Mercator is a business and trading game for 2 to 6 players. The board is a copy of the map of the world of the geographer Strabon (60 B.C. - 25 A.D.) and encloses the Orbis Romanum (the Roman world) which agrees historically with the Roman empire in the first and second century. The game uses ideas ahead of its time for trading, development, land management, and political maneuvering.