Brass so triumphant it makes you want to conquer Gaul before breakfast. Total War: Rome II has Jeff van Dyck delivering exactly the kind of massive, militaristic orchestral score the Roman setting demands. "The Siege of Carthage" layers tension with these relentless percussion patterns that build and build until the full orchestra crashes in.
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"Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori" takes that famous line and wraps it in something genuinely mournful rather than glorifying. Which is smart. "Threat in the Northlands" shifts the whole palette to something colder and more primal with Celtic-influenced arrangements that make the barbarian territories feel completely alien to Rome.
Anyone who's lost a weekend to a Rome II campaign already knows this score by heart, but it deserves a proper listen on its own.