At the start of each game, each player is in control of a barbarian tribe situated outside of the Roman Empire.
To win, a player must gain ten victory points from sacking and ultimately conquering Roman cities.
However, unlike Settlers, in Struggle for Rome a player can only gain one resource from any hex, regardless of the number of cities or nomadic tribes that are in its surrounding intersections.
If a 7 is rolled, the Roman Legionnaire, the Struggle for Rome version of the Settlers robber, is moved to any hex on the board, and a player may steal a resource (or three (two gold in English version) gold in lieu of a resource) from a player with a city or tribe adjacent.
If a city is sacked, the player may reveal the plunder token that is placed there at the start of the game for their reward (which may also incur losses in warriors or spearmen).
If a city is conquered, the plunder token (if still extant) is discarded, and a supply wagon from the tribe and a warrior or horseman (whichever is applicable) is placed at the location of the conquered city, and the tribe in question ceases to be nomadic.
It introduces a one victory point bonus awarded to players who have conquered three cities with four or five towers each, marked on the board with a special symbol.