This screenshot shows a button stating "click here for Cohort option". I wonder if the game is includes as well.

Bought it (mostly for historical/completionist reasons) and neither in the game nor in the manual it is mentioned that this is the deluxe version.

Since you own the game, can you tell us what happens if you click the button for the "Cohort option", as mentioned above by karnak1?

Yes, but since I've never played the game before I guess I will need some time to get used to it until I encounter the first battles.

When you boot up the GOG version of the game, there's a DOS prompt asking you which version you want to run. The first option is called the US version and the second is called the European version.

The US version seems to be a newer and far more polished version of the game, but lacks the French and German language options. Improvements include plenty of keyboard shortcuts, the ability to change the game speed, an extra advisor in the forum (trade advisor), many more ranks to progress through (20 instead of 10ish), more obvious user interface (you can see what's a button) and separate difficulty and starting cash options at the beginning of the game (instead of just starting cash).

This seems to be the one you want to play.

As for the combat, the US version has no mention of Cohorts during combat. It plays out in normal Caesar fashion. The European version, however, gives you the option to boot Cohorts 2. Clicking this button quits the game, and you get a message telling you that Cohorts isn't installed. It then launches Caesar up again and continues where it left off.

Either way, there doesn't seem to be Cohorts 2 bundled with this game. Not that this is a loss, because after one or two battles I'm sure you'd rather resolve the battles normally for the rest of the game.

Well, I guess this answers the question. No Cohort 2 in this version, then.

Thanks for the info.

It was an ambitious concept for the time. Reminds me of the Field of Glory Empires, and Field of Glory 2 games that can combine to add more depth to the in game battles. Unfortunately it didn't work so well for Caesar I/Cohort 2 because the cohort 2 battle engine was pretty bad even for the time. I'd like to see the option to try it again though. I'd pay a few dollars for Cohort 1&2 bundle. Despite them being bad games.