Romans are one of the three tribes in Travian and they are usually the second most popular tribe (30-40% players of each server are usually Romans). They are very balanced and are strong in both attack and defense. Roman troops are considered the elite of the game in which every individual is strong. Therefore, the Roman army is high in quality but low in quantity and consumes much less crop than other tribes' armies. However, to compensate for that, most Roman troops take a long time to train and it's expensive. Their infantry includes the strongest defenders against enemy infantry (Praetorian), but their defense against enemy cavalry isn't as good as that of the best Teuton infantry (Spearmen). Also the Roman Hero's Fighting strength grows by 100 per point allocated, while other tribes' Heroes only grow by 80.

Contents 1 Advantages 2 Disadvantages 3 Troops 3.1 Overview 3.2 Legionnaire 3.3 Praetorian 3.4 Imperian 3.5 Equites Legati 3.6 Equites Imperatoris 3.7 Equites Caesaris 3.8 Battering Ram 3.9 Fire Catapult 3.10 Senator 3.11 Settler 4 Troop Combinations 5 Suitability For Beginners

Advantages Edit

• Can raise or extend a building and resource field simultaneously (with Plus, they can do 2 buildings and 1 field, or 1 building and 2 fields).
• Highest defense-bonus provided by the city wall - 81%.
• Best (speed, wheat consuming and defense included in this term) infantry, cavalry slightly behind the Gallic ones but better than Teutonic ones due to unbalance(3.5).
• Crop-wise speaking, Roman troops provide the best stats for each crop consumed and therefore, Roman is the best tribe in late game (in late game, most resources are abundant except crop). In late game, a developed Roman has the best infantry defender (Praetorian), the best infantry attacker (Imperian), the best cavalry attackers (both Equites Imperatoris, Equites Caesaris), the best scout (Equites Legati) (Gauls' Pathfinder is 1 sqr/hr faster, but consumes twice as much wheat after a Roman player builds the Horse Drinking Pool) and the 2nd best raider (Equites Imperatoris after Gauls' Theutates Thunder). Roman hammers are typically used for catting the WW since the Roman Fire Catapult is the most superior siege unit. However, In terms of raw fighting power (Crop is not the issue when it comes to end game hammers, the larger the hammer the better) nothing can surpass that of a Teuton mace hammer. The best combination for this would be for a Roman hammer to follow a massive Teuton rammer and completley destroy any WW.
• A fully upgraded Horse Drinking Pool (3.5) can reduce the wheat consumption of calvary by 1 wheat, making Equites Caesaris perhaps the most powerful calvary in terms of attack per wheat consumption (60 attack/1 wheat consumption). With full improvement in smithy and with Horse Drinking Pool at level 20 EC is overtaken by Equites Imperatoris in attack/upkeep ranking. See Off/Upkeep Rankings
• Romans usually have the best infantry defense in the game. Romans have the best infantry defender Praetorian while his partner Legionnaire also has 50 calvary defense which is quite good for a cavalry defender. Moreover, most hammers usually heavily focus on infantry rather than cavalry.
• Roman chief (Senator) is the best in the game.
• A Roman Hero's Fighting Strength grows by 100 instead of 80 per point allocated.

Disadvantages Edit

• Roman villages can be completely stuck in the game when someone regularly raids their village (Gauls have enormous crannies, Teutons tend to build military force early).
• Roman troop training is very expensive and takes a long time. Therefore, Romans are usually very weak in the beginning stage where resources are limited.
• Romans do not have special tools to defend against farming like Trapper.
• Merchants have the lowest capacity of any of the tribes (500 resources) and only medium speed (16 fields/hour). However, in T3.5, it is changed in late game when Romans' villages have developed trade office.
• The Roman city wall is brittle (easily destroyed by rams, compared to other tribes' walls).
• Worst defense against cavalry.
• Roman special building (Horse Drinking Pool) does not take effect early. It also costs exorbitant resources with limited effect (reducing 1 wheat cost the sum of 5 upgrades). Additional analysis of the effects of Horse Drinking Pool on the attacking performance of roman cavalry can be found at http://advanced-travian.net/attack.html

Troops Edit

The Romans have several different types of troops, most of which are able to defend and attack adequately.

Overview Edit

Troop								Speed	Capacity	Upkeep
Legionnaire	40	35	50	120	100	150	30	6	50	1
Praetorian	30	65	35	100	130	160	70	5	20	1
Imperian	70	40	25	150	160	210	80	7	50	1
Equites Legati	0	20	10	140	160	20	40	16	0	2
Equites Imperatoris	120	65	50	550	440	320	100	14	100	3
Equites Caesaris	180	80	105	550	640	800	180	10	70	4
Ram	60	30	75	900	360	500	70	4	0	3
Fire Catapult	75	60	10	950	1350	600	90	3	0	6
Senator	50	40	30	30750	27200	45000	37500	4	0	5
Settler	0	80	80	5800	5300	7200	5500	5	3000	10

Legionnaire Edit

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The Legionnaire is the basic unit of the Roman army (can be built without research). He is widely considered a generalist and is the only unit in the game good to use for all three main functions (basic light infantry attacker/infantry raider/cavalry defender). In early game, legionnaire can be used as both raiders and attackers until being replaced by other specialized units (Imperian for attack and Equites Imperatoris for raiding). After that, he can be used as the cavalry defender.

To compensate this flexibility, his training is expensive compared to the Teutonic and Gallic beginning units, but has a significantly higher defense than the Teutonic Clubswinger and better attack than the Phalanx . He is good at defending against cavalry, especially when combined with praetorians.

Strengths:

Attack: 40

Defense (Infantry): 35

Defense (Cavalry): 50

Requirements:

Barracks Level 1

Movement:

Speed: 6 fields each hour (12 fields on 3x speed server)

Carry: 50 resources

Praetorian Edit

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The Praetorian is the infantry defender of Roman army and he is the best infantry defender of the game. He is good at defending against other infantry, but lacks against calvary. He is not a good attacker, and should not be used in attacks, with the exception of emptying out villages of their resources if needed. He is also the slowest infantry unit of Travian, with a speed of 5 fields per hour. He also carries the least amount of resource, so he is the worst raider.

Strengths:

Attack: 30

Defense (Infantry): 65

Defense (Cavalry): 35

Requirements:

Academy Level 1

Armoury Level 1

Movement:

Speed: 5 fields each hour (10 fields 3x speed server)

Carry: 20 resources

Imperian Edit

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The Imperian is the heavy infantry attacker of Roman army and crop-wise speaking, he is the best advanced infantry attacker. He is the foundation of the Roman's attack force because of his high attack. His defense is very poor compared to other infantry units, and should not be used to defend at all. He is also very expensive and slow to produce.

Strengths:

Attack: 70

Defense (Infantry): 40

Defense (Cavalry): 25

Requirements:

Academy Level 5

Blacksmith Level 1

Movement:

Speed: 7 fields each hour

Carry: 50 resources

Equites Legati Edit

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The Equites Legati is the Roman scout. He scouts other villages for troop counts and resources. The Equites Legati can not attack, and is not good at defending. If your village has Equites Legati, it can detect enemies scouting you.

Strengths:

Attack: 0 (Can not attack)

Defense (Infantry): 20

Defense (Cavalry): 10

Requirements:

Stable Level 1

Academy Level 5

Movement:

Speed: 16 fields each hour (32 fields on speed 3x server)

Carry: 0 resources

Equites Imperatoris Edit

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The Equites Imperatoris is the light cavalry and the cavalry raider of Roman army. He is not the fastest type of cavalry, but he is faster than any of the teuton cavalry, bested only by the gaul Theutates Thunder, and he proves to be a very adept fighter, being good for raiding light to medium defended towns depending on numbers. However, keep in mind that he eats a lot of wheat. He is a quick and easy raider, as well as cheap by roman standards. With the added bonus of a level 15 Horse Drinking Pool (3.5), Equites Imperatoris becomes the second powerful attack per wheat consumption cavalry (60 attack per 1 wheat consumption) after Equites Caesaris.

Strengths:

Attack: 120

Defense (Infantry): 65

Defense (Cavalry): 50

Requirements:

Stable Level 5

Academy Level 5

Movement:

Speed: 14 fields each hour

Carry: 100 resources

Equites Caesaris Edit

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The Equites Caesaris is the heavy Roman cavalry. He is very powerful, also slower than Equites Imperatoris, but still has the edge in speed versus Teutonic Knights. His wheat requirements are exorbitant. However, while lacking both the carrying capacity of the Equites Imperatoris, he more than makes up for it by being a highly dangerous raider capable of taking on large defensive forces. He makes an excellent defense unit, especially against other cavalry, however, he cannot match legionarres wheat for wheat. With the added bonus of a level 20 Horse Drinking Pool (3.5), Equites Ceasaris becomes the most powerful attack per wheat consumption cavalry (60 attack per 1 wheat consumption).

Strengths:

Attack: 180

Defense (Infantry): 80

Defense (Cavalry): 105

Requirements:

Academy Level 5

Stable Level 10

Movement:

Speed: 10 fields each hour

Carry: 70 resources

Battering Ram Edit

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The Battering Ram is a heavy support weapon for your infantry and cavalry. Its task is to destroy the enemy walls and, by doing so, to increase your troops chances to overcome the enemy's fortifications.

Strengths:

Attack: 60

Defense (Infantry): 30

Defense (Cavalry): 75

Requirements:

Academy Level 10

Siege Workshop Level 1

Movement:

Speed: 4 fields each hour

Carry: 0 resources

Fire Catapult Edit

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The Fire Catapult is used to destroy the fields and buildings of enemy villages. Without escorting troops, it is almost defenseless, so don't forget to send some of your troops along with it.

The higher level your rally point is, the more buildings the catapult can target. At rally point level 10, the fire catapult can target all buildings except the stonemason, cranny, and trapper. At rally point level 20, your catapults can target two buildings in one wave. If you're targeting two buildings, keep in mind that half of your catapults will do their damage to one building and the other half to the other building.

'Strengths:'

Attack: 75

Defense (Infantry): 60

Defense (Cavalry): 10

Requirements:

Academy Level 15

Siege Workshop Level 10

Movement:

Speed: 3 fields each hour

Carry: 0 resources

Senator Edit

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The Senator is a Roman unit that can conquer other villages. He can be trained at the residence/palace.

Strengths:

Attack: 50

Defense (Infantry): 40

Defense (Cavalry): 30

Requirements:

Rally Point Level 10

Academy Level 20

Movement:

Speed: 4 fields each hour

Carry: 0 resources

Settler Edit

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Settlers can found new villages. Three settlers will be needed to found a new village. Additionally, they need 750 units of each resource to found a new village. These resources will not be lost, they will be in your new village right away so you can begin to build right away.

Also, keep in mind that each settler can carry 3000 resources.

Strengths:

Attack: 0

Defense (Infantry): 80

Defense (Cavalry): 80

Requirements:

Residence or Palace Level 10 or 20 (15 in Palace/Capital).

Movement:

Speed: 5 fields each hour

Carry: 3000 resources

Troop Combinations Edit

In defense, it is a good idea to pair the infantry defender (praetorian) and the cavalry defender (legionnaire) together. This is because praetorians don't have the best defense against cavalry, rendering them almost useless if an army of cavalry attacked. However, legionnaires do have good defense against cavalry, but not the best defense against other infantry. So, when both praetorians and legionnaires are paired together, an army of cavalry or infantry stand less of a chance attacking them. Regarding defense/crop, legionaire/praetorian pair is the best single tribe defense of the game. However, they are slow (speed 5) and slow to build (both can only built in Barrack). Hence, Roman has the best stationary defense but is not suitable for mobile defense and anvil building.

In attack, Roman hammer usually consists of heavy infantry (Imperians) and heavy cavalry (Equites Caesaris) together to maximize attacking power.

Note: With the introduction of T3.5, there will be a building called the 'horse watering place'. Here, the upkeep and training times of Equites Legati, Equites Imperatoris and Equites Caesaris can be decreased at levels 10, 15 and 20 respectively. This means that Equites Caesaris can potentially become the best cavalry unit on the game in terms of attack/wheat and attack/time, surpassing what is currently the best heavy unit, the Teutonic Knight.

A more detailed analysis of roman troops and their attributes, as well as the affect of the Horse Drinking Pool on those attributes, can be found at advanced-travian.net

Suitability For Beginners Edit

In previous version of the manual, for unknown reason, Romans are billed as the tribe most easily played by beginners. However, with its disadvantage in the beginning stage, most experienced players consider Romans as the most difficult tribe for beginners.

In recent version of the manual (for T3.5 and T3.6), this suggestion has been changed, and Gauls are now suggested as the easiest tribe for beginners. In the beginning, Romans have little early defense against farming while their units are expensive. Therefore, to carefully conserve their troops and make most use of their troops, Roman players need to be both active and skillful (it's not uncommon to see no Roman in top player list after 1st month of the server). Mid and late game, thank to their double building capability, the Romans is the fastest growing tribe and quickly become a considerable force. The time required of Roman player is also lower in mid game onward due to their double building and low crop consumption, particularly with the introduction of the Horse Drinking Pool in T3.5