---
title: "Rome: Total War - Collection: Complete Guide"
game: "Rome: Total War - Collection"
game_url: "https://qna.gg/games/rome-total-war-collection"
author: "Qloud"
author_url: "https://qna.gg/players/Qloud"
summary: "A veteran's guide to the original Rome: Total War and Barbarian Invasion: store status, campaign management, battles, faction picks, the Senate, and how to get the 2004 game running well on a modern PC. Researched…"
url: "https://qna.gg/g/rome-total-war-collection-complete-guide-cde1570f"
published: "2026-09-27T20:56:12.577Z"
updated: "2026-09-27T20:56:12.577Z"
source: "QnA.GG"
---

# Rome: Total War - Collection: Complete Guide

A veteran's guide to the original Rome: Total War and Barbarian Invasion: store status, campaign management, battles, faction picks, the Senate, and how to get the 2004 game running well on a modern PC.

*Researched September 2026 — current as of the final 1.x patched Steam release (Rome: Total War plus Barbarian Invasion); the Collection is now unlisted on Steam. Live games change; check the linked sources if something differs.*

## Store Status

The Steam listing for **Rome: Total War - Collection** (app 4760) is **unlisted at the publisher's request** and no longer appears in search. If you already own it, it stays in your library and can be downloaded and played. New players looking for the same game in a modern package should look at **Total War: ROME REMASTERED** (released April 29, 2021, developed by Feral Interactive), which adds updated visuals, 16 extra playable factions, a redesigned UI, merchants and Workshop mod support. Almost everything in this guide applies to both.

The Collection contains **Rome: Total War** and the **Barbarian Invasion** expansion. The Alexander expansion was a separate product.

## Quick Start

1. **Start with the Julii family.** Of the three Roman houses, the Julii (north, vs Gauls) have the most straightforward start. The Brutii (Greece and Macedonia) and Scipii (Sicily, Carthage, navy-heavy) are fine second picks.
2. **Keep your cities happy and orderly.** Public order and squalor are what cause revolts, not enemy armies.
3. **Put good governors in big cities.** A family member with high Management raises income and order.
4. **Win battles with combined arms.** Infantry holds, cavalry flanks and chases, missile units soften. Charge cavalry into the enemy's flank or rear, never head-on into spears.
5. **Play Senate missions.** They pay money and units and keep your standing up. Ignoring the Senate is fine later, but the civil war arrives on its own schedule.
6. **Don't expand faster than your treasury.** Each new settlement needs a garrison and often a temple before it pays for itself.
7. **Unlock more factions** by finishing the Imperial Campaign (and by defeating factions), or use the well-known descr_strat.txt edit.
8. **Consider unit size and battle time limit** in the options: bigger units look great, and turning the battle time limit off stops timeouts in sieges.

## Campaign Structure

The Imperial Campaign starts in 270 BC. You play one of the three Roman families under the Senate, or (once unlocked) an independent faction.

| Campaign length | Goal |
|---|---|
| Short | Control a set number of provinces and outlast or destroy specific rival factions |
| Long | Control 50 provinces and take Rome |

For the Roman families, the long game always ends in a showdown with the Senate and the other two families.

### The Senate and civil war

- The Senate issues missions (capture a city, blockade a port, make an alliance). Completing them grants money, units or standing.
- Your popularity with the people rises as you win. Eventually you become too powerful and the Senate turns on you, or you choose to march on Rome.
- **Prepare for the civil war before it triggers.** Garrison the cities that border the other Roman families, and have full-strength armies within reach of Rome. The moment it starts, the other families and the Senate's forces attack you.

## Settlement Management

| Factor | Effect | How to fix |
|---|---|---|
| Public order | Low order leads to riots and revolts | Garrison troops, temples, entertainment buildings, lower taxes, a good governor |
| Squalor | Rises with population | Sewers, aqueducts, public health buildings |
| Population growth | Bigger cities unlock better buildings but add squalor | Farms and health buildings grow it; exterminating on capture shrinks it |
| Law and culture | Unrest from distance to capital and foreign culture | Temples, governors, garrison |

**Rules of thumb:**

- **Taxes:** set high in stable cities, low in new conquests.
- **Temples:** pick gods that fix what the city needs (law, happiness, growth, trade).
- **Roads and ports** raise trade income; prioritize them in your core.
- **Farms** early in cities you want to grow.
- **When capturing a city,** you can occupy, enslave or exterminate. Exterminate kills population and drops unrest in big hostile cities; enslave moves population to your other cities. Occupy keeps everything and is best for small or friendly cities.

## Characters and Agents

### Family members

Generals and governors have three core stats: **Command** (battle), **Influence** (diplomacy, loyalty) and **Management** (city income and order). They gain **traits** from what they do and **retinue** members (ancillaries) that add bonuses.

- Keep good managers in big cities; keep good commanders in armies.
- Idle generals sitting in low-order cities can pick up bad traits. Give them a job.
- Marry off daughters to capable men to add family members.

### Agents

| Agent | Use |
|---|---|
| Diplomat | Negotiations, alliances, trade rights, bribery |
| Spy | Scout armies and cities, raise unrest, open gates during sieges |
| Assassin | Kill or sabotage enemy characters and buildings |

**Trade rights** with neighbors are an easy, safe income boost; send diplomats early.

## Battles

### Core principles

- **Hammer and anvil.** Pin the enemy with infantry, then hit the flank or rear with cavalry.
- **Spears beat cavalry.** Don't charge cavalry into spear or pike formations from the front.
- **Missiles first.** Archers, slingers and skirmishers soften units before contact.
- **Morale wins.** Units rout when flanked, surrounded, tired, or when the general dies. Killing the enemy general is often decisive.
- **Terrain.** Defend on high ground, use forests to hide units, and don't fight uphill if you can avoid it.
- **Fatigue.** Running everywhere tires units. Walk until the charge.

### Formations and abilities

- **Phalanx** (Greek and Macedonian pikemen): unstoppable from the front, weak on the flanks and rear.
- **Testudo** (Roman legionaries): turtle formation that shrugs off missiles but is slow.
- **Fire at will, guard mode and skirmish mode** are toggles worth learning for missile and skirmisher units.

### Sieges

- Build siege equipment (rams, ladders, siege towers) during the siege turns, or bring artillery.
- Spies can open the gates of a city under siege.
- Inside the walls, fight around the town square; holding it wins a defending battle.
- Starving a city out works if you have time.

### Roman units, before and after the Marian Reforms

- **Early Republic:** Hastati, Principes, Triarii, Velites, Equites.
- **After the Marian Reforms:** Early Legionary Cohort, Legionary Cohort, Legionary First Cohort, Praetorian Cohort, Urban Cohort, and later cavalry.
- The reforms fire mid-game as the largest Roman cities grow and develop. After that, older unit types can no longer be recruited, so plan your army around the change.

## Faction Picks

| Faction | Style | Difficulty |
|---|---|---|
| House of Julii | Fight Gauls, push north and into Germania | Easy |
| House of Brutii | Greek cities and Macedon, phalanx enemies | Medium |
| House of Scipii | Sicily and Carthage, lots of naval play | Medium |
| Egypt | Rich, strong troops, isolated start | Easy to medium (once unlocked) |
| Seleucid Empire | Big, surrounded by enemies, phalanx and elephants | Hard (once unlocked) |
| Gaul / Germania / Britannia | Barbarian infantry and cavalry, fast growth | Medium (once unlocked) |
| Greek Cities | Scattered cities, hoplites | Hard (once unlocked) |

**Unlocking factions:** finishing the Imperial Campaign unlocks further factions, and defeating factions in the campaign also counts toward unlocks. The long-standing community trick is to edit the campaign's descr_strat.txt file and move factions from the unlockable list to the playable list. Back up the file first.

## Barbarian Invasion

Set several centuries later, during the decline of the Western Roman Empire.

- **Hordes.** Some factions (such as the Huns and Vandals) start with no provinces and exist as hordes, entire migrating peoples as armies. Capturing a city lets a horde settle, or you can sack it and move on.
- **Religion.** Paganism, Christianity and Zoroastrianism. Provinces convert over time; religious conflict causes unrest.
- **Night battles** and **swimming units** crossing rivers are new tactical options.
- **The Western Roman Empire** is the famous challenge start: broke, rebellious and surrounded.
- **The Eastern Roman Empire** is richer and faces the Sassanids.

## Running It on a Modern PC

- **Unit size and settings:** Set unit size in the options to match your hardware. Large or Huge looks best on modern CPUs, but very large battles can still stutter.
- **Resolution:** The game supports modern resolutions through its options and preferences file; community guides on Steam walk through the exact edits.
- **Launch options** like skipping intro movies are commonly used; see the community fix guides in the Sources.
- **Large address aware (4GB) patching** of the executable is a common community fix for crashes in big battles and with mods.
- **Mods:** Rome Total Realism, Europa Barbarorum and Roma Surrectum are classic overhauls. Follow each mod's own install instructions, since the Collection predates Workshop support.
- **Console:** press the backtick/tilde key (left of 1) to open the console. Commands include add_money, toggle_fow, process_cq and auto_win. Use them for testing or fun; they can break immersion or saves.

## Common Mistakes to Avoid

- **Over-expanding** without garrisons or temples; revolts follow.
- **Charging cavalry into spears.**
- **Letting cities grow without squalor control.**
- **Ignoring the civil war** until the other Roman families are already marching.
- **Leaving bad governors** in big cities.
- **Using exterminate everywhere.** It kills your future tax base; save it for large, hostile cities.
- **Fighting every battle manually** when the odds are overwhelming; autoresolve easy fights to save time.

## Advanced Tips

- **Pick fights you can autoresolve** and play the hard ones yourself; the battle AI is beatable with flanks and missile focus.
- **Trade rights early** is some of the easiest money in the game.
- **Stack Management retinue** on your capital's governor.
- **Use spies before sieges** to open gates and save siege turns.
- **Bait the AI** with a single unit to pull its army out of formation, then flank.
- **Plan the Marian Reforms.** Don't overbuild early barracks right before the reforms change your roster.

## FAQ

**Can I still buy Rome: Total War - Collection on Steam?**
No. It's unlisted at the publisher's request. If you own it you can still play it; otherwise, Total War: ROME REMASTERED is the current version.

**Is Alexander included?**
No, the Collection includes Rome: Total War and Barbarian Invasion.

**How do I unlock all factions?**
Finish the Imperial Campaign, defeat factions during play, or edit descr_strat.txt to make them playable.

**Which faction is best for beginners?**
The Julii.

**Does Rome Remastered replace the original?**
It's a separate product with upgraded visuals and extra features, including extra playable factions and merchants. Many players still enjoy the original with classic mods.

**How do I open the console?**
Press the backtick/tilde key, to the left of 1 on most keyboards.

## Sources

- [Rome: Total War — Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rome:_Total_War)
- [Rome: Total War: Barbarian Invasion — Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rome:_Total_War:_Barbarian_Invasion)
- [Rome: Total War - Collection on Steam (unlisted notice)](https://store.steampowered.com/app/4760/)
- [Total War: ROME REMASTERED announcement (Steam news)](https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/4760)
- [Rome: Total War Cheat Guide (Steam community guide)](https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=416542074)
- [Steam community guides for Rome: Total War](https://steamcommunity.com/app/4760/guides/)