It is 100 A.D. The present emperor is Trajan; one of Rome's greatest generals, leading Rome's greatest military expansion. He has ruled for two glorious years. The senate is largely perfunctory, but those in power still seek the Emperor's ear in order to push their own agendas. This game is about trying to gain Trajan's favor and rule Rome from the shadows.

In 100 A.D. players are members of a secret cabal attempting to control the Senate from behind the scenes. By manipulating the system, passing Bills that improve their status, and gaining influence over the city's factions, the players gain control over various aspects of Rome. Victory points are earned by having influence over the Senate, factions, Senators, and Emperor's Favor. At the end of the game, the player with the most extensive power structure (i.e. victory points) wins.

Throughout the game players take various actions to impact three different portions of the game board in order to accumulate victory points. Players can control the Emperor's Favor, the Senate, or the various factions of the game (or some combination thereof). Players also need to manage their corruption, as too much will lose them points. Generally, players have only one action per turn, but various cards and tokens can be used to gain additional actions.

Each round starts with the Orator, who advances the round token one space and takes an action. During a player's turn, he or she takes one action play then passes clockwise. The actions a player can take on their turn are: Call in a Favor (by playing a faction card); Contact a Faction (by placing influence tokens on a faction space and drawing the appropriate card); Control a Senator (by buying their seat); Remove Influence (withdrawing influence tokens from factions); or Subterfuge (a special action that can vary depending on the circumstances).

When all players have taken a turn, the round is over. At three different times during the game (after rounds 5, 10, and 15) Recess is called and victory points are tallied. Recess is also where players adjust their faction points, and vote on Bills. Players need to be keenly aware of how little time they have before the game is over.

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