Anno 117 Pax Romana : Money and Economy Guide

Money makes the empire go ’round, and this guide will walk you through every single way to earn and save coins in Anno 117: Pax Romana. We’ll cover everything from the basic taxes your citizens pay to advanced trade strategies that will turn your province into an economic powerhouse.

The Golden Rule: Multiple Income Streams

The key to a wealthy empire isn’t relying on one method—it’s about combining all of them! A strong economy utilizes taxes, trade, and smart savings in tandem. Let’s break down each method so you can become the richest governor in the empire.

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Your Economic Foundation: Taxes & Citizen Needs

This is your most important and reliable source of income. It’s all about keeping your people happy and productive.

How Taxes Really Work

Your citizens pay taxes, but the amount isn’t fixed. Each “need” you fulfill for them—like food, clothing, or services—adds a bonus to the taxes each house pays. The higher their social tier (Liberti → Plebeians → Equites), the more needs they have and the more valuable those bonuses become.

Where to Find Your Tax Info:

• Look at the top bar for your total income
• For detailed breakdown: Click your island’s name → “Island Income”
• You’ll see money from “Residences” (base tax) and “Area Effects & Specialists” (bonuses)

Beyond Basic Taxation: Rethinking Revenue Streams

While residential taxes form the visible backbone of your income, they rarely suffice to fuel rapid expansion. A common pitfall for many players is over-investing in urban development without establishing complementary revenue sources, eventually depleting their starting funds and facing economic collapse.

The key to sustainable wealth lies in recognizing that your total permanent balance comprises multiple income streams. Residential taxes might appear substantial—potentially exceeding 1,000 dinari—but they often merely offset maintenance costs of public services and infrastructure. The true engine of economic growth operates through more sophisticated channels that transform your production infrastructure into continuous revenue generators.

Choosing the Most Profitable Goods

Early-Game Profit Maximization Guide

Citizen Tier	Need Category	High-Profit Choice	Bonus	Lower-Profit Alternative
Liberti (Tier 1)	Food	Sardines (Fishing Hut)	+1 Coin per house	Porridge (+0 Coin)
	Public Services	Market	+1 Coin & +1 Population	Tavern (+0 Coin, + Happiness)
	Fashion	Tunics (Spinner)	+2 Coin per house	Pileus (+1 Coin)
Plebeians (Tier 2)	Food	Garum	+2 Coin per house	Bread (+1 Coin, + Population)
	Household	Cheese	+3 Coin per house	Amphorae (+2 Coin)

Pro Tip: Always check what bonus a good provides before building its production chain. Early on, prioritize “Coin” bonuses over “Happiness” or “Population.”

Comparing Revenue Streams

This table breaks down the different ways your empire generates wealth, from the simple to the complex.

Revenue Stream	Mechanics	Reliability	Scalability	Key to Maximizing
Residential Taxes	Direct tax from citizen upgrades.	High	Medium	Upgrading housing tiers and maintaining happiness.
Goods Sales	Profit from selling produced goods to your population or via trade.	Variable	High	Efficient production chains and favorable trade deals.
Area Effects (Auras)	Passive income from producing buildings’ radial influence.	High (if active)	Very High	Strategic building placement and overlapping auras.
Specialist Bonuses	Powerful buffs applied by citizens in specific buildings.	Very High	Low (per building)	Careful selection and placement of high-level citizens.
Tributary States	Regular payments from subjugated (vassal) islands.	Medium	High	Successful military campaigns and diplomatic management.

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The Power Boost: Artisan Buildings and Area Effects

Think of these as “city boosters”—production buildings that give powerful bonuses when placed in residential areas.

Harnessing Area Effects: Your Hidden Economic Engine

The most powerful yet frequently overlooked wealth-generation mechanic involves the strategic placement of production buildings to capitalize on their financial area effects.

Understanding the Production Aura

Many industrial structures generate income through an invisible “aura” that affects all buildings within their radius. The Spinner serves as an excellent early-game example. When placed, it displays a circular radius indicating its zone of influence. Buildings within this area showing green arrows receive a direct income bonus—in the Spinner’s case, +1 dinari per minute.

Critical implementation principles include:

• Active Production Requirement: The area effect only functions when the building is actively manufacturing goods. If production halts due to full warehouses or missing raw materials, the financial benefit immediately ceases.
• Universal Application: Unlike goods that serve specific population tiers, financial auras benefit any building within range—residences, production facilities, or even harbors.
• Stacking Potential: Multiple production buildings can overlap their auras, creating concentrated zones of significant income generation.

Key Examples:

• Spinner (makes Tunics): +1 Coin, +1 Knowledge to nearby houses
• Market (service): +1 Coin, +1 Population to nearby houses
• Sandal Maker: +1 Coin to nearby houses

Maximizing Your Artisan Bonuses

Early-Game Production Buildings & Their Economic Impact

This table compares common early-game buildings that provide financial Area Effects, helping you prioritize your construction.

Building	Primary Product	Area Effect Income	Key Considerations & Best Practices
Spinner	Tunics	+1 Dinari/Minute	Excellent for weaving into residential areas. Low cost, good for early, widespread coverage.
Bakery	Bread	+3 Dinari/Minute	A high-value aura. Ideal for placement in high-density districts (residential or industrial).
Potter	Pottery	+2 Dinari/Minute	A solid mid-tier option. Useful for meeting goods needs while generating steady income.
Weaver	Cloth	+1 Dinari/Minute	Similar to the Spinner. Often part of a larger chain; place strategically to double-dip on area effects.
Schola (Education)	Knowledge	+5 Dinari/Minute (approx.)	High upkeep but very powerful aura. Requires higher-tier population to build and maintain.

Pro Tip: These bonuses do not stack. Two Spinners covering the same house won’t give +2 Coin. Focus on covering as many different houses as possible.

Optimizing Industrial Placement for Maximum Profit

Transforming your empire into an economic powerhouse requires deliberate spatial organization of your production chain.

Creating Revenue Hubs

Identify central locations with high building density—whether residential or industrial—and surround them with production facilities boasting strong financial auras. The cumulative effect of multiple overlapping auras can transform ordinary districts into powerful revenue centers generating hundreds of dinari monthly.

Maintaining Continuous Production

Since financial auras depend on active manufacturing, ensure uninterrupted production through:

• Adequate Warehouse Space: Regularly monitor storage capacity to prevent production halts
• Stable Supply Chains: Secure consistent raw material flows to keep workshops operational
• Balanced Output: Monitor consumption rates to avoid overproduction that clogs storage

This approach creates a self-reinforcing economic cycle: production generates both sellable goods and passive area-effect income, which funds further expansion that increases both tax revenue and production capacity.

Separating Production from Consumption

Unlike area effects that require proximity, revenue from direct goods sales occurs regardless of location. You can establish production facilities in remote areas with abundant resources while still profiting when those goods are purchased by populations elsewhere. This allows specialized industrial zones that maximize efficiency without sacrificing commercial benefit.

Evaluating Building Efficiency

Not all production buildings offer equal financial returns relative to their construction and maintenance costs. Before committing to large-scale implementation, consider:

• Initial Investment vs. Ongoing Revenue: Calculate how long until a building pays for itself
• Infrastructure Requirements: Account for additional roads, storage, and potential negative influences
• Opportunity Cost: Consider whether the space and resources could be better allocated

Future analysis will delve deeper into specific building profitability, identifying which structures offer the best return on investment across different game stages.

Advanced Economic Buildings & Strategic Value

As your empire grows, these structures become crucial for sustaining a powerful late-game economy.

Building	Primary Function	Economic Mechanic	Strategic Value
Officium/Offisum	Specialist Slot	Enables economic-focused Specialists who provide powerful bonuses.	Transforms high-level citizens into direct economic assets. Requires significant investment but offers the highest returns.
Forum	City Services	Provides massive happiness and population capacity aura.	Indirectly boosts economy by allowing residential upgrades, which significantly increase tax revenue.
Amphitheater	Prestige & Culture	Hosting games provides temporary economic boosts (e.g., increased trade income).	An investment in prestige, which improves trade deals and can reduce military costs, indirectly strengthening finances.
Warehouse	Storage & Logistics	No direct income, but enables continuous production.	Critical. A full warehouse halts production and its associated area effect income. Adequate storage is non-negotiable.

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Specialists

Specialists are unique characters acquired through quests, battles, or purchases from neutral traders.

How to Use Specialists Effectively

• Equip them in your Villa 
• They provide bonuses to all buildings within the Villa’s radius
• Best obtained through quests early-game rather than purchases

Powerful Specialist Types

• Tax Collector: Flat +Coin bonus to residences
• Efficient Manager: Reduces industrial building maintenance costs
• Inspiring Orator: Increases residence population (more taxpayers)

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Making Money While You Sleep: Trade Systems

Once your basic economy is stable, trade supercharges your income.

Passive Trade (Automatic Income)

This allows neutral traders (white ships) to automatically buy your surplus goods.

Setup Guide:

1. Click on your Trading Post
2. Go to “Wares” tab
3. Find a surplus good (e.g., Tiles, Logs, Fish)
4. Click the “Sell” button (coin icon)
5. Set a Minimum Stock (e.g., 200 Tiles – anything beyond this gets sold)

Best for Passive Trade: Construction materials (Logs, Timber, Tiles) that you produce continuously.

Active Trade (Guided Profit Routes)

Manual trade routes to sell goods for high profit.

Step-by-Step Setup:

1. Open Trade Route menu (two arrows icon)
2. Click “Create New Route”
3. Set your island as “Pick Up”
4. Set neutral trader’s island as “Drop Off”
5. Select a ship and goods to sell
6. Always set a minimum stock to avoid selling all your building materials!

Table: Most Profitable Trade Goods

Good to Sell	Profit Reason	Best Customers
Horses	Easy production chain	AI Opponents (like Sarina)
Weapons	High value per ton	AI Opponents & Pirates
Luxury Goods	Very high value	All factions (late game)

Contracts (Quick Cash Injections)

Click on neutral traders’ lighthouses for delivery contracts.

• Rewards: Large lump sums (20,000+ coins) + valuable Specialists
• Pro Strategy: Sell the contract Specialist immediately for double profit

Economic Optimization Checklist

Use this checklist as a step-by-step guide to diagnosing and fixing a struggling economy.

Phase	Action Item	Description & Goal
1. Diagnosis	Check the Income Tab	Open your finance panel. If “Area Effects & Specialists” is low or negative, you have an optimization opportunity.
2. Foundation	Audit Production Lines	Ensure all production buildings have necessary raw materials and empty warehouse space to operate continuously.
3. Optimization	Create “Revenue Hubs”	Identify clusters of buildings (harbors, dense housing) and surround them with high-value aura buildings like Bakeries.
4. Expansion	Separate Industry & Housing	Place resource-intensive, noisy industries away from homes, but remember their auras still profit from harbors and other workshops.
5. Specialization	Deploy Economic Specialists	Use the Officium to assign Specialists that boost production speed, trade income, or reduce costs in key areas.
6. Scaling	Plan for Monuments	Factor in the massive ongoing cost of late-game projects and ensure your diversified economy can support them without collapsing.

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Cutting Costs: Smart Money Saving

Making money is only half the battle—saving money is equally crucial.

Major Cost-Saving Methods

Table: Expense Reduction Strategies

Method	How It Works	Savings Impact	Research Location
Encamp Soldiers	Reduces army upkeep by 80%	Massive (100→20 coins/min)	Military: “Provisional Castra”
Increase Building Range	Need fewer service buildings	Significant maintenance savings	Civic: “Market Focus” etc.
Improve Efficiency	Buildings use less input resources	Fewer supporting buildings needed	Economic/Civic trees
Reduce Warehouse Upkeep	10% reduction on many buildings	Huge cumulative savings	“Priorities” tech
Pave Roads	Faster travel = fewer warehouses	Indirect maintenance savings	Civic: “Paved Roads”

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Divine Economy: Gods

Your patron god choice significantly impacts your economy.

Economic-Focused Deities

Table: Gods for Wealth and Savings

God/Goddess	Domain	Primary Economic Benefit
Saras	Agriculture	Fewer farms needed (save maintenance) + more population
Neptune	Sea	Reduces ship upkeep costs significantly
Mercury	Trade	Makes passive trade more profitable
Mars	War	Reduces army upkeep costs

By mastering these systems—taxes, artisans, trade, savings, and divine favor—you’ll transform your province into an unstoppable economic engine, funding your journey.

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