In Roman Empire the player is put in the role of the emperor of Rome, in the first century BCE. Your goal is to successfully expand the empire by occupying neighbouring countries. Each year you must make decisions (using text menus), whether to assemble armies from legions, appoint generals to command them, and finally launch campaigns against your foes (which last more than one turn, you can reinforce or withdraw armies). Battles are resolved each turn by the computer. Troops are characterized by quality, morale and fatigue levels. With your armies fighting abroad, watch out for barbarians! There are 3 difficulty settings. Certain versions (Atari, Dragon) displayed additional graphics (maps) and differed in the number of countries to conquer.