Rome

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"The Eternal City, you called it, believing it would stand forever, a testament to faith and enlightment, reason and religion. Yet see how quickly it fell; how soon you thought all eternal will be reduced to dust."

―Lord Achriman's speech regarding Rome^[src]

Rome is the capital city of Italy. It serves as a major location in two Serious Sam games; Serious Sam: Next Encounter and Serious Sam 4. In Serious Sam 4, Rome was believed to be the location of the Ark of the Covenant and the Holy Grail, which later turned out to be something different altogether.^[1]

Overview[]

Propaganda drone in Rome — A propaganda drone flying around the streets of Rome.

One of the most populous human settlements in Europe, Rome is a thriving city that was home to several million inhabitants before the Mental War began. Like many other cities and other human settlements on Earth, Rome was a target of strategic value to Mental's Horde during the Tunguska Offensive.^[1] Compared to other cities like Cairo, Rome was a lot more active, and many of the city's inhabitants still resided in the city to defend it against Mental's forces and the Octanians. It wasn't as badly damaged either, although some buildings had suffered infrasctural damage from bombing raids conducted by Octanian Raiders, while other areas have become neglected or in a bad state of disrepair, with vegetation growing rampant, while other areas saw signs of heavy conflict.^[1]

The Earth Defense Force has many outposts, forwarding operating bases and warehouses in Rome. There is also lots of EDF equipment scattered around too, such as Hesco barriers, sandbags, armor, ammo and weapons. This indicates that the EDF were involved in a conflict trying to fend off Mental's forces from attacking Rome, but they lost and Lord Achriman's forces eventually took over parts of the city for their own needs. Many soldiers and civilians fought together to fight back against the invaders, and formed the Italian Resistance. Despite taking moderate casualties,^[2] they were able to push out some of Achriman's forces from parts of the city after the resistance became established.^[1]

Architecture[]

Rome is famous for its architecture, which had greatly developed over the centuries, especially during the Classical period and Roman Empire eras. The Romanesque style in the 11th, 12th, and 13th centuries was also widely used in Roman architecture, and later the city became one of the main centres of Renaissance, Baroque and neoclassical architecture.

Design[]

Rome is rich in Romanesque culture during the 11th, 12th and 13th centuries. The city is dominated with statues of Roman gods, numerous temples and ancient buildings, such as the Colosseum. Many houses and apartment complexes are styled with more modern Italian architecture.

Notable locations[]

Colosseum[]

"Ah, the Colosseum, where thousands of Roman souls suffered under the scorching Roman sun. Well, at least we don't have tourism anymore."

―Sam Stone^[src]

A large amphitheatre and one of the most famous attractions in Rome, the Colosseum was built at least 2000 years ago and, despite the state of the city by the time Mental's armies invade, remains mostly intact. During the height of the Roman Empire, the Colosseum was capable of seating up to 60,000 spectators, and was used for gladiatorial contests and public spectacles.

Lord Achriman forced Sam to compete in the arena to fight against Mental's forces while he watched as a spectator, reminiscent of how the Colosseum was used during the height of the Roman Empire.^[3]

Piazza della Repubblica[]

A circular piazza located in Rome. This place served as the extraction point for the Alien Artifact Acquisition before they were escorted out of Rome by Hellfire.

Ponte Sant'Angelo[]

The Ponte Sant'Angelo is a Roman bridge built in 134 AD by the Roman Emperor Hadrian. The bridge was decorated with statues of angels. This bridge serves as a direct route to the Vatican.

Vatican City[]

A country and city-state located in Rome. It houses many important buildings, such as the Vatican Library.

Vatican Library[]

Formerly known as St. Peter's Basilica, this important building was located in the heart of Vatican City. The Library contained a sacred book that was hidden inside the statue of Saint George.^[4] This book revealed the location of the Ark of the Covenant and the Holy Grail. The entrance to the Library suffered heavy damage after Sam destroyed the statue of Saint George with C-4.

Appearances[]

Serious Sam: Next Encounter[]

Sam is teleported to the Colosseum during the Classical period in Rome. He manages to clear out some of the Evil Serious Sam Clone's forces, but a glitch in the Time-Lock causes Sam to be warped far away from the Colosseum. Sam, determined to know what's going on, makes his way through the Roman countryside and ends up in Rome again.

Sam carves a path through the enemy forces until he manages to reach the Colosseum again. After being tricked into giving some of his money to a stand made by the Evil Serious Sam Clone and seeing the large amount of enemy forces that are in the Colosseum, Sam decides to sneak into it via the sewers. Sam goes through a rather nasty trip through the sewers and gets back to where he started. However, the Evil Serious Sam Clone is more prepared this time, and sends out stronger monsters at Sam. Finally, he brings out his big guns; a gigantic creature named the Diablotaur. Sam defeats the creature, which also shuts down the time anomaly noted at the start of the game.

Serious Sam 4[]

Rome is the first location set in the campaign, and is one of many that was hit hard during the Tunguksa Offensive. A large alien portal had suddenly appeared within the city, which allowed Octanian troops and other members of Mental's Horde to appear. Lord Achriman, one of Mental's servants, rules over Rome with an iron fist.^[2]^[5]

To ensure total control of the city, Lord Achriman deployed Mental's forces and Octanian troops en masse, and had them set up multiple outposts in the city. They patrolled the streets to monitor and eliminate the possibility of any signs of resistance or opposition from them.^[5] An Octanian Harvester Leviathan also arrived at some point after the portal in Rome was established, which led to Harvester Drones abducting civilians and soldiers alike to be taken inside the motherships, converting them into Processed.^[2] At some point after the invasion began, a gigantic colonial organism started wrecking havoc upon the city, spreading its tentacles everywhere which formed inpenetrable barricades. This made Rome an even more hostile place to be staying in and also hampered any efforts to rescue citizens still trapped in the city or for people to evacuate.^[4]

After establishing a foothold in Rome, Lord Achriman soon began spreading propaganda to the populace, demanding that they become processed so they can serve as cannon fodder in Mental's army. Propaganda Drones and loudspeaker systems were set up to spread further fear and propaganda, tempting themselves to surrender and become processed and remind people of the Octanians' presence in the city.^[2]

Sometime after Achriman's occupation of Rome, an Earth Defense Force convoy escorting high-ranking soldiers and members of the Alien Artifact Acquisition squad sent to the Vatican, where they plan to meet up with Eastern Orthodox priest Father Mikhail, who they believe can help them find the Ark of the Covenant.^[2] On the way there, the convoy comes under attack by a fleet of Octanian Raiders, destroying several vehicles. Sam and Kenny's car is hit, but they both make it out unharmed.^[2]

Sam and Kenny proceed on foot towards the church where Father Mikhail is residing. They fight their way through the city until they meet up with Jones and Rodriguez, who are fighting off more of Mental's forces. Sam, Kenny and Father Mikhail join the two and a large fight begins. With Mental's forces defeated, a Saggitarian Sidewinder suddenly bursts out of the ground in front of them. Jones lends Sam Hellfire's minigun to fight off the metal monstrosity. Sam is able to defeat it, and Hellfire and Carter arrive just in time to rescue them on a bus.^[5]

Sometime later, as the Triple-A team are busy setting up beacons in Pompeii to activate the HAARP satellite, Carter escorts Father Mikhail back into Rome, where they plan to get to the Vatican Library to find the whereabouts of the Ark of the Covenant and the Holy Grail. Due to seismic activity in the area after Mount Vesuvius erupted, Carter and Mikhail lose contact with headquarters, which prompts General Brand to send in Rodriguez and Sam to rescue them.^[6] Sam and Rodriguez split up once they get to Rome, and Sam decides to explore some ruins, which he hopes will get him closer to the Colosseum. He eventually makes it to the Colosseum, where he encounters Lord Achriman. He provokes and taunts Sam before he sends in some of his forces to deal with him. Sam kills them all, but not long before Achriman summons a Swamp Hive to dispose of him.^[3] After a tough fight, Sam kills the monster, and Rodriguez shows up underneath the Colosseum to update Sam on the situation.

Lord Achriman appears — Lord Achriman confronts Sam at the Colosseum.

Sam and Rodriguez head down into the sewers underneath the Colosseum. There, they find Carter and Mikhail and rescue them. Mikhail instructs Sam tha, once he arrives at the Vatican Library, he needs to find the statue of Saint George, which contains a hidden text inside. Sam can't remember everything that Father Mikhail's instructed him to do, but he agrees to go along with the plan.^[4] After traveling on foot for sometime, Sam eventually gets stuck after he encounters a barricade made from alien tentacles. A kind old lady appears and lends Sam a helping hand with dealing with Mental's forces. Once the fighting is over, Sam asks her for directions, and she gladly tells him the way to the Vatican.^[7]

Eventually, Sam makes it to a warehouse which houses the "Popemobile", a mech designed for the Pope as his personal vehicle. Sam commandeers the mech and fights his way down a tentacle-infested street towards the Vatican Library, where he encounters the culprit behind the trails of tentacles; the Megalopolyp. A big fight ensues, but Sam emerges victorious.^[7]

Sam blows up Vatican — Rodriguez, Father Mikhail and Carter witness Sam blowing up the Vatican.

Sam enters the Library, but he can't remember exactly what Mikhail instructed him to do. He succeeds in finding the statue of Saint George, but instead of turing his arm to activate a hidden mechanism, he decides to blow it up with C-4.^[7] Father Mikhail, Carter and Rodriguez arrive and a massive explosion is seen outside. Sam emerges with the book that they were looking for, but they are not very impressed with Sam's antics, especially considering that he damaged an important and sacred building. With the book now in their possession, Sam and the team board a plane to Carcassonne.

Rome and the Vatican are briefly mentioned by Carter in the game credits and described their experience being there as "pretty cool", until Sam decided to blow up the Vatican Library.^[8]

What happens to Rome after the game is not known. In a post-credits cutscene, a future version of Sam pops out of a portal in time inside Nonna's apartment. Happy to see him again, Future Sam reveals that he has a mission for her.