Complete Rules
How to Play
Overview
In Consul of Rome, you are an ambitious Roman statesman vying to climb the Cursus Honorum and reach the top of Roman public life. Gain support from senators, raise your legions and use intrigue to win.
The victor is the player who finishes with the greatest political and military support — measured in votes.
The Deck
Consul of Rome uses a core deck of 80 cards:
- ⚖11 Senator cards — Powerful patricians worth 10 votes each. Each Senator is affiliated with a legion — required when opening with multiple Senators.
- �13 Legio Romanus cards — Wild substitutes. A Romanus card stands in for its exact rank in any other legion.
- �52 Legionary cards — Four distinct legions — Sabina (Pegasus), Gemina (Lion), Fulminata (Thunderbolt), Alaudae (Elephant). Each has 13 cards.
- �4 Auxilia cards — Wild gap-fillers. At most one Auxilia may substitute in any single meld.
Legion Ranks & Votes
Within each of the four core legions, cards rank from 1 to 13:
| Rank Name | Rank Number | Votes |
|---|---|---|
| Cohorts I–X | 1–10 | 1 each |
| Aquilifer | 11 | 2 |
| Primus Pilus | 12 | 2 |
| Tribune | 13 | 5 |
Legio Romanus cards substitute for the rank they represent and carry the same vote value as that rank — both as part of a meld and as a hand penalty. Only Auxilia cards carry no votes of their own.
Setup
- 2–4 players.
- Shuffle the full deck; deal 10 cards to each player.
- Place two cards face-up as the start of two separate discard piles. The rest is the draw deck.
- Decide on a game mode before play begins.
Turn Structure
On your turn, take three steps in order:
- Draw. Take one card from the top of the deck, or the top card of either discard pile. If the deck ever runs dry, you must draw from a discard pile instead.
- Meld / Build. Play valid melds to your tableau, and/or add cards onto your existing melds. You may play as many melds as you like. You cannot play any meld until you have opened with a Senator. If you draw the exact card an Auxilia is standing in for within one of your melds, you may swap it in — the Auxilia returns to your hand to use elsewhere.
- Discard. End your turn by discarding exactly one card to either discard pile. The game ends immediately the moment your hand is empty — whether you emptied it by discarding your last card, or by playing your final cards as a complete Legion Run or Officer Set.
Meld Types
Senator Opening
Your first senator play opens your campaign. It must consist of one or more Senators from the same legion. Until you have opened, no other melds may be played.
After opening — including later in the same turn — any further Senator play must be two or more Senators from the same legion. A senator play (opening or otherwise) can never mix Senators from different legions.
Example: you open with a single Legio Romanus Senator. Later you may play two or more Sabina Senators together, or two or more further Romanus Senators — but never a lone Senator once you've already opened, and never a play mixing legions.
Legion Run
Three or more cards of consecutive ranks within one legion.
- A Legio Romanus card may substitute for its exact rank in the run's legion.
- At most one Auxilia card may fill a single gap in the run.
- Example: Sabina Cohort III + Romanus IV + Sabina Cohort V = valid run.
Officer Set
Three or more cards of the same officer rank (11 = Aquilifer, 12 = Primus Pilus, 13 = Tribune), each from a different legion.
- A Legio Romanus card may substitute at the matching rank.
- At most one Auxilia card may substitute.
- Example: Sabina Tribune + Gemina Tribune + Alaudae Tribune = valid Officer Set.
Scoring
When any player empties their hand, the round ends immediately. All players score:
Score = Tableau Votes − Hand Votes
Some setups add a going-out bonus: a house rule, switchable before the game begins, that awards the player who empties their hand first an extra +10 votes.
The player with the highest score becomes Consul of Rome.
House Rules
Going-Out Bonus
The first player to empty their hand earns a bonus of +10 votes added to their final score.
Assassination
A knife for the player in front. During your play phase, while you are 10 or more votes behind the leader, you may discard one Officer from your hand — an Aquilifer, Primus Pilus, or Tribune — to destroy a single card in the leader's tableau.
- Tap Assassinate to enter targeting mode.
- The price is one Officer, whatever you destroy. You do not pay the target's value — a Tribune buys the death of a 10-vote Senator just as readily as a 1-vote Cohort.
- The 10-vote threshold is roughly one Senator ahead. Until the leader is that far clear, the Senate stays civil — this is a comeback tool, not an opening move.
- Senators are not protected here, even in a pair. Assassination is the only way to break a Senator pair open.
- The spent Officer and the destroyed card both go to a discard pile — the card is removed from its owner's tableau, not taken by you.
- A political action normally ends your turn, and you may take only one per turn.
Example: you trail by 12 votes. Discard an Aquilifer to destroy a Cohort from the leader's Legion Run — cheap, and it breaks the run apart, which also stops that meld ever being spent on a Bribery.
Bribery
Rome's other currency. While you are 10 or more votes behind the leader, you may hand over one complete meld from your own tableau to buy a card out of the leader's — it leaves their tableau and joins yours, swinging the vote twice over.
Bribery shares Assassination's 10-vote threshold. Both are catch-up mechanics and open at the same moment: once the leader is about a Senator clear of you.
- Tap Bribe, then tap the card you want in the leader's tableau.
- The price is twice the card's votes, paid in the combined rank of the meld you give up. A Senator (10v) costs 20 rank; a Cohort (1v) costs 2.
- The meld you pay with must still be intact — a run broken by an earlier assassination cannot buy anything.
- Senators in a pair are protected. A lone Senator can be bought; two or more of the same legion cannot.
- Overpaying is allowed — there is no exact change in the Senate.
Example: you trail by 14 votes. Give up an Officer Set of three Aquilifers (33 rank) to buy the leader's lone Senator for 20 — a 20-vote swing.
No Political Restrictions
A house rule for those who like Rome loud. With it switched on, Assassination and Bribery neither end your turn nor count against the one-per-turn limit — chain them as long as you can pay.
Game Modes
The best way to learn is to play.
▶ PLAY FREE NOW