Sicily, Carthage and Roman rivals in the game's opening speech

The introductory game speech presents war as a family undertaking driven by revenge for deaths at Carthaginian, Greek and Roman hands. Its ambitions include making Sicily Roman, crushing Carthage and eliminating the other Roman families. The fictional narrator wants dominion over the world and links these victories to deserving the gods' love and the right to rule Rome. This is the game's dramatic framing of conquest and rivalry; it does not explain the historical course of the conflicts it invokes.