Glory to Rome: Republic Expansion has been in the making since 2007 or thereabouts, and with the publication of the Black Box edition of Glory to Rome in 2012, it has finally become an official variant/expansion. (The Republic Expansion is included with GtR Black Box; this card set makes the expansion available to those who own older editions of the game.)

Playing with the Republic rules, players will find Glory to Rome a bit more forgiving (especially to new players) and more balanced in regard to the Craftsman/Architect roles. The Republic Expansion includes:

• Crane, which replaces the Circus and allows you to use a card to lead or follow Architect.
• Domus Aurea, which replaces the Coliseum and lets you demolish incomplete buildings with no materials when performing the Legionary role.
• Forum Romanum, which replaces the Forum and allows for an instant win if you have one client of each type and one material of each type in the stockpile.
• Tribunal, which replaces the Senate and allows you to draw one Jack when performing the Thinker role.

When using the Republic Expansion, players start with five order cards in hand (instead of four order cards and a Jack). Players may also Petition with two cards of the same role instead of three.

These are available for purchase from the BGG Store.

- The original I.V rules are now called the Imperial rules:
Your starting hand is 4 orders cards plus one Jack and three cards of a single type are needed to petition.

- In the Republic rules your starting hand is 5 orders cards and you need only two cards of a single type to petition.
The following cards are changed (15):
Circus becomes Crane (6 copies)
Senate becomes Tribunal (3 copies)
Forum becomes Forum Romanum (3 copies)
Colosseum becomes Domus Aurea (3 copies)

The Imperial rules are more cut-throat so the Republic rules are recommended for beginners and are preferred by many.