Sanitation
5 levels, each replacing the one before it: you upgrade in place rather than building alongside.
Cisterns (Sanitation) → Sewers (Sanitation) → Public Baths (Sanitation) → Aqueduct (Sanitation) → Great Bathhouse (Sanitation)
Levels at a glance
| Level | Cost | Build time | Minimum settlement | Upgrades to | Level | Cost | Build time | Minimum settlement | Upgrades to | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cisterns (Sanitation) | 1,500 | 3 | town | Sewers (Sanitation) | Sewers (Sanitation) | 4,500 | 6 | large town | Public Baths (Sanitation) | ||
| Public Baths (Sanitation) | 7,500 | 9 | city | Aqueduct (Sanitation) | Aqueduct (Sanitation) | 12,000 | 14 | large city | Great Bathhouse (Sanitation) | ||
| Great Bathhouse (Sanitation) | 15,000 | 16 | huge city | — |
Costs in denarii, build time in turns.
Cisterns (Sanitation)

Cisterns to collect and hold drinking water for later use.
Clean, or at least clean-ish, drinking water is the primary requirement for human survival and therefore for civilization. In areas where it rains infrequently it is no more than prudent to dig some large reservoirs and wall them up. In these cisterns we can collect and hold what water is available against the proverbial rainy day, which would in this case mean a dry one. If the cisterns are well constructed and protected from contamination many diseases can be easily prevented.
| Cost | 1,500 denarii | Build time | 3 turns | Minimum settlement | town | Upgrades to | Sewers (Sanitation) |
Requirements: all of these must hold before this level can be built.
- Local Barter or a higher level is built here
- Only one sanitation or healing building allowed
- Government Building (Dependency, Indirect Rule, Direct Rule or Homeland)
What it does
- +1 population health
- taxable income -5 to -1, depending on how many settlements your empire holds
Show 3 effects that apply only in some circumstances
- From tier 3 onwards this line will gain +1 health due to local lead or lead supply, only when you do not play a Libyan, Scythian, Brittonic, Germanic, Arab, Gallic, Iberian, Thracian, Illyrian or Dacian faction, nor Parni, and the region's water source is River, Lake or Springs, and either the region has Lead or Lead Exports (Special exports) is built somewhere in your empire
- This building cannot be upgraded past tier 2 as the region lacks a reliable water source, only when the region's water source is not River, Lake or Springs and you do not play a Libyan, Scythian, Brittonic, Germanic, Arab, Gallic, Iberian, Thracian, Illyrian or Dacian faction, nor Parni
- This building can be fully upgraded due to a reliable water source present in the region, only when the region's water source is River, Lake or Springs and you do not play a Libyan, Scythian, Brittonic, Germanic, Arab, Gallic, Iberian, Thracian, Illyrian or Dacian faction, nor Parni
Sewers (Sanitation)

Sewers efficiently wash away the filth and rubbish from a settlement, making the place cleaner. Indeed, one measure of civilization might be the distance between one's nose and the final resting place of one's bowel movements! Sewers therefore help civilization's forward march.
| Cost | 4,500 denarii | Build time | 6 turns | Minimum settlement | large town | Upgrades to | Public Baths (Sanitation) |
Requirements: all of these must hold before this level can be built.
- Local Market or a higher level is built here
- Only one sanitation or healing building allowed
- Government Building (Dependency, Indirect Rule, Direct Rule or Homeland)
- You do not play a Libyan, Scythian, Brittonic, Germanic or Arab faction, nor Parni
What it does
- +3 population health
- taxable income -7 to -3, depending on how many settlements your empire holds
Show 3 effects that apply only in some circumstances
- From tier 3 onwards this line will gain +1 health due to local lead or lead supply, only when you do not play a Libyan, Scythian, Brittonic, Germanic, Arab, Gallic, Iberian, Thracian, Illyrian or Dacian faction, nor Parni, and the region's water source is River, Lake or Springs, and either the region has Lead or Lead Exports (Special exports) is built somewhere in your empire
- This building cannot be upgraded past tier 2 as the region lacks a reliable water source, only when the region's water source is not River, Lake or Springs and you do not play a Libyan, Scythian, Brittonic, Germanic, Arab, Gallic, Iberian, Thracian, Illyrian or Dacian faction, nor Parni
- This building can be fully upgraded due to a reliable water source present in the region, only when the region's water source is River, Lake or Springs and you do not play a Libyan, Scythian, Brittonic, Germanic, Arab, Gallic, Iberian, Thracian, Illyrian or Dacian faction, nor Parni
Public Baths (Sanitation)

Public baths play an important part in the social life of the town; they are a place to meet as much as somewhere to get clean. They are also a sign of 'Roman-ness'.
Public baths are often among the most magnificent of public buildings, and include cunning heating systems and many slaves to look after the needs of the citizens. They play an important role in public life in the Roman world. Baths are not only a place to get clean, but also a place where a man can socialise with his colleagues, argue about politics and catch up on the local gossip.
| Cost | 7,500 denarii | Build time | 9 turns | Minimum settlement | city | Upgrades to | Aqueduct (Sanitation) |
Requirements: all of these must hold before this level can be built.
- Forum or a higher level is built here
- The region's water source is River, Lake or Springs
- Government Building (Dependency, Indirect Rule, Direct Rule or Homeland)
- You do not play a Libyan, Scythian, Brittonic, Germanic, Arab, Gallic, Iberian, Thracian, Illyrian or Dacian faction, nor Parni
What it does
- taxable income -8 to -4, depending on how many settlements your empire holds
Show 4 effects that apply only in some circumstances
- +4 population health, only when the region has no Lead and no Lead Exports (Special exports) is built anywhere in your empire
- +5 population health, only when the region has Lead or Lead Exports (Special exports) is built somewhere in your empire
- This includes +1 health (0.5 growth & 5 public order) due to lead, only when the region has Lead or Lead Exports (Special exports) is built somewhere in your empire
- This building can be fully upgraded due to a reliable water source present in the region, only when the region's water source is River, Lake or Springs
Religious belief: spreads 1 belief, by how much depending on what the region already believes.
- Italic +2
Aqueduct (Sanitation)

What have the Romans ever done for us? This, that's what.
The aqueduct supplies fresh, clean water to the city throughout the year. Apart from that used for drinking and washing, there is usually enough left over for public fountains and gardens as well.
| Cost | 12,000 denarii | Build time | 14 turns | Minimum settlement | large city | Upgrades to | Great Bathhouse (Sanitation) |
Requirements: all of these must hold before this level can be built.
- The region's water source is River, Lake or Springs
- Forum or a higher level is built here
- Government Building (Dependency, Indirect Rule, Direct Rule or Homeland)
- You do not play a Libyan, Scythian, Brittonic, Germanic, Arab, Gallic, Iberian, Thracian, Illyrian, Dacian, Ethiopian or Indian faction, nor Parni
What it does
- taxable income -10 to -6, depending on how many settlements your empire holds
Show 4 effects that apply only in some circumstances
- +6 population health, only when the region has no Lead and no Lead Exports (Special exports) is built anywhere in your empire
- +7 population health, only when the region has Lead or Lead Exports (Special exports) is built somewhere in your empire
- This includes +1 health (0.5 growth & 5 public order) due to lead, only when the region has Lead or Lead Exports (Special exports) is built somewhere in your empire
- This building can be fully upgraded due to a reliable water source present in the region, only when the region's water source is River, Lake or Springs
Religious belief: spreads 1 belief, by how much depending on what the region already believes.
- Italic +2
Great Bathhouse (Sanitation)

A huge bathhouse that forms a linchpin of Roman civilization.
This huge monumental bathhouse is more than a place to get clean. Its a place where the plebs and the patricians mingle. In its marble corridors the regular people can enjoy the benefits of being Roman. It is a place where weighty matters are debated and the business of state actually gets done, and all in the nude! Besides numerous baths of different temperatures and steam rooms the massive complex holds exercise courts, reading rooms, art galleries, gardens and shops. The mechanisms that heat the baths meanwhile are a marvel of Roman engineering. Truly, to be a Roman is to bathe here and to bathe here is to be a Roman.
| Cost | 15,000 denarii | Build time | 16 turns | Minimum settlement | huge city |
Requirements: all of these must hold before this level can be built.
- You play a Roman faction
- The region's water source is River, Lake or Springs
- Large Forum or a higher level is built here
- Government Building (Dependency, Indirect Rule, Direct Rule or Homeland)
What it does
- taxable income -8 to -4, depending on how many settlements your empire holds
Show 3 effects that apply only in some circumstances
- +7 population health, only when the region has no Lead and no Lead Exports (Special exports) is built anywhere in your empire
- +8 population health, only when the region has Lead or Lead Exports (Special exports) is built somewhere in your empire
- This includes +1 health (0.5 growth & 5 public order) due to lead, only when the region has Lead or Lead Exports (Special exports) is built somewhere in your empire
Religious belief: spreads 1 belief, by how much depending on what the region already believes.
- Italic +4
Traits and retinue
Traits
| Trait | Building | Points | Chance | Trait | Building | Points | Chance | Trait | Building | Points | Chance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Administrator | Sewers (Sanitation) or above | +3 | 100% | Agoranomos | Public Baths (Sanitation) or above | +1 | 5% | Casual Adulterer | Great Bathhouse (Sanitation) or above | +1 | 1% |
| Gourmet of Life | Great Bathhouse (Sanitation) or above | +1 | 3% | Health-Conscious Governor | Sewers (Sanitation) or above | +1 | 100% | Likes a Flutter | Great Bathhouse (Sanitation) or above | +1 | 1% |
| Lover of Beauty | Great Bathhouse (Sanitation) or above | +1 | 3% | Loves the Baths | above Sewers (Sanitation) | +1 | 1% | Mildly Extravagant | Great Bathhouse (Sanitation) or above | +1 | 3% |
| Popularis Sympathiser | Public Baths (Sanitation) | +1 | 50% | Popularis Sympathiser | Aqueduct (Sanitation) | +1 | 40% |
Retinue
| Member | Building | Chance | Member | Building | Chance | Member | Building | Chance | Member | Building | Chance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Asclepiades | Sewers (Sanitation) or above | 40% | Beautician | Public Baths (Sanitation) or above | 2% | Chirugeon | Public Baths (Sanitation) or above | 1–2% | Concubine | Public Baths (Sanitation) or above | 2% |
| Debt Slave | Great Bathhouse (Sanitation) or above | 2% | Equestrian | Sewers (Sanitation) or above | 2% | Equestrian | Public Baths (Sanitation) or above | 2% | Gardener | Sewers (Sanitation) or above | 2% |
| Hydraulic Engineer | Sewers (Sanitation) or above | 1% | Iunius Pennus | Aqueduct (Sanitation) or above | 20% | Kleitomachos | Public Baths (Sanitation) or above | 40% | Lutatius Catulus | Great Bathhouse (Sanitation) or above | 20% |
| Marcus Terentius Varro | Great Bathhouse (Sanitation) or above | 40% | Mystic | Public Baths (Sanitation) or above | 2% | Persian Physician | Great Bathhouse (Sanitation) or above | 1% | Persian Surgeon | Great Bathhouse (Sanitation) or above | 2% |
| Physician | Public Baths (Sanitation) or above | 2% | Ptolemaic Farming Advisor | Sewers (Sanitation) or above | 1% | Renowned Courtesan | Public Baths (Sanitation) or above | 4% | Runner | Public Baths (Sanitation) or above | 2% |
| Surveyor | Sewers (Sanitation) or above | 2% | Themison of Laodicea | Sewers (Sanitation) or above | 40% | Urban Planner | Aqueduct (Sanitation) or above | 1% | Wine Steward | Great Bathhouse (Sanitation) | 2% |
| Wrestler | Public Baths (Sanitation) or above | 2% |
