Healing

Levels at a glance

	Level	Cost	Build time	Minimum settlement	Upgrades to		Level	Cost	Build time	Minimum settlement	Upgrades to
	Local Healer (Healing)	2,000	2	town	Physician's Clinics (Healing)		Physician's Clinics (Healing)	4,000	4	large town	Healing Sanctuary (Healing)
	Healing Sanctuary (Healing)	6,800	6	city	—

Costs in denarii, build time in turns.

Local Healer (Healing)

A trained medicus provides basic care for the sick and wounded, improving public health.

The Roman world is harsh, and even the strongest soldier or labourer may fall to injury or disease.

A local medicus is trained in simple remedies, setting broken bones, and stitching wounds. Though his knowledge is limited, his skills can mean the difference between life and death for the citizens of this settlement. The medicus is a man of practical skill, not lofty theory, he stitches wounds, sets bones, and, if all else fails, prescribes strong wine to dull the pain. His remedies may not rival those of Alexandria’s famed scholars, but in a world where even a minor cut can fester into something truly horrifying, his work is the difference between life and an early funeral. Rome does not waste good soldiers, nor useful citizens, so long as they can still stand and pay their taxes.

Requirements: all of these must hold before this level can be built.

• Only one sanitation or healing building allowed, Government Building (Dependency, Indirect Rule, Direct Rule or Homeland) and Local Barter or a higher level is built here; or Any Shrine

What it does

• +1 population health
• taxable income -5 to -1, depending on how many settlements your empire holds

Physician's Clinics (Healing)

A valetudinarium offers improved medical care, aiding both soldiers and civilians.

Rome’s legions may be unstoppable, but even the finest soldier is still made of flesh and blood, both of which are prone to being spilled.

So, as Rome’s armies march ever onward, its need for organized medical care grows. In the Valetudinarium, the wounded are tended by skilled medici, using bandages, splints, and herbal salves. Here, medici practice their trade, using vinegar to cleanse wounds, splints to mend broken limbs, and strong wine to silence complaints. Though primarily built for soldiers, even civilians may benefit from the expertise of these physicians, and while not all patients emerge unscathed, or at all, it is still an improvement over letting the gods decide their fate.

Requirements: all of these must hold before this level can be built.

• You do not play a Brittonic, Germanic, Libyan, Scythian or Arab faction, nor Parni, Government Building (Dependency, Indirect Rule, Direct Rule or Homeland) and Local Market or a higher level is built here; or Any Temple

What it does

• taxable income -5 to -1, depending on how many settlements your empire holds

Healing Sanctuary (Healing)

A Sanctuary that ensures the health of Rome’s soldiers and citizens.

In this sanctuary, an esteemed association of skilled physicians trains the next generation of medici in the art of surgery, herbal remedies, and the ever-reliable practice of bleeding a man just enough to (hopefully) not kill him. Within its halls, wounds are stitched, fevers are studied, and sanitation systems are devised to keep the filth of the city at bay. While still limited by the stubborn insistence that bad air causes most ailments, these doctors can perform surprisingly effective surgeries, cauterize wounds with ruthless efficiency, and even recognize patterns of disease, sometimes before half the city has perished from them. With each patient treated, Rome’s mastery over life and death grows ever greater, ensuring that more men may return to the ranks and fewer to the underworld.

Historically, the establishment of the Asclepieion at Rome was also triggered by an onset of plague (293 BC), although the cult of Asclepius/Aesculapius had previously begun spreading into the Italian peninsula during the 5th c. BC. In the face of rising illness in the city, a delegation was dispatched to bring a serpent from Epidaurus – which, upon its arrival at Rome, legend holds, slithered off the ship and swam onto the small island in the midst of the Tiber river. There, the Romans founded an Asclepieion safely removed from the crowded city. Later, the island’s Travertine seawalls were configured to resemble the bow and stern of a Roman ship – a tribute to the original vessel that had arrived from Epidaurus. Today, the water-worn traces of a relief carved on the island’s downstream “bow” still depict Aesculapius’ snake-entwined staff.

Requirements: all of these must hold before this level can be built.

• You do not play a Brittonic, Germanic, Libyan, Scythian, Arab, Gallic, Iberian, Thracian, Dacian or Illyrian faction, nor Parni
• Local Market or a higher level is built here
• Government Building (Dependency, Indirect Rule, Direct Rule or Homeland)
• Any Large Temple

What it does

• taxable income -6 to -2, depending on how many settlements your empire holds

Traits and retinue

Traits

Retinue