Buildings in Rome: Total War
Settlements are centrally important in your efforts to conquer the world. They generate income through taxes. Military units are trained there. And without taking enemy settlements, you’re unlikely to win the game.
Each settlement is the regional capital of the province it occupies: the faction that owns a settlement also owns the associated province. All the resources—trade goods, for example— shown on the campaign map in a province are available for use by the settlement. You can move the cursor over a resource to see a relevant tool tip.
The size of a settlement—whether it’s a village, town, large town or a minor, large or huge city—is determined by the size of the population. The larger the population, the bigger the settlement. Settlement size and defenses are shown on the campaign map.
A settlement can only take advantage of its large population if it has the right government building at its (metaphorical) centre. Without the right administration, advanced structures cannot be built. There’s a chain from population to government to building construction to training military units for each settlement. Without settlements to generate units, you won’t have armies to command!