CONSTANTINOPLE
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Capital City of the Eastern Roman Empire

WINNING CONDITIONS:

Prosperity: 60
Population: 10,000
Within: 20 years

Local food: fish
Other food: to import
Natural resources: iron, marble, timber, vine, olive

DESCRIPTION:

AD.324:
Your mission is to build a new Rome in the Eastern part of the Empire.

Byzantium, ancient greek small city, is a good site to establish this city: well located on the Bosphorus, thus controling the trade and traffic. Also, the Emperors find it a pleasant place to live.

Like Rome, 7 hills can be seen (perspective view from the Eastern side of the Golden Horn: Galata) - sign of the gods (or God).

Rome is too much threatened by the invasions, and too old - too much crowded, too.

And Rome is too far to the West, the Empire needs this opening to the East, maybe for a future extension or simply trade with Asia (Silk road, Persia, ...).

Many richnesses already come from Arabia or Egypt; and contacts have already been made till India and China !

The Emperor Constantine wants you to quickly build this city, in order to enforce the Roman power on the Empire. His aim is to make this city the 2nd capital of the Empire, that he will name Constantinopolis.

If Constantine could guess... The Roman Empire will definitly split into 2 parts in 395 and Constantinople will remain the Capital City of the Eastern part, till 1453. The Western part (Rome) will fall in 476.

But let's take the "groma" and the shovel!