As a man who has listened to one third of Mike Duncan's History of Rome podcast and seen James Purefoy absolutely tear it up as Mark Antony in HBO's Rome, I'm something of an expert in Roman history. So, naturally, when Alessandro Roberti's new RPG Never Second In Rome came out in early access a couple of days ago, I leapt right on it.
The premise is you're a centurion in the army of one proconsul Julius Caesar, recently minted governor of Gallia Cisalpina, and your goal is claw your way up in the big guy's esteem, keep your men (and yourself) disciplined and trained up and, oh, don't die. This is hard, because bossman Caesar absolutely loves doing wars in Gaul. He's ape for it, and as one of his men—one of his top men, if you play your cards right—you're part of the gang who does that for him.
