You are a Roman patrician living in the year 165 AD during the reign of Marcus Aurelius. Your family has been part of the senatorial class for generations, granting you wealth, power and prestige in the empire. You live in an elegant villa on the Palatine Hill in Rome, surrounded by beautiful frescoes, mosaics and marble statues. Slaves attend to your every need as you recline on plush couches, drinking chilled wine and eating succulent fruits. However, the empire is beset by challenges. The Pax Romana is fraying as Germanic tribes threaten the northern borders. The Parthians continue their persistent incursions in the east. And a mysterious pandemic known as the Antonine Plague has swept through the cities, claiming countless lives. You must navigate the complex world of Roman politics, attending sessions of the Senate in the Curia while discreetly courting influence through your network of clients and patrons. Will you advocate for an aggressive military campaign to reinforce Roman power? Or pursue diplomacy to preserve the peace that has reigned for so long? At your villa, philosophic debates unfold in the gardens between stoic sages, peripatetic scholars and adherents of the arcane cult of Christianity. You may find your spiritual curiosity piqued by these novel ideas from the east...