Anno 117: Pax Romana Download

Anno 117: Pax Romana is the eighth main entry in Ubisoft’s historical economic strategy city builder series. This time you’re dropped into the Roman world of the 2nd century CE, where peace on paper does not mean an easy job on the ground. You play as a Roman governor, and your province is your problem - and your playground.

What you do in Anno 117: Pax Romana

You build. You plan. You juggle priorities. Most of your time is spent shaping a living province: placing districts, expanding production, and keeping everyday life running. But there’s always that extra layer: you’re not building in a vacuum. You’re building while trying to keep people satisfied and staying on the right side of power.

Two provinces, two vibes

You can govern Latium (central Italy) or Albion (a Celtic land, the old name for modern England). From there, you decide what kind of ruler you want to be. Do you chase growth and variety, leaning into local Celtic traditions? Or do you go strict, pushing Roman culture hard across your territory? Either way, you’re steering the identity of your province, not just its economy.

Building, citizens, and the emperor

The core loop is familiar to the Anno series: expand your settlement and take care of your citizens. The twist in Anno 117: Pax Romana is how strongly it frames that care as political survival. You’re constantly balancing two forces:

• what your citizens want to live well
• what the emperor demands from you

Sometimes those goals align. Sometimes they really don’t. And yes, that tension can make even simple choices feel loaded. Put resources into public needs, or into pleasing the top? You’ll feel it either way.

On the construction side, you also get new toys to play with. You can build impressive aqueducts, which fits the setting perfectly and changes how your city footprint can grow. And if you’re the type who likes to do something just because it looks cool, there’s the option to stage spectacles in colosseums, including naumachiae - dramatic mock naval battles with real ships. It’s the kind of detail that makes you pause for a second and think, “Okay, Rome really was extra.”

War is part of the job

Rome has enemies, and in Anno 117: Pax Romana you’re not alone in the world. You can recruit armies and take them into real-time battles on both land and sea. It’s not just a peaceful spreadsheet of supply chains. When conflict shows up, you’re expected to answer it.

There’s also a dangerous option hanging over everything: you can rebel against the emperor. It’s possible, but the game is clear about the risk. If you’re not prepared, it can end badly. It’s the kind of choice that sounds heroic in theory and terrifying in practice. Do you really want that fight, or are you just frustrated because a demand arrived at the worst moment?

Roads at 45 degrees and a system of gods

In addition to the Roman setting, the game introduces a system of gods. How exactly you engage with it will be something you discover through play, but it’s presented as a notable addition to the series formula.

And for the builders who obsess over layouts: you can place roads at 45-degree angles. That sounds small until you’ve spent an hour trying to make a city look clean and functional at the same time. Suddenly, you have more freedom to design without everything feeling locked into a strict grid.

Singleplayer, online multiplayer, and mods

You can play solo or jump into online multiplayer. Multiplayer supports both cooperation and competition, so you can either share the workload and plan together, or race and clash over who runs the better province.

On PC, the game supports mods, but the support was simplified at launch. Full mod support - including a built-in UI and a browser - is part of the post-launch plan. Like in Anno 1800, the developers partnered with mod.io to help provide proper support for this feature.

Is Anno 117: Pax Romana your kind of strategy game?

If you like city builders where your choices are not only about efficiency, but also about identity and pressure from above, this is the kind of setup that can hook you. You’re building a province, yes, but you’re also managing a relationship with an emperor, a population with needs, and a world that can push back with armies.

And when it all clicks - your aqueduct lines up, your citizens stop complaining for five minutes, and your borders are safe - you’ll know exactly why Anno 117: Pax Romana is not just another calm builder. It’s a Roman balancing act, and you’re the one on the rope.