Post-War Recovery

[LexiSilva]

I can wage wars pretty decently. But let us throw a hypothetical scenario:

Someone plays as Caesar of Rome. He has his Praetorians and he steams over a neighbor and that civilization is eliminated.
The war is over. However, the newly conquered cities are in shatters: improvements are ruined, buildings are destroyed; these cities are a huge drain on Rome's finances.

My question is what can I do to focus on economic recovery so Rome's size becomes an advantage, and not a hindrance?

[GermanJoey]

Whip libraries, work scientists, plant cottages, beeline Currency. If you want any advice more concrete than that you'd have to post a specific situation w/ screenshots and/or a save.

[LexiSilva]

^_^ Sounds good to me! :P

[haphazard1]

GermanJojo's advice is a very good start. Just how much tech you have can also be a factor -- do you have CoL? Currency? If so, turning some of the conquered cities' pop into courthouses and markets via the whip is often very helpful. If there has been a lot of pillaging (or the AI just did not have enough improvements to begin with) then whipping away the unimproved tiles or turning them into specialists is usually better than working unimproved tiles.

If you do not have CoL or Currency, then libraries are your best bet. You can keep at least some science going so you don't completely stagnate, even though your research slider will be quite low for a while. Head for Currency and CoL while planting cottages and emphasizing any commerce tiles you have available.

Another option if you have some veteran military left over is to go after a barb city or two and raze them for cash. Not always an option, but I have had a number of games where money from barb cities has saved my empire.

[Ceiliazul]

Your OP suggests heavy damage to tile improvements. Rampant pillaging of lands you will soon own is a mistake. Pillaging your victim delays the new cities' recovery, sometimes even starving your conquered city unnecessarily. Also, unless you planned ahead with many extra workers, your homeland workers will be pulled out to repair pillaged stuff. Effectively, development of your homeland will suffer too!

separate from the economic downside of pillaging, the time spent pillaging just allows your enemy more time to whip defenses and shrink cities. Skip pillaging to capture larger cities, and these pay back faster too. (after the age of slavery, cities may not shrink, but more defenders is still a bummer.)

Note: specific pillage targets like strategic roads and resources are DEFINITELY worth doing.