LUGDUNUM, THE OLD LYON

Targets:
Prosperity: 70
Culture: 70
Favour: 70
Peace: 70
Population: 7,000

Military: yes
Realism: geography and history

We are in 43 BC, one year after Julius Caesar's death. You are Lucius Munatius Plancus, proconsul of Gaul, and you have a delicate problem to solve.

Settlers have just been expelled from Vienna, just a few miles South of this map, by the furious Allobroges, a Gaul tribe, who are intractable allies of Rome.

You choose the diplomatic way, and install them in a new place along the river Rhodanus (Rhone).

Located at a crossroad between Rome, Rhine and Armorica, you can open important trade routes, and make this city important and prosperous. Still be careful with the Allobroges: they are not very far and also consider this place as their territory.

Good luck!

Hints and tips:

As usual, first build your export industry.

Marble is a quick source of money, also furniture, weapons and pottery.

Develop your defenses at the same time.

All enemies will come from South (S.East to S.West), because these are the Allobroges (Gaul tribe).

You can also build a mission (one is enough), to "export" much more to all the natives settlements.

In a second step, develop your food resources. Main food can be fish or wheat.

The road of Rome is not paved. Migrants (and traders) walk along the Rhodanus river from South, then the Arar river, to the North-West.

The roads of Gaul are long and not secure: you may expect landslides, which will delay your imports/exports.

Surround the wolves in the Eastern and Northern parts with aquaducts, and get rid of them using your javelins.

You can reserve the Western plateau for your expensive residential area.

Except for the wolves, you hardly need using aquaducts.

Observe the plateaus: there are springs all around.

There are many requests from Caesar. Answering them in time should be no problem.

As this is a large city to build, carefully organise your food and goods distribution (remember the career city of Lugdunum ?). It is a good advice to build many productions units spread accross your city (pottery, furniture, oil...).

As you are required a high prosperity rating, think of building a "luxury palaces combo". It is a good idea to check Grumpus's site for this: "Which Way to Rome".

As you have much marble, you can build oracles to please the gods.

This is northern landscape: you can manage with no prefectures, if you keep your people happy: little unemployment, Venus happy, food, amusement and festivals.

Disasters and events:

Landslides
Change of emperor
Earthquake
Rome wages change
Gladiators riot

This scenario covers 50 years, but denser events arise in the first 15 years.

Geography:

The actual old Lugdunum was located on the hill, which was then called Forum Vetus (Fourvieres). The central island was the island of the workshops. Lugdunum is a celtic word which means "Hill of god Lug" (or "of Light" according to some others).

West of Rhone river, main landscape is the first granitic hills of the "Massif Central", covered with woods and rich in minerals. East is flat land, deposits from the distant Alps, covered with grassland and ponds.

Lugdunum is located on the confluence of 2 rivers: North-West is Arar (river Saone) and North to South is Rhodanus (river Rhone). North of this confluence is the hill of "la Croix-Rousse". At its foot, there was a small Lugdunum district (Condate) with the Amphitheater (and Sanctuary) of "Three Gauls".

In the main part of Lugdunum (on the western plateau), there are still remains of a theater and an odeon. Further west was a circus (hippodrome).

Just on the height above the confluence (on the spur) was the imperial palace, for the stayings of the Emperor (which will be frequent with Tiberius and Germanicus, for military purposes: base for expanding the Empire to Germany - as the name of the latter emperor shows it).

The central island (which is not an island anymore now: linked to the mainland in its northern part), was the "industrial" area, with many workshops and warehouses. Its name was "Canabae" island (hovels island).

On the eastern edge of the map, you can see a bit of road. This road was the (historical) East-West road which crossed the island, till the foot of the hill of Fourviere and it still exists. You can build it if you want.

Capital of the Gaul (Lyonnaise part), Lugdunum became also famous for its trade of pottery ("sigillate" pottery) - also wine, but you cannot export it in this scenario.