This is a game that wants the player to feel its historical rootedness. A lot of attention clearly went into accurately rendering some of the most recognizable equipment, such as Roman mail armor, Corinthian helmets, and the gladius in a way that will certainly at least seem accurate to most players. The game is awash with important-sounding Roman political and military positions, and the player immediately begins running into major historical figures, such as Lucullus and, of course, Julius Caesar. The most obvious manifestation of this is the language many terms ( legatus, servus, etc.) are left untranslated and spoken according to classical Latin pronunciation (thus, ser-wus for servus and Ki-ker-oh for Cicero). For many people under age 50, video games-from the ever-popular Assassin’s Creed series of conspiracy fantasies to the Total War series that stretches from medieval Japan to the Napoleonic wars-has been a big part of that.įrom the very earliest character interactions, Expeditions: Rome goes to considerable lengths to impress a feeling of historical accuracy.
Most get historical insight from popular culture-and, in turn, base assumptions about foreign policy and politics on that historical foundation. For the most part, people don’t get their knowledge of history from historians.
