Anno 117 Pax Romana money guide: earn gold fast in Anno 117

In Anno 117: Pax Romana, coins flow from quarries, farms, and trade routes-but only if you master the hidden chains binding them.

How to generate income on a new island in Anno 117: Pax Romana

Build basic residences on the new island to attract plebeians, then connect roads and a warehouse for smooth logistics. Produce timber and staple goods like grain to meet their food and work demands, keeping balance positive through taxes. Construct a shipyard once coastal access unlocks to establish trade routes with your main settlement, importing olives or amphorae while exporting excess for steady denarii flow.​​

Be careful; it’s entirely possible to create a fledgling town in Anno 117 that only costs money and generates none. The town pictured below, for example, is quickly depleting its coffers because it has fulfilled its citizens’ “food” requirement through the oat farm and a porridge stand – nothing wrong with that, but a porridge stand only generates 2 population growth. All this player needs to do to start making money is place a fishing hut, which not only generates 1 population, but also 1 income.

A good next step would then be to add a market, which also adds 1 income and 1 population, and fulfills the “public service” need, but beware that such buildings usually have a limited range of service. As you can see in the picture below, only the residential houses on the right side of town fall within the market’s area of effect and will generate 1 income.

It’s usually best to place buildings with area effects in the middle of a town, but in this example, the player might also consider adding a second marketplace to buff the remaining residential buildings – but beware that buffs from the same building don’t stack, so placing two markets right next to each other would be a waste of maintenance money.

How to check your finances in Anno 117: Pax Romana

Click the money icon at the top of the screen to open the finances overview. This panel breaks down income from taxes and trade against maintenance costs for buildings, ships, and units. Hover over individual entries for precise sources of gains or losses to spot imbalances quickly.​

Once you’ve taken the steps mentioned above, your negative financial balance will soon transform into a positive one, but it’s important to keep an eye on it throughout the game. To quickly check how your empire is faring financially, hover over the “balance” tab at the top of the screen, the second from the left. If the balance is negative, be sure to get additional income buffs or remove high-maintenance buildings.

The “island income” tab on the right side of the player icon will show you where the money is coming from, but it’s best to check the more detailed “governance – income” menu by clicking on the player icon. This menu will tell you exactly which buildings are generating you a lot of money and which ones aren’t.

Finally, it can be incredibly useful to check a residence’s active effects. To do so, select a residence and click on the arrow below their character portrait, which we’ve shown in the image below. The building’s total income is shown at the bottom, and you can see the source of every buff by hovering over each needs and attributes icons.

How to maximize profits in Anno 117: Pax Romana

Profit comes from balancing housing growth with smart trade and disciplined upkeep. Focus on high-demand goods, automate trade routes, and cap maintenance costs to keep Denarii positive. Build houses to generate steady income, but only add service and manufacturing buildings when you can cover their upkeep, and use trade contracts to secure passive income when surplus production exists. Monitor efficiency and shut down lossmaking facilities before they drain your treasury.​

Once you’ve got a thriving, albeit tiny, economy, there are a few more things you can do to maximize profit.

Deploy specialists

Once you’ve built your first villas, including the Governor Villa and Officium, you can place Specialistsin a governance building’s equipment slots. This will activate the Specialists’ bonuses within a certain radius around that building.

Specialists can be obtained from quests and bought from traders. To turn them into money-making machines, find the ones that boost income or reduce maintenance costs, and be sure to place them in a governance building right in the middle of a town.

Research new ways to generate income

Some research projects can greatly boost your income. If you have a bunch of fishing huts, for example, you can research the “Fish Markets” node in the economic part of the research tree, which will improve the fishing huts’ income effect by 3.

Sometimes, research nodes can boost your Anno 117 income indirectly. “Market Forces,” one of the first nodes on the civic research tree, boosts the effect range of markets by 25%. Since markets generate 1 income on buildings within range, expanding that range is an amazing way to get more coin.

Sell the surplus

Producing more goods than your citizens need? That’s great, because that means you can sell them to traders. There are various ways to sell surplus goods in Anno 117:

• Automatically sell your surplus to trading partners -Click on the Trading Post (the first harbor building in every new settlement) and select the product you wish to sell. Next, click the “sell” button and drag the “minimum stock” bar to the right. Every item above that threshold is up for sale, and trade partners will automatically buy them over time.
• Complete contracts -Every leader or representative of the emperor can provide randomized contracts. These are one-time opportunities to make some extra money. For example, another leader can ask for 25 garum, which will easily net a few thousand denarii. To find contracts, click on the lighthouse building in the rival leader’s harbor.
• Set up trade routes – If you have at least one ship and trade partner, open the trade routes menu in the left side bar and select two islands (yours and the trade partner’s) to set up a route. In the example below, sardines are loaded on Capua Nova and sold to Villa Augusta.

More tips to generate income in Anno 117: Pax Romana

As you further expand your thriving economy in Anno 117, keep the following tips in mind.

• Wait until you’ve set up a proper, island-wide economy before building any ship- and military-related buildings. As mentioned earlier, most buildings don’t require money for construction, but most ships and military buildings are the exception to that rule. On top of that, they still have a hefty upkeep requirement and typically claim a part of your workforce, which stops them from generating income.
• Avoid overlapping area effects. Placing a market to improve the income of its surrounding buildings is an excellent idea, but don’t place a second market too close to the first one: Area effects from the same building do not stack, so you’ll only rack up maintenance costs without reaping the benefits. To be clear, income-generating buffs from different sources do stack; a single residential building can receive income buffs from both the fishing hut and market at the same time.
• A rival leader may give you money. This occasionally happens following an action this leader approves of, such as building a Grammaticus if that leader favors knowledge. Just accept the gift in the pop-up screen to receive the extra money.
• In early game, tunics and garum provide the highest income bonuses ( 2 income each).
• Watch out for negative side effects. Bread, for example, provides tons of money once you’ve reached tier two in the Latium region. But although you gain 1 income from bread needs and 2 from the bakery’s area effect, it also reduces fire safety by -2. You might want to place a well or city watch near the bakery to prevent great fires.
• Damaged buildings can’t provide buffs, so if your garum producer falls victim to a great fire, you’ll have to restore the building to reactivate the income bonus.
• You can take out a loan in the diplomacy menu. This isn’t charity, though; a rival leader may give you a loan, but you’ll have to pay interest. It’s therefore not the best way to boost your economy.

Best early-game buildings to boost income quickly

Fishing Huts and basic housing provide the quickest early-game income boost in Anno 117: Pax Romana by generating food to meet resident needs and unlock taxes. Markets and Spinners follow closely to enhance nearby houses with +1 income each.​

Top Early Buildings

• Fishing Huts: Produce sardines cheaply to satisfy first needs on Liberti houses, yielding immediate +1 income per house; place near water for efficiency.​

• Housing (Liberti): Build clusters inland with roads first, then add needs fulfillment; each upgraded need tier adds progressive tax gold.​

• Markets: Cover 10+ houses for net positive (+1 income radius), low upkeep makes them ideal starters over pricier options.​

Placement Tips

Group 10-15 houses around one Market and minimal Fishing Huts to hit breakeven fast, avoiding overexpansion that drains funds. Use auto-sell at the trading post for sardine surplus to supplement taxes without routes. Research basic economy techs early to amplify these buildings’ output.​

Which early buildings give the best tax income per ducat cost

Markets and Fishing Huts offer the best early-game tax income per ducat cost in Anno 117: Pax Romana due to their low upfront expense and broad coverage bonuses. Spinners rank next for similar efficiency when placed near housing clusters.​

Efficiency Rankings

Placement Optimization

Position Markets to overlap 10-15 Liberti houses for breakeven within minutes, as their radius bonus outweighs upkeep despite initial cost. Pair Fishing Huts with housing first to unlock food needs cheaply, scaling taxes faster than isolated production chains. Avoid early Spinners unless cloth needs are met, prioritizing food and services for quickest ROI.​