Trading Post—that’s your town center. If you delete it, you lose the island, so don’t! Now, let’s get organized.

Your Dashboard (The Interface)

Look at the top of your screen. This is your city’s vital signs. Keep an eye on:

• Dinarii (Money): The number on the left is your total cash. The number on the right with a “+” or “-” is your income per minute. This is super important. You want this to be a positive (green) number.
• Population: How many people live here. More people = more workers and more taxes.
• Knowledge: This is your research points. You’ll get buildings for this later.

Let’s Build Some Stuff! (The First 15 Minutes)

Your goal right now is to make a simple, working town. Here’s the exact order of operations:

1. Build Roads: Everything needs to be connected by a road to your Trading Post. But be careful! Roads cost a tiny bit of money to maintain, so don’t go crazy making a giant spaghetti network. Just a few main streets for now.
2. Get Wood & Planks: This is your most important resource early on.
   • Open the build menu (the hammer icon) and find the “Construction Materials” tab.
   • Place a Woodcutter’s Hut in the middle of a forest. You’ll see a circle around it. Try to keep the hut in the green part of the forest for 100% efficiency.
   • Now, connect a road to a new area and build a Warehouse. Think of this as your island’s shared closet. Everything gets stored here.
   • Next to the warehouse, build a Sawmill. The Woodcutter will send logs to the Warehouse, and the Sawmill will grab those logs and turn them into Timber.
3. House Your People:
   • Go back to the build menu and find the Liberti Residences. These are your basic houses.
   • Draw a small block of houses connected to your main road. You’ll see them get built instantly, using up some of your Timber.
   • But… no one is moving in! Why? Because they have needs.

Your City’s Vital Signs (The Top Bar)

Icon/Meter	What It Tells You	Why It’s a Big Deal
Dinarii (Cash)	The number on the LEFT is your total money. The number on the RIGHT is your income per minute.	If the right number is red and negative, you’re losing money and will go bankrupt. Your #1 goal is to keep this green and positive.
Population	Total number of citizens living in your city.	More people = more workers to run your buildings AND more taxes paid to you.
Knowledge	How many research points you’re generating per minute.	This is like “science.” You need this to unlock new and better buildings in the research tree.

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Part 3: Making Your People Happy (And Making Money)

Your new citizens are picky. They need stuff to be happy and to pay you taxes. Open the menu for one of your houses. You’ll see three main categories: Food, Public Services, and Fashion. You need to provide at least one thing from each category to make them really happy and allow them to upgrade later.

Let’s check these boxes off:

• Food – Build a Fishing Hut: This is the easiest first food source. It doesn’t need any special land, just a coast. Plop one down by the water and connect it to a road. Soon, fish will be delivered to your warehouse, and you’ll see people start moving into the houses! You’ll also see your tax income start to tick up.
• Public Services – Build a Market: This building has a circle around it. Any house inside that circle will get a “Market Need” fulfilled. Place it centrally so it covers as many houses as possible.
• Fashion – Build Tunics:
  • This is your first real “production chain.” You’ll need a Hemp Farm (which needs a lot of space, so build it away from your downtown), and a Spinner.
  • Connect both to a warehouse with roads. The Hemp Farm grows hemp, the Spinner takes the hemp and makes Tunics.
  • Pro Tip: The Spinner is an “Artisan Building.” It has a circular radius and gives every house inside it a +1 Coin bonus. That’s free money! So, place your Spinner right in the middle of your housing district, close to a warehouse.

Table 3: Your People’s Basic Needs (Tier 1 – Liberti)

Need Category	What It Is	Easiest Beginner Building	What It Gives You
Food	Something for them to eat.	Fishing Hut	+1 Population & +1 Coin per house. (People move in and pay more taxes!)
Public Services	Places for them to shop and socialize.	Market	+1 Population & +1 Coin per house.
Fashion	Clothes for them to wear.	Spinner (makes Tunics)	+1 Population & +1 Coin per house. PLUS it gives a bonus coin to nearby houses!

Your First Production Chain – From Tree to Timber

Building	What It Does	What It Needs	Key Detail
Woodcutter’s Hut	Chops down trees to make Logs.	Built in a forest.	Try to place it so the circle is mostly green for 100% efficiency.
Sawmill	Takes Logs and turns them into Timber.	Must be connected to a road and a Warehouse.	One Sawmill can usually handle the Logs from one Woodcutter.
Warehouse	The island’s shared storage. All resources go here.	Must be connected to roads.	Build multiple warehouses! Each one has only 2 carts. If it gets too busy, things slow down.

Check Your Stats!
Hit Ctrl+Q to open the Statistics menu. This is your crystal ball. Go to the “Production” tab. Here you can see if you’re producing enough fish, tunics, etc., for your population. If the “Consumption” bar is catching up to the “Production” bar, you need to build another fishing hut or spinner! This menu will save your life.

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Part 4: Leveling Up Your City (Hello, Plebeians!)

Once you’ve provided one Food, one Service, and one Fashion item, your Liberti residences will have a golden outline. You can now upgrade them!

• Click the “Upgrade” tool (or press ‘U’) and drag it over a block of houses. They’ll transform into fancier Plebeian houses.
• Workforce Warning! When you upgrade a house, it stops providing Liberti workers and starts providing Plebeian workers. Your lumberjacks and fishermen need Liberti workers! So if you upgrade everyone at once, your basic industries will shut down. The key is to always have a mix. Build new Liberti houses as you upgrade old ones.

Now the cycle continues! Plebeians have new, fancier needs like Bread and Sandals. You’ll need to build those production chains (Wheat Farm -> Flour Mill -> Bakery). You’ll also need new construction materials, like Tiles, which require clay from a river.

Workforce – The People Powering Your City

Population Tier	What They Do	What Happens When You Upgrade
Liberti (Tier 1)	Work in basic jobs: Fishing, Farming, Woodcutting.	When you upgrade a Liberti house to Plebeian, you lose 2 Liberti workers.
Plebeians (Tier 2)	Work in advanced jobs: Mills, Bakeries, Tile Makers.	You gain 1 Plebeian worker. Balance is key! Always build new Liberti houses as you upgrade.

New Needs for Your Fancy Plebeians

New Need	Beginner Building Chain	What You’ll Need to Build
Bread (Food)	Wheat Farm -> Flour Mill -> Bakery	This is a 3-step chain. It needs more space and planning.
Tiles (Construction)	Clay Pit (needs a river) -> Tile Kiln	The Tile Kiln also needs Coal from a Charcoal Burner.
New Services	Grammaticus (School)	Provides a service need AND generates Knowledge for research!

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Part 5: Getting Bigger (Islands, Trade, and Gods)

Your starter island won’t have everything. To get things like Olives for Olive Oil, you’ll need to expand.

1. Find a New Island: Use your flagship to explore the foggy areas of the map. Look for an island with the “Olive” fertility.
2. Settle It: Settling a new island costs money, but having a good reputation with the Empress (by doing her quests) makes it cheaper. Place a new Trading Post on that island.
3. Set Up a Trade Route: Now you have olives on Island B but need them on Island A. Open the Trade Route menu (the two arrows icon). Create a new route between your two islands. Assign a ship, and tell it to pick up Olive Oil on Island B and drop it off on Island A. It will now automatically sail back and forth! Magic!

Why and How to Expand to New Islands

Reason to Expand	What to Look For	How to Do It
You need new Fertilities.	Your starter island won’t have Olives (for Oil) or Lavender (for Perfume).	Use your ship to explore. Find an island with the fertility you need.
Specialization.	One island can be your “Farm Island” and another your “Main City.”	Settle the new island by placing a Trading Post. It costs money, but having good Reputation with the Empress makes it cheaper.
Logistics.	Getting goods from Island B to Island A.	Use the Trade Route menu. Set up a ship to automatically pick up Oil on the farm island and deliver it to your main city.

Calling in the Gods
When you build a Sanctuary, you can pick a patron god. For your first city, I highly recommend Saras (Goddess of Agriculture). She makes your farms produce more and even lets each house hold more people. It’s a huge boost. As your population grows, your “Devotion” to her increases, unlocking even better bonuses.

Choosing Your Patron God

God/Goddess	What They’re For	Best Beginner Pick & Why
Saras	Agriculture. Boosts farms and population.	YES! She makes your bread and olive production faster AND lets you fit more people in each house. Huge boost.
Neptune	The Sea. Boosts fishing, ships, and naval combat.	Good later when you have a big fleet, but not essential at the start.
Mars	War. Boosts weapon production and army strength.	Only pick him if you plan on being aggressive early on. Not recommended for a peaceful first game.

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Part 6: Preparing for the Big Leagues (Military & More)

Once you’re making good money and your people are happy, it’s time to think about defense and prestige.

• The Villa: This is a fancy palace you can build. It unlocks new features and lets you garrison troops. It’s a key building, so protect it. You can build wooden walls and archer towers around it for defense.
• A Tiny Army: Build a Barracks and the weapons industry (Iron Mine -> Furnace -> Weaponsmith) to recruit a few soldiers. This helps you deal with pirate raids or grumpy AI neighbors.
• Building Ships: The Shipyard lets you build your own fleet. You’ll need to have a rope and sail industry set up first. It’s a big project, but having your own warships to escort your traders is a game-changer.

Defense & Advanced Buildings

Building	What It Does	Why You Need It
Villa	Your governor’s palace. Unlates Prestige and lets you use special items.	It’s a key building. If it gets destroyed, you lose the island.
Barracks	Trains soldiers for your army.	To defend against pirate raids or if an AI opponent gets angry with you.
Archer Tower	A defensive tower that shoots at enemy ships and troops.	Place these near your harbor and your Villa to protect your most important areas.
Shipyard	Allows you to build your own ships.	A big project, but essential for creating a powerful navy to protect your trade routes.

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That was a lot! But if you follow these steps, you’ll have a thriving, profitable city that’s ready to expand into a true Roman province. Remember to pause the game often to plan things out, use that Ctrl+Q statistics screen like a cheat sheet, and don’t be afraid to mess up. You can always reload a save.

Now get out there and build an empire!

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