I'm a skinner myself, but I'm a total newbie to AOM's modding tools. I have won 2 skinning awards with my Warcraft III skins though, so I think if we'd gather a mod team to do this, I'd be skilled enough to pull off some textures.

I think the only thing this community lacks is a good modding team that actually adds something to the game that really fits. If anyone likes this idea as much as I do, just post .

Note on resources: F=food, W=wood, G=gold and Fa=favor

Romans
*Romans do not create normal villagers, instead they build a Patronus. Each patronus is accompanied by 3 slaves, and thus is slightly more expensive than an Atlantean villager. If you task the Patronus on a resource, his slaves will gather it, and the Patronus will empower them. If the Patronus is killed, the slaves are turned into Liberti. A Libertus gathers slightly slower than a slave, but is slightly more powerful in combat. Patroni are heroes, and are pretty good at stopping classical age myth units. Therefore, Rome is the ideal civilization to survive early rushes, 'cause of Liberti and Patronus heroes. However, it is not a good option to send in your patroni or liberti for an early rush, ‘cause they’re very slow and have very low pierce armor (which makes them vulnerable to TC fire). There will be an expensive Classical age tech which will give them a lot more pierce armor. So Romans can’t rush that well in archaic and early classical, but Liberti and Patroni become good additions to an army later on. In the beginning of the game, they’re only good at stopping rushes, when they’re backed with TC fire.
*Units are upgraded per building, being mainline units at the barracks, elite units at the Cohors and auxilliari units at the army camp.
*Favor is gathered by tasking a patronus on a special building, the arena. His slaves will fight to please the gods and the people. Only 2 patroni can be tasked at one arena at a time. Special units, like Gladiators, are built from the Arena too.
*They have one drop-off site for all resources, called the villa; it costs except wood, also a small amount of gold
*Villagers:
Patronus, accompanied by 3 slaves.
*Scout:
The Roman scout will be the Flagbearer, a scout that combines the best elements of both the greek and egyptian scout. He's fast, has large line of sight, and can place banners at critical points to have permanent line of sight. His only weakness is that he has very little hitpoints, so he should not come near towncenters at all costs.
*Titan: Charon, the ferryman to Erebus over the river styx. He will have a demonic looking expression and will be grey and red coloured.
*Roman houses are called insulae, and they each support 20 population. Insulae receive a HP bonus when built closely together.
*Wonder:
Jupiter: Triumphal Arch
Quirinus: Circus Maximus
Mars: Amphiteatrum Flavium (Colloseum)

Gods

Archaic:

Jupiter:
Focus: Expansion
GP: Roman Expansion: creates a neutral settlement, which can be occupied in archaic at a cost by anyone.
Boni; Patroni faster, Patroni build faster,; TC's can be built in Archaic; Siege weapons cheaper
UU: Praetorian: infantry with a bonus against heroes
Tech: Imperial Road: all human units faster, more LOS (W,Fa)

Quirinus:
Focus: Heroes (Caesar, Senators, Patroni)
GP: Alliance: Can be tasked on an unoccupied town center to spawn 4 barbarians to aid you in combat. Barbarians benefit from infantry upgrades.
/Note: This is a good GP to help defend from an early rush, or to stop your enemy from acquiring a town center if he only tasks villagers on it with no protection.
Boni: Patroni have more HP and attack, Arena’s are cheaper, Can build a unique Caesar unit in Mythic.
UU: Amazon: a female horse archer, with bonus against infantry
Tech: Free men: Player can convert slaves to liberti without killing the patronus.

Mars:
Focus: Infantry
GP: Ambassador: Turns your flagbearers into Ambassadors, which are slightly weaker than Legionnaires, but have a lot more attack and HP than ordinary flagbearers.
Boni: Legionnaires faster, more HP, less hack/pierce armour; barracks stronger, more expensive; Cohors cheaper and don’t cost favour. Cohort techs cheaper.
UU: Cataphract: cavalry, with a bonus against infantry. Trained at the Cohors.
Tech: Imperial Standard: all military units more attack (G,Fa)

Classic (J=Juppiter,Q=Quirinus,M=Mars):

Vesta (J;Q) buildings
GP: Pax Romana: enemy units can't attack your Flagbearers, Patroni, buildings (except Towers, Army Camps and Cohors) for the time the GP lasts
MU: Vestal Virgin: a torch carrying priestess, which heals and has a ranged crush attack Torch can set oil from Boiling Oil Catapult on fire. (G,W,Fa).
Tech: Vesta's hearth fire: buildings cheaper, stronger (W,Fa)
Tech: Never dieing fire: gives your Vestal Virgins more attack, range (W,Fa)
Tech: Wolf-mother of Romulus and Remus: Patroni build faster (F,Fa)

Janus (J;M) walls
GP: Sons of Rea Silvia: grants you the twin brothers Romulus and Remus, the latter being a very strong patrician, who empowers twice as good as a normal one the former being a very strong hero legionnaire
MU: Wolfling. Savage human which does massive damage against cavalry and elephants. (F,Fa)
Tech: God of Beginning and Ending: all military units are created faster (F,Fa)
Tech: Protector of doors: walls cheaper (W,Fa)
Tech: Protector of Saturn: gold is gathered faster (F,W,Fa)
Tech: Closing of the Temple-doors: gates are free (G,Fa)

Saturn (Q;M) Technology and heroes
GP: Golden Age: Speeds up technology research and makes it cheaper for a period of 1.5 minutes.
MU: Basilisk: Mythical snake with the head of a human. Can set soldiers a blazing with it’s special attack, and can also turn the oil of the Burning Oil Catapult on fire with it’s special attack.(F,G,Fa)
Tech: Ruler of the Golden Age: age advancement cheaper (F,G,Fa)
Tech: Ancient Serpent: Turns Basilisks into Sirian Basilisks, which have more HP and do splash damage with their special attack.(G,Fa)
Tech: Senate of Rome: turns your Patroni into senators, which are stronger, and empower better(G,Fa)

Heroic:

Ceres (J;Q) Farms
GP: Golden Harvest: Cast it on a farm to make it a Farm of Paradise, from which a slave can gather food four times as fast. Can also be farmed by other player’s workers.
MU: Catoblepas: Scaled Bull. A heavily armoured myth unit that has a charging attack. Is most vulnerable to piercing hero attacks. (F,G,Fa)
Tech: Rhea’s blessing: Farms cheaper, slaves gather faster from farms
Tech: Sacrifices: Farms gather a bit less food than normal, but now also gather a little bit of favour.

Fides: (J;M) favor
GP: Dioscuri: summons the two dioscuri Castor and Pollux, who are invincible, but only have a normal attack; they disappear after a set time
MU: Griffin: Air unit that is part eagle and part lion. Is pretty resistant to pierce attacks, but has to swoop down to attack a unit, and stay low for a while, becoming very vulnerable to hack attacks.(G,Fa)
Tech: Shared divinity: Favor is gathered faster
Tech: Arimaspian Griffin: Turns griffins into Arimaspian Griffins, which have more HP and are even more resistant to pierce attacks. (G,Fa)
Tech: Crewmen of the Argo: Ships are stronger against MU's, MU's can't use their special attack against ships (W,G,Fa)

Fortuna (Q;M) Archers
GP: Luck: If cast on a certain area, your units and buildings are more likely to hit anything in that area, and the enemies’ units and buildings are more likely to miss.
MU: Safat: Magical bird that is always flying. Has a special egg-laying attack. In a small area around the egg enemies’ are more likely to miss. (W,G,Fa). Egg can be destroyed.
MU: Makara: Half fish, half elephant myth unit. Terrifies enemy ships with a special attack, making them more likely to miss.
Tech: Fate in the Gods: Increases the chance of your archers to hit moving units.
Tech: Elder Safat: Turns your Safat into Elder Safat, allowing you to build a new Safat from his egg at the battlefield, at a cost.(W,G,Fa)
Tech: Bounty of the seas: fishing ships work faster, carry more food (F,Fa)

Mythic:

Venus (J;Q) Myth units
GP: Descendant of the Gods: turns one of your patroni/senators into the Caesar, a very powerful hero unit.
MU: Trojan Horse: Essentially a moving barracks. It trains every unit the barracks train too. Is also a siege weapon, but can be easily taken out by cavalry.(W,G,Fa)
Tech: Fertility: If you place 2 or more of the same Myth units in a group (with CTRL – Number) they may generate additional Myth Units of the same type at the battlefield.
Tech: Untameable: Lets all your Myth units (including Titans) do extra damage. (G,Fa)

Mithras (M,J)Infantry
GP: Cult of Mithras: summons a free army of 17 champion hero legionnairs for a short period of time.
MU: Ceryneian Hind: A very large Hind, who is a very good siege weapon, and also very fast. Only cavalry can keep up with it. It does not have as much HP as Scarabs and Behemoths.
Tech: Tribal Drums: Motivates Legionnairs when in large groups (10 or more), giving them an attack bonus.(W,G,Fa)
Tech: Blood of the Bull: Allows any millitary units to kill animals and drink their blood, replenishing their health.(F,G,W,Fa)

Angerona (Q,M) Stealth
GP: Veil: Cast this on a group of buildings or units, and they will become invisible for a short period of time. They can still attack.
MU: Simurgh: A giant Persian bird-like land monster, shaped like a peacock with the head of a dog and claws of a lion. It's special attack can turn one of your units temporarily invisible for a short period of time.(G,F,Fa)
MU: Stealth Tower: Does not attack, but renders buildings and units in a small radius around it invisible. The tower itself can still be seen (W,G,Fa).
Tech: Wisdom: Turns your Simurgh into Simurghs of the Deep, allowing them to cross bodies of water and use their special attack on ships.(W,G,Fa)
Tech: Haste: Increases the movement speed of all your units.

Units
Aux. means Auxiliary, the Roman word for reserve-troops, mostly 'barbarians'
Mrc. means mercenary
Inf. means infantry

Name Type Bonus vs. Strong vs.

Heroes
Patronus Hero MU's MU's
Senators Hero MU's MU's
Caesar Hero MU's Everything

Infantry
Libertus Infantry Infantry Infantry
Flagbearer infantry -,-
Legionnaire infantry buildings infantry
Etruscan mrc. infantry cavalry cavalry
Praetorian infantry heroes heroes

Archers
Skirmisher archer archers archers
Archer Aux. Archer - infantry
Amazon cav. archer - infantry

Cavalry
Cavalry Aux. cavalry cavalry cavalry
Cataphract cavalry infantry infantry

Siege
Cheiroballista siege infantry infantry
Capped ram siege buildings buildings
Burning Oil Catapult siege buildings, inf. bld's, inf.

Name Weak vs. Costs Created at

Heroes
Patronus Millitary Units F,W, Town Hall
Senator Military Units, F,W, Town Hall
Caesar, Nothing, GP

Infantry
Libertus Archers F, converted from slave
Flagbearer Archers F,W, Cohors
Legionnaire archers F,G Barracks(2)
Etruscan mrc. archers W,F Barracks(2)
Praetorian archers F,G Cohors(3)

Archers
Skirmisher cavalry F,W Barracks(2)
Archer Aux. cavalry W,G Army Camp(3)
Amazon cavalry W,G Cohors(3)

Cavalry
Cavalry Aux. infantry F,W Army Camp(3)
Cataphract cavalry F,G Cohors(3)

Siege
Burning Oil Catapult cavalry W,G Army Camp(3)
Capped ram cavalry W,G Cohors

If anyone has comments to make about my changes and 'improvements', or if you want to change things about the idea yourself, go right ahead.

Basilisk concept art I did for this mod:

Catoblepas concept art coming up!