Caesar

The Original Caesar was a breakthrough in the Strategy genre. It was so popular, in fact, that four sequels were made – you may have heard of Caesar IV, the award-winning 3D strategy game made in 2006. Though the original Caesar lacks the modern graphics and sound, it still has great gameplay.
The game is based in ancient Rome, and you take the place of the governor of a province. First you have to build your provincial capital. You must include a forum, basic infrastructure (roads and water) and lots where people can build houses.

Then, you just watch the plebs flood in. As your city grows, the people will start wanting goods and services, requiring you to build industries, markets, and military structures.
Besides the city-view, there is also the provincial-level view, where one can control armies, exploit resources, and connect tribes to the capital. While you make your province better and better, your stats will grow higher and higher, and eventually, you’ll be promoted to the next province. After completing every challenge sent your way, whether it is subduing barbarians, building cities or expanding an empire, you’ll become the next emperor of Rome.
The game is a combination of mirco- and macro-management. You can decide to try to make every single person in your city happy (mind you, it is next to impossible), or you can lay out roads and buildings like crazy. Whatever your choice, you need to watch your coffers. Happier (and richer) people are willing to pay more taxes, and that’s a good thing. The last thing that a person wants is an unrecoverable state of debt. The money is used to build houses, fund armies and walls, and erect forums.
The great thing about strategy games like this one is that you can never actually “win”. Even though you could be promoted to Emperor, the game only ends when you want it to end. If you’re satisfied by just building a village with 100 poor inhabitants, you can decide that you want to stop playing there. Personally, I would stop playing as soon as I become Emperor, but there are people out there that would just keep on playing.
Finally, I just want to say that this game is a sheer classic. Even if you’ve played one of its sequels, this game is worth a shot. However, the graphics are no where near modern standards, and the sound could have been a lot better. But this game makes up for it in gameplay.