very governor should be concerned with the mood of his citizens. If they are happy, you can take actions that will benefit the city in the long run, but that might upset a few citizens in the immediate future. But taking the same actions when the population is already in a foul mood could lead to disaster.

Put simply, the mood of a city is a sense of how the average citizen is feeling. The mood of a city is calculated directly from the mood of each individual dwelling in a city. Your Chief Advisor will keep you informed about the overall mood of your citizens. Be warned: it is quite possible to have a few houses with unhappy citizens even when the overall mood is very good.

Mood affects two important mechanisms within Roman cities: migration and crime.

The overall mood of the city is known to people for miles around, and affects immigration. New immigrants will want to move to a city which is pleased with its governor, but they won't move into an unhappy city at all. See Immigration on Page 49, People, Employment, Migration, for more details on migration.

Both the overall mood of the city and the mood of each individual dwelling determine crime. As mood gets worse, the likelihood of committing a crime rises.

Crime and migration are very important to a city's success. For a city to thrive, you need to know how to improve the mood of your city and its citizens. Let common sense guide you: People with jobs, with enough food, earning a reasonable wage and paying reasonable taxes are likely to be fairly happy. High unemployment, a lack of food, high taxes or low wages all upset people. The longer any of these conditions lasts, and the more extreme it is, the greater will be the effect. So, high taxes for one month worsen people's moods to a small degree, but the same tax rate for three or four months has a much worse effect.

Individual dwellings are easily angered if they frequently miss rations. This can easily happen to homes near the end of a market trader's delivery route. Solve this by placing a market closer to the troubled homes.

Throughout history, the poorer people of the world have suffered more than their wealthier neighbors. Roman cities are no exception to this sad rule, and the people know it. When a city first gets going, many of its citizens probably live in tents. Conditions there are not very good, but nobody complains because they all share the same conditions, hopes and goals.

As the city develops, though, some housing evolves into better dwellings, with better living conditions. Any people still living in tents expect their governor to provide for them, too, allowing them to upgrade their tents into nicer property. If that does not happen, despite lots of services being made available to a few now very wealthy houses, the tent dwellers become justifiably angry. Be fair, and your city will thrive. But if you leave some people in extremely poor conditions while looking after the rest, you should expect anger as a result. You have been w arned ! Governors can improve their citizens' mood by holding festivals. The larger the festival, the greater the benefit. For more information about festivals, see Page 93, Festivals.