“Ready to conquer ancient civilizations and earn all the achievements in Imperator: Rome? Look no further! This guide is filled with tips and strategies for achievement hunters, but remember, results may vary. Let’s get started!”
Housekeeping
As of now this guide is incomplete. I myself is in the process of trying to get 100%. Comment suggestions down below if you have any.
A lot of stuff in this guide comes from sources on the Imperator Wiki[imperator.paradoxwikis.com]. Make sure you check out their website!
Very Easy
These are achievements that are considered “Very Easy”. During typical playthroughs, you might have unlocked several of these already. For the purpose of this guide, I will nevertheless include them and how one might clear off this section.
Settle a new province as a Migratory Tribe.
As described, you need to migrate and settle new territories. You can only do this if your nation is a Migratory Tribe, a form of government typically found in central and northern Europe. You can however also adopt this form of government as a settled tribe via decision, which I will not cover here.
To do this, you will first need to migrate population. You can only migrate if the territory:
- Has more than 3 pops
- Your stability is sufficient (hover over migrate button to see cost)
Once you do this, migratory cohorts will be spawned and your territory abandoned. Move your migratory cohorts to a new, unoccupied territory and hit setttle. Note you can only settle if you have more than 4 migrant cohorts (2,000 men)
Have an appointed Dictator refuse to give up power.
As of writing this, you cannot achieve this in 2.0.4 Augustus patch. You will have to revert back to 1.5.3 Menander (Look up if you do not know how to change game version to older patches) and play. Guide for this achievement as well as Cincinnatus will be included in the “Additional Stuff” section since the gameplay is quite different from 2.X Imperator Rome.
Appoint a Dictator, and have the same Dictator voluntarily stand down.
Similar to Alea Iacta Est, you will have to revert back to 1.5.3 Menander to achieve this.
Research 40 inventions.
As per description, you need to generate 40 innovations. A few good approaches can include:
- Having researchers with high respective stats. If all of your characters are dummies, look at the character list of your neighbours – Remember, you can entice foreign characters to your court!
- Having researchers with traits like
Scholar,
Intelligent,
Obsessive and
Polymath. Characters with these traits can lead to events where you get innovation for free – Especially important if you started as a barbarian tag!
- Keep your research ratio high – essentially means having a lot of citizens and nobles who generate research points. You can force this by building Academy or Court of Law in your cities which allows more population to promote.
- Complete traditions, missions that give free innovations. The Hellenistic Empire mission tree available to the Diadochis give around 10 innovations – And I’m pretty sure you can exploit this by restarting the tree every 20 years.
With your current ruler, acquire two other ruler-level friends.
Mostly straightforward. Find neighbour rulers, and befriend them. A Megas Basileus or Tribal Chief weighs just as much for this achievement. Note that:
- You have limited slots of friends. You might have to un-friend someone else.
- Your friends can DIE – Try to befriend young guns.
- Having tributaries/clients/feudatories/satrapies help as well, since there are events that make you befriend them free of charge.
Compete in the Olympic Games on at least 10 occasions.
Wiki suggests only picking the first character in the list. Other than that, do note you cannot own the territory Olympia where the game takes place – Release a vassal if necessary.
Conquer a territory.
Win a war, take stuff. This one should be easy unless you are playing some sort of migratory sightseeing corporation.
Send a disloyal pretender away to be a Mercenary.
This is only available when you are in a succession crisis. Give a pretender a province, raise levy and pick Entice to Become Mercenary option, NOT Send Adventuring. Apparently, the character cannot own more than 1,000 gold in personal wealth.
Import at least one of each Strategic resource to your capital province.
Whilst you have a tribal government form, change a Law.
Change a law as a tribal nation. You will almost certainly achieve this alongside Tribal Assembly.
Easy Part 1
Easy achievements are generally straightforward (who could have thought!). I have no idea why Legio Augusta is in this section.
As Macedonia, own the region of Greece.
You can do this as Macedon, or Epirus through its mission/decision. I recommend doing this achievement with the Antigonid Kingdom, as they can also form Macedon.
Have any owned city with 100 or more Civilization Value.
It is recommended that you get a Metropolis-tier territory for this achievement, since they have a lot of building slots. Maurya starts with a metropolis, being its capital Pataliputra. Hellenistic Empire mission tree can also make your capital a metropolis. To do it the normal way, navigate to territory view window and upgrade a city into a metropolis.
Buildings like Foundry, Great Temple, Grand Theater, Academy, Court of Law, Forum and Mill provide the most civilisation points. Your oratory technology level, certain traditions and heritage (Iceni) also buff your civilisation. An additional 10% can be scored if you import two copies of Gemstone and Glass to your capital.
Form Greater Iberia.
Recommended to play as Turdetania in the southern parts of Hispania. The country starts with some cities, and tags near by sharing your starting culture that can be quickly annexed. Carthaginian colonies would not be hard to manage either, since they are in your capital region. (+0.05 province loyalty) Quickly civilise, watch out for Rome, and you should be good.
Have four researchers with at least 11 of their relevant skill.
If your country do not have talented researchers, look to your neighbours, esp. in the eastern mediterranean since there are usually many tags. Find that smart guy, befriend, entice, employment, in that order. If you are extra wealthy, building wonders with education effect can help with scoring this achievement.
As Carthage, own or have a subject own all of Hispania.
Roma delenda est! You can rewrite history simply by fabricating claim on Latium on day 1. You have more than enough ships to transport your levies and your mercenaries. Ally Samnium and crush the Romans. Expand into Hispania at your own leisure through the mission tree. Maybe it’s that tall game you always wanted to play.
As the Antigonids, sack the cities of Babylon, Alexandria, Lysimacheia, and Pella.
Goes together with King of the Blind achievement. See Additional Stuff section for opening moves.
As the Antigonid Kingdom, enact the decision “Secure Antigonid Position”.
See Additional Stuff section for opening moves.
Own a Legion with X honors.
Probably the only RNG achievement. You actually only need to achieve 9, since each legion always start with one. Imperator Rome Wiki have a list of distinctions that you can achieve. To summarise, it involves having your forces fight on different terrain and with certain units. If you combine some of the more consistent honors, you can get this achievement with as little as 5 distinctions for your first legion. They are:
-
Primigenia – Your first legion gets this. i.e. you only need 8 more distinction for it to reach 10.
-
Insidiatrix – By having your legion on drill 24/7. The odds are much better than terrain-based distinction.
-
Pia – Sacking a holy site of a different religion. You get Impia if you do it on your own religion, but it counts as a distinction nevertheless.
-
Triumphalis – Give the legion commander a triumph after winning battle.
Easy Part 2
As Rome, conquer the cities of Cariala, Italica, and Aquae Helveticae.
Use hourglass button next to the map if you are unsure where these territories are. Italica is in southern Hispania and Aquae Helveticae in the Alps. The only difficult tile is Cariala, since it is beyond even the Carpathian mountains near the northern edge of the map. You can do this later when you can afford transporting slaves all the way to Cariala through colonisation.
As a Tribe, enact the decision to become a Republic.
You can do this with any barbarian tribe, but out of them Iceni is the best choice. Its heritage gives you +5% civilisation value and its capital is a city – This can be hundreds of gold saved for warfare, since you need 40% civilisation value in your capital in order to progress tribal reform. Can be achieved alongside Perfidious Albion in one playthrough.
Survive a Civil War.
You can make civil wars a lot more manageable by:
- Triggering it when you are still a small nation
- Have only one family angered and make sure none of them (and the friends of the head of that family) are governors or legion commanders. Revoke all their holdings while you are at it.
- Give all province governors free hand
You should have a tiny rebellion that can be easily crushed.
As Rome, own and at least one City with 70 or more Civilization Value in every Province within the Palestine region.
Rome’s eastern glory mission tree should lead you here. Note that out of all regions, Peraea is the only one to start without a city necessary for 70 civilisation value. Build a city in the province at your own discretion. Import Gemstone and glass to your capital for an extra 10% base civilisation value. Spam Great Temple, Grand Theater (You’ll need them to placate the angry Hebrews anyways) and buildings. If you are running out of time, issue civilisation edicts in these regions (Temple icon) to fast track the process.
As a Polytheistic country, have a State Pantheon composed entirely of deified rulers.
Note that you cannot complete this achievement as Judea. The amount of political influence needed for this achievement can be slightly negated by religious tech innovations. I did this achievement as Bactria as I rarely had the chance to expand without war declaration and saved up quite a lot of political influence.
Build a Great Wonder.
I’m not sure if special wonders like Lighthouse of Alexandria or the Library counts. At any rate, you should be able to save up thousands in late game more than enough for your own wonder. Note you do need to save up a bit of political influence.
As Thrace, kill the ruler of the Antigonid Kingdom, by completing the “Poetic Justice” mission task.
TBA
Medium Part 1
having familiarised yourself with the game, medium achievements are usually fairly tame compared to the world conquest type.
As Rome, own and sack the city of Carthage.
For this achievement, you have to own Carthage itself for the event to pop. Occupying it in war with capital levy does not work. To avoid it not registering, make sure you select the harshest sack option – Not that a real Roman would have any sympathy for those baby-sacrificing Carthaginians!
Have 15 Trade Routes in Byzantium.
Upon closer inspection of the condition you will probably realise it’s quite easy – Play as Thrace, build tall in your capital province Europa and this should be no issue. Diadochis also have events that give province investments so watch out for that too.
Desecrate Holy Sites for at least 10 different religions.
Start in eastern mediterranean where many religion can be found. Don’t be shy to sack your own holy sites.
Adopt the Empire government form.
Starting as a Diadochi tag makes this quite easy – You can also do this as any monarchy once you hit Great Power status. (500 territories or more) The Seleukid Empire and Egypt are good choices because of the Legacy of Alexander CB. Alternatively, the more difficult Antigonid Kingdom essentially guarantees this achievement if you take out your opponents.
As a Megalithic country, own at least 20 cities producing Stone, and the territory of Cunetio.
The game obviously wants you to do this achievement as a Numidian kingdom, but if you want it quick converting Carthage to Megalithic faith is far less demanding. Note the wording is outdated and you only need 20 stone-producing territories, not cities.
Form Egypt, enact the Egyptian Succession law, and conquer the regions of Nubia and Syria.
Relatively easy as Kush, since your chief rival Egypt is otherwise too busy fighting the Antigonids. Declare war on them after the Ptolemaic armies are well into Syria. Unleash your capital levy with impunity upon undefended Egyptian cities and you should be set, no pun intended. Note you do have to completely kill off Ptolemaic Egypt for you to form Egypt. Nubia does not start with Egyptian Succession so don’t forget to enact it!
Have at least 9000 pops.
Should be easy for any respectable empire. If you insist on playing tall, be sure to select a few religion inventions for population growth.
As any Greek Republic, own the entire region of Greece.
Athens is a good choice because of its unique mission trees, if the DLC Magna Graecia is enabled. Alternatively, Argos is in a good spot because the Diadochis will typically leave you free to expand in the Peloponnese, but be wary of the Arcadian OPM swarm!
As Epirus, own Rome.
Epirus’ mission gives you an opportunity to claim Macedonia – Take advantage of that, integrate Macedonian culture and then fight Rome is the safest bet. Your mission tree is almost certainly useless given how aggressive Rome AI is. Strike swiftly when Romans are bogged down in the north. Note that forming Macedon forfeits this achievement! Do NOT siege Argos with Pyrrhos!
As Egypt, own all the wonders of the world, through conquest or construction.
Namely, they are…
- Lighthouse of Alexandria – You build this through decisions, save up about 2,500 gold.
- Giza Pyramid Complex – You start with it!
- Mausoleum at Halicarnassus – Antigonid tributary
- Artemis Temple – Owned by Ionia, another Antigonid vassal
- Colossus of Rhodes – Owned by Rhodes, an independent nation that often enter defensive pacts with Lycia and nearby powers
- Zeus Temple – Owned by Elis, typically in defensive pact with Achaean and Arcadian minors
- Gardens of Babylon – Owned by Seleukid Empire, take advantage of their frequent civil war and Imperial Challenge CB.
Conquer Boihaemum region as the Boii.
It’s really all about taking out Rome. Consolidate Cisalpine Gaul and strike them when they are busy fighting Carthaginians or Italian Greeks. Once you have Rome down, controlling Boihaemum should be straightforward.
Form Gaul.
I combined this achievement with The Bois Are Back in Town by simplying moving my capital into Gaul, making the Celtic Boii eligible for forming Gaul. Boii is advantageous in that the playthrough requires eliminating Rome early on, making your mid and late game a lot less stressful.
Form Persia and own Ganzak, Nevshapur and Gur.
You can do this achievement with its harder cousin Heraclea Persica. Alternatively, play as any Iranian tag such as Atropatene and snipe Seleukid Empire during Dahae invasion and civil war should set you up for this achievement. If you do play as Atropatene, watch out for expansionist Armenia at your doorstep.
Medium Part 2
To the End of the WorldAs the Seleucid Empire or Bactria, conquer the regions of Gandhara, Mahdyadesa, Pracya, Maru, and Avanti.
I recommend doing this with the harder option – Bactria. You don’t have thorax pikemen or indian armoured elephants, but it is not impossible. You can do this achievement alongside The Man who would be King.
As a Gallic Tribe, desecrate all Hellenic Holy Sites in Greece before 480 AUC.
TBA
As a Jewish country, own and control all original Jewish Holy Sites: Ekbatana, Oros Chorib, Apologos, Jerusalem, Ephraim, Sousa, Kadasa and Aqola.
Essentially a variant of Kingdom of David, except you have to snake into Iranian plateau to grab Ekbatana. See Kingdom of David for guide.
Playing as any nation from the Veneti, Germanic, Pretani, Gaelic, Gallic, Celt-Iberian, Iberian or Pre-Indo-European culture groups, conquer and destroy 10 Great Wonders.
Much easier if you have the Hellenistic World Flavor Pack enabled. I recommend playing as a Gallic tribe for proximity (Boii is an excellent choice). With said pack enabled, you can have as many as 12 wonders in eastern Mediterranean. They are:
- Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus, located in Roma
- Acropolis of Rhodes and Colossus of Rhodes, both located in Rhodos
- Acropolis of Pergamon, located in Pergamon
- Artemis Temple, located in Ephesos
- Palace of the Argeads, located in Methone
- Zeus Temple, located in Olympia
- Giza Pyramid Complex, located in Babylon Aigyptou (Next to Memphis)
- Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, located in Halikarnassos
- Oracle of Dodona, located in Dodona – RARE
- Library of Alexandria and Lighthouse of Alexandria, both located in Alexandreia. They must be built by Egypt, by the time you arrive, at least one is likely up.
Of which, Oracle of Dodona usually do not appear unless Epirus is successful. This means you have at least 10 guaranteed if you seize Greece, Anatolia, Egypt and Italia. If you don’t have enough, consider
- Stonehenge, located in Cunetio
- Gardens of Babylon, located in Babylon
And the achievement should pop. If you somehow do not have the Hellenistic World Flavor Pack, it amounts to essentially a world conquest to destroy
- Sigiriya, located in Avakana
- Taxila, located in Taxila
Since they give nice bonus, it might be better for you to own all of them, and then destroy before end date.
As any Greek nation, build Towers in Omboi and Alexandria.
Contrary to all logic, the Lighthouse of Alexandria does NOT count as a tower. You will have to tear it down sadly and build another tower in its place. Egypt is a natural choice for this achievement.
As the Seleucid Empire, conquer Pella before the death of Seleucus Nikator.
Gather your levy and recruit mercenaries prior to the war against the Antigonid Kingdom. When you declare war, gather your navy and send them on a grueling journey around the Arabian peninsula to the Syrian coast. They should arrive around the time you take Antigoneia from the Antigonids. Keep pushing into Phrygia, but be wary of Antigonid main fleet. Once in naval range, gather your troops and sail to Macedonia. Declare war on whoever owning Pella (No CB is viable if you wish to throw away the save) and assault.
As Armenia, construct a level XV Fortress.
TBA
Starting as Kios, form Pontus.
Start as Kios. Wait for your old monarch to die, and follow events allowing you to abandon Kios and play as the Mithridatic Kingdom in Paphlagonia. Ally locals and take out Paphlagonia and importantly Pontus. Once you destroy old Pontus, you can form it if you have the right provinces.
As a country in the Anatolian Culture Group, own, or have a subject own, the regions of Asia, Phrygia, Cilicia, Bithynia et Paphlagonia, Cappadocia Taurica and Armenia.
Of all Anatolian tags, Armenia and Cappadocia are the best candidates for this achievement. I recommend getting this with Armenia so you can score Hall of the Mountain King along the way.
Hard Part 1
Hard achievements are quite the challenge – And more fulfilling when they pop.
As the Mauryas, conquer all of India, convert to Buddhism, and have at least 80% Religious Unity.
TBA
In any owned territory, produce a surplus of at least 10 fish.
Depending on technology and various effects, you will need to stuff at least 100 slaves into a territory for this achievement. Move them out later to avoid starving. Remember importing two copies of vegetable makes moving slaves a lot easier.
Alternatively, one of Carthage‘s mission Aegis of Africa changes two ports, Portus Magnus and Portus Divinus into cities, one of which will still produce fish. Develop them into metropolis, build mills and foundry to maximise production.
As a Germanic nation, own every territory in the regions of Germania, Germania Superior, Venedia, and Boiohaemum.
I did this as Burgundia to combine this achievement and An Unexpected Turn. Rome will be your biggest enemy, but they should be usually busy fighting Macedon or Carthage. Build alliances and strike the Romans during internal strife/war to neutralise them. Other than them other German tribes should pose no threat.
As Rome, own every territory adjacent to the Mediterranean Sea.
This one is not that hard so long as you stick with your mission tree. Remember taking Magna Graecia and subsequently Epirus gives you claim to all of Greece and Macedonia. Take advantage of your war council, and integrate Macedonian culture so you can amass sizable levies in the East. Engineer rebellion in your chief rivals Egypt and Seleukid Empire to make conquest easier.
As the nation of Megalopolis, have at least 80 pops in the territory of Megalopolis.
Taking out Sparta will be an important step to victory. Remember to make allies (Such as Argos or Messenia) and siege Sparta first so you get the land. Betray and take out Argos if they are not (unlikely) allied with Macedon. At any rate, keep your defensive league and start killing Cretan tags, and integrate Cretan culture. You will probably encounter a Rhodian coalition along the way, but in no playthrough have I seen them actually landing troops in Crete to back their allies up. At this point you should also leave the defensive league and prepare claims, preferably against Messenia due to distance.
Once you have a sizable Cretan levy and one or two mercenary armies, declare war. I recommend assaulting one key fortress to keep the Arcadian coalition at bay. Do this over time and you should gradually weaken the Arcadians. While waiting for truce, try striking Elis, Aetolian League or Athens if any of them aree up for grabs. Move slaves, and use province investments to develop your capital to 80 pops.
Alternatively, if you have enough slaves there might be no need for the bellicose path mentioned above.
As Sparta, conquer and sack Pella before 480 AUC.
Before you hit unpause, do the following
- Make a defensive league with Argos, this prevents them from joining the Arcadian one and messing the run up
- Ally Elis
- Ally another minor not in the league
Use your mission tree for claims against Messenia. Keep the defensive league AND ally Argos. Declare war on the league and call in all allies. Argos and Elis should serve as good distractions, while you assault Messene. You should aim to take Messenia and another minor (Megalopolis or Heraia) in your first peace deal, the more the better. Inevitably, you must betray your allies and unify the region. I have not tried it, but forming the Peloponnesian League MAY mess with the achievement. You should be able to do this in about 10-15 years
While unifying the region, you should be landing claims against whoever owning Pella. It will be easier if Macedonia is divided between the Antigonids and Antipatrids, but if not victory is still possible. buddy up with Thrace, Epirus and anyone willing to be your friend. Invade Macedonia and take Pella down. Note you do have to take the harshest sack option for it to count.
As Sparta, conquer and sack the city of Persepolis.
This one is essentially a continuation of Laconic If. Integrate Macedonian and another Greek culture to provide you with the levies. From there, you should prioritise areas with Macedonian pops. Your biggest enemy (This is a consistent theme in this guide) is Rome, not the Diadochi. Before you wage conquests in the east, make sure you neuter Rome by allying Carthage. With the west dealt with, you can comfortably make opportunistic gains in the east. Again, pick the harshest option to ensure you get this achievement.
Reform Alexander’s Empire as a successor state.
Egypt and the Seleukid Empire are both well suited. Alternatively, playing as the challenging Antigonid Kingdom will get you this achievement fast. Note despite having relevant mission tree, forming the Hellenistic Empire as Epirus will NOT net you this achievement, even if you have an Argead ruler!
Conquer the world.
Rome and the Antigonid Kingdom are good candidates. Roman mission trees give a lot of free claims, while the Antigonids can eat up all Diadochis if played correctly with minimal aggressive expansion. Note you only have to own all colonised territories. You just have to be the only nation with territories on the map. See Additional Stuff for more tips.
As Bactria, become independent, and conquer the regions of Ariana, Bactria, and Gandhara.
Go independent when Seleukids fight the Fourth War of the Diadochi. You should still try to ally them or Maurya. The main strategy is alternatively stabbing one of the powers in the back when they have their civil war. Using Entice Governor can be very useful early on. Beware both likely have claims on you, so you might want to only declare war when they are fighting someone else. They are far less aggressive than Rome and so long as you remain peaceful they should not attack you frequently.
Hard Part 2
As a Vandal Nation, own any territory in the regions of Mauretania, Numidia, Africa, or Cyrenaica, and occupy Rome in a war.
Pick Lugia. Migrate all your pops so you have fewest possible number of territories, with at least 3 pops on each. Migrate all of them. Gather your migration stacks, and divide them into two groups, one with at least 2,500 men (5 cohorts) and the rest in another. March the 2,500 stack to Mauretania, and your bigger group to Roma. Wait until your smaller stack reaches Africa, and Rome starts fighting someone. You can tell when Rome is raising its capital levy and marching away. Have your 2,500 stack settle, and your main stack pillage Roman cities close to Roma such as Ostia and Lavinium. Once you pillaged to the point Rome declares war on you, siege and assault Roma.
As Athens, be independent and own Delos, Naxos, Kassandreia, Thaso, Chalkis, Samos, Sestos, Kition, Salamis, and Oreos before 500 AUC.
Before unpausing, insult Antigonids. Do it thrice in total and proceed down the independence tree. You want to
- Not at war with Macedon
- At war with Egypt
Get your capital stack and divide it into 4 groups of 500. Load them on boats and carefully micro them. Sail towards Egypt and avoid the Egyptian fleet at all costs. Unless the AI detects a fleet, the Egyptian doomstack is typically parked in Alexandreia. Once you make landing, ransack undefended Egyptian cities thoroughly. This will net you a lot of gold crucial to your campaign.
Complete the mission tree ASAP. Once you do, justify on Tanagra or Thebes to expand in Boeotia. Take them out with levy and mercenaries, alongside Tanagra’s overlord, the Boeotian League if possible. Land another one on Megara for your mission tree. Peace out with the Diadochi or wait until Antigonos dies and the kingdom falls apart. Your campaign will be considerably easier if the Antigonids did secure some land (esp. Thessalia which separates you from Macedon) in Macedonia. Declare war on Megara. Generously spend the gold you took for Egyptians on mercs. A sizable stack can be found consistently at Lamia, though you cannot see them unless you park a boat next to it.
Your main objective will be Megara, Chalkis, Salamis and the Nesiotic League, where another sizable mercenary stack can be found. After your initial wars, you will instead target Macedon-aligned city states, such as Oreos, Argos and the territory Korinthos. By cycling wars against Macedon and the Antigonids, you should be able to defeat them in detail and acquire much of Macedonia, though you only need some islands for achievement. You *should* be able to do all of this without fighting Egypt, however in my campaign they did declare war on me for Aetolia.
Depending on your situation, you might want to reverse the previous steps to take out the weaker DIadochi.
During your gameplay Thrace might declare war on you for Rhodope. Their navy is not significant, but I made the mistake of fighting them and the Antigonids, the latter promptly deleting my triemes with octeres. Give them the island if possible, you can take them back easily if you own Macedonia and have integrated locals. At this point you should start expanding overseas. You will need Samos from Ionia, as well as Salamis and Kition from whoever owning Cyprus. Build a sizable navy and invade. You should be able to take out both easily. Fighting Thrace and taking all of Europa should be easy.
As Syracuse, conquer all of Sicily by the death of your ruler, Agathocles.
Ally a local tag and Rome. Eating up non-Carthaginian tags should be relatively easy. Carthage is not particularly challenging either as the AI are definitely more A than I in dealing with naval landings. Having Rome as an ally makes holding onto your gains in Sicily more manageable. Note you need Milet (Malta) which requires you to land on the island and siege it down. Peace out and form Sicily. Sit back and relax, knowing you gave even more power to a morally questionable king.
As Massalia, own at least one territory in Dumnonia and Cantiacia, as well as one territory in the Scandia region, and the territory of Orcades, before 550.
TBA
As Grania, Raumaricia, Suionia, Leuonia, Guthonia, Dania or Burgundia, build an Ivory Tower in Uppakra with all effects upgraded to Tier 4.
I recommend playing as Burgundia, since you start with your capital in Uppakra. The achievement is about securing an elephant trade route and money to build the tower fast, since your ivory tower prestige needs time to scale up. A base 10 prestige from tower wonder and 53 from ivory means you need to be completed at least 77 years before the end date, around 650 AUC. To do this, you can conquer your way down the Atlantics until you can import elephants from Carthaginians.
I did this achievement by instead colonising my way eastwards until I reached the Black Sea around Olbia. I settled a city and developed a navy for me to snake down the coast and take out the Nesiotic League. A few oratory tech later I was able to import from Carthage.
As a Greek Republic, have Macedon, Egypt, the Seleucid Empire, Thrace or the Antigonid Empire as a subject.
Good to combine with Pentecontaetia. Remember to puppet a Diadochi tag instead of full annexation.
As Cappadocia, keeping Macedonian primary culture, become independent and conquer Alexandria and Babylon.
TBA
As Egypt, own or have a subject own the Aegean Islands, Rhodes, Sicily, Sardinia, Cyprus, Alalaiou (Dahkla), Devada, Diouscourides (Socotra), Tylos (Bahrain), Sri Lanka, Mliet/Malta, Yermena, Corsica, Gymnaesia (Baleares), Korkyra and Qarkna.
This achievement requires you to take out Carthage and keep Romans in line, while going after India. Diouscourides can be tricky as you need to colonise it yourself. If Maurya owns Sri Lanka, simply declare war with Imperial Challenge CB and move your large navy and troops to capture Sri Lanka. You should be able to take the entire island with good micro before Mauryan troops even come close. If not, you will need to snake down the Indian coast. Triggering rebellion and taking some of their land can be a good idea.
Very Hard
Painstaking would be an understatement. However, passing this category and you should be claiming that precious 100% in no time!
Starting as Heraclea Pontica, form Persia whilst your ruler belongs to the Achaemenid dynasty
Make sure your country is Persian for the decision to be available. Before unpause, do the following:
Use your war council. Restart if there is no option targeting Mariandynia. Ally Kaukonia and Tieion and declare war as soon as possible. Once you annex Mariandynia, immediately fabricate claim against Paphlagonia and dissolve all alliance. Fabricate claims against your former allies. Paphlagonia typically get overwhelmed by Pontic city states, so they shouldn’t be a big challenge. Declare war as soon as possible, taking as much land as you can. In runs where I took coastal land, there seems to be a chance for the Mithradatic Kingdom to migrate over, so you might want to keep Paphlagonia on the coast. Take out Kaukonia and Tieion as soon as truce is over. Justify on any independent tags, such as Bithynia in your region. Integrate Phrygian culture for levy. Attack Antigonids if they are still around, or entice Diadochi governors to annex Phrygia. Meanwhile, ally Cappadocia and Armenia, who otherwise will be a threat. Thrace should be your only opponent in the region, so be careful when taking up lands where all Diadochis have claims.
At this point, you have broken out of your difficult starting situation. Use Entice Governor, trigger civil war in nearby powers and gradually make your way eastward. I also recommend getting Zoroaster in your pantheon to kick start conversion so your religious unity isn’t in the gutters. My run was particularly unlucky in that the Dahae invasion never fired, leading to a much more stable Seleukid Empire. Despite that the achievement should be fairly easy once you own all of Anatolia.
Starting as a Jewish nation, own the regions of Palestine and Syria, as well as the areas of Sinai, Eastern Delta, Central Delta, Memphis, Euphrates, Niniveh, Mesopotamia Superior, Apolloniatis, Babylonia, Cittacine, and Sumer
Pick Judea. Use your generic mission to land claims in your region. Improve relation with Egypt so they don’t declare war on you. Once the Diadochi War starts, declare war for independence and seize as much land as possible before Egypt take them up. You should prioritise Decapolis with its capital at Raphon. Assaulting is viable here because Antigonid AI typically prioritise Egyptian armies over yours. Once you assault, Antigonids will be distracted/defeated by advancing Ptolemaic troops, securing your claim. Aim to take around three states.
Once you secure your independence, do not expand until you are allied with Egypt.Take out Samaria and Nabatea. Use entice governor liberally on your only ally (In my run they did launch an unsuccessful Syrian War that costed me land, justifying my betrayal). Once Egypt inevitably goes into a civil war, fuel their rebellion by inspiring disloyalty against Egyptian governors and great family heads. Once you have the Delta, Egypt should be easily defeated. Then, turn towards the Seleukids and use the same trick to gradually eat away their power base.
Form Albion before the year AUC 500.
Start as Icenia. Ally Dobunnia and Durotriga. Use your generic mission and war council to rush Trinovantia. Dissolve alliance with Durotriga and declare war on Cantiacia. If you are lucky, Durotriga would be in alliance or defensive league with Cantiacia, allowing you to take a lot of land fast. Once you have taken out Dumnonia, make new allies and betray Dobunnia. Using this technique you should be able to at least form Pritania. Integrate Brigantic to provide for colonisation and conquest. Once you are in Hibernia, integrate locals and colonise. Note you must be civilised to form Albion. To civilise, build up your civilisation level in your capital and prepare some political influence for the stability malus.
Starting as a Hindu, Buddhist, or Jain nation, which is not the Mauryas, conquer Pataliputra, Babylon, Memphis, and Athens.
TBA
Form Phoenicia, own at least 500 ships, and produce a surplus of at least 5 dyes in Tyrus.
Start as Sidon. Use generic mission for claims and improve relation with Egypt. Use your capital levy to sack cities for gold to recruit mercenaries. I recommend looking at sack event so you avoid killing Phoenician pops. You should prioritise South Phoenicia and North Phoenicia. Once you secured new lands and independence, ally Egypt to make sure you do not get backstabbed. Take out the remaining Phoenician city states should be easy as their Antigonid overlord is weakened considerably. Use Entice Governor on your Diadochi neighbours. Mothball your navy maintenance and spam Liburnian. Combine this with Militarized Society idea and your military traditions to further suppress maintenance cost. Move slaves into Tyrus so it produces 6 units of dyes.
As any nation, build Great Wonders in Safim, Orcades, Sadiya, Odoka and Agawe.
Of all territories, Orcades is the most annoying as you need to colonise it. You should therefore target Britain early on so by the time you take other required territories you will have enough slaves on the island to be transported to Caledonia. You do not need to actually finish them so pick the cheapest option possible and leave the wonders there. For Sadiya, use Imperial Challenge CB against Maurya and naval invade eastern India. Maurya should not have troops to counter your gains quickly. Land a great wonder and secure the achievement.
Additional Stuff
Afterthought and stuff that don’t really fit the achievement categories.
You can only do this in said version! Make sure you revert back. Look up if you do not know how to revert.
Pick Rome. Go through your mission tree and take out Samnium first. Etruria, Sabinia and Umbria are often allied, making gains towards the north difficult. Once your senate support hit 75% in a war, appoint dictator. He should step down soon after your war ends automatically. This gives you Cincinnatus.
As for Alea Iacta Est, Try to steer politics so a member of the Populares with good martial skill becomes consul. For a dictator to refuse to stand down, you want to own more than 100 territories, have the Populares in charge and the dictator having high popularity. To increase popularity, have your dictator win battles and sack cities. If you have high enough (I got it with 100) a relevant event will fire.
Expanding as a small country
A lot of achievements will require you to start out small with odds stacked against you. Some good ways to break out of tricky situation include:
- Entice Governor – You can immediately flip every province adjacent to any territory you own in the region the enticed character is governing. You can do this at the cost of 20 aggressive expansion if the governor is a friend of your ruler, his/her loyalty is below 40 and any province loyalty is under 50. Do note if you befriend too early, AI might give the governor free hand, rendering enticing impossible. You should therefore try to chain befriending scheme -> inspire disloyalty -> entice governor in rapid succession.
- Use War Council – Your Government tab comes with a war council button. (requires specific laws if you are a republic) This gives you a free wargoal and crucially allows you to gather ally and declare war before your opponent can do the same.
- Assault Forts – Assaulting forts with big armies are costly. But it does not have to be that way. You only need to send in 2000 men per fort level (this depends on general martial skill. Send in slightly more if particularly low.) to siege any given fort. Since AI rarely if at all assault forts (except barbarian hordes), you can give your smaller army precious time to take objectives and force through peace deals. The invention Triumphal Coins give a nice 5,000 manpower if you are short on bodies.
This small guide should set you up to win the opening war and take out everyone
A key part of this strategy revolves around making feudatories. Before you unpause, import two copies of honey for +3 diplomatic reputation, select Defending Liberty innovation, and ally Thrace. Do NOT spend money in your opening mission tree. Then, for each Hellenic culture tag, you should ally, send gifts, and offer feudatory status respectively. If you do this, the combined opinion value makes it possible for you to essentially vassalise every Greek minor in the region, costing you only the gift money.
On war declaration, use your navy’s Mega Polyreme to immediately breach wall and seize Korinthos. Immediately enact Secure Antigonid Position to get King of the Blind, THEN pick the relevant mission. Call in Thrace, who should capture Macedon for you. Together with your vassals, you just defeated Macedon without ever landing troops in Macedonia. Since the major city sack event is tied to ownership and not the army, you can sack Pella even if your armies are not in the city. Meanwhile, your army should be pounding down Egyptians. Send in small stacks to assault so your army passes through choke points like Pilousion rapidly. Sack Egyptian cities with your capital levy to finance the war. Once you decisively defeated Ptolemaic forces in the Delta, leave ~20,000 troops to mop up Egypt while your main army turn back to deal with the Seleukids. if you are feeling extra fancy, you can even buy off mercernaries with Egyptian gold and cripple Seleukid forces. As always, pick the harshest sack option to make sure you get the achievement The Besieger.
Because you are only waging an offensive war against Macedon, you incur 0 aggressive expansion when taking Egyptian and Seleukid lands. Your war exhaustion is also capped at 20, making a long-term war very viable. Completely wipe out the Diadochis, and you are left with about 80% of Alexander’s empire in just a few years. Take out Thrace and you would have acquired around 800 territories for the price of 80. Doing all of this leaves you in a great spot to do a world conquest.
And that wraps up our share on Imperator: Rome: Imperator Rome Achievement Guide. If you have any additional insights or tips to contribute, don’t hesitate to drop a comment below. For a more in-depth read, you can refer to the original article here by Natsuki, who deserves all the credit. Happy gaming!