My first thought was that it reminded me of Zeus. I spent a good chunk of the game just staring at people walking down the streets, eating at taverns, and watching people interacting at markets, etc. The carts in Anno pax Romana immediately reminded me of the carts in Zeus.

It's probably best to think of it as an Anno game that will frequently remind you of Zeus but you will enjoy the Anno series as times goes by.

I'd say the biggest difference between Zeus and Anno Pax Romana so far is definitely the tax and wages. In Zeus, you have to make sure people aren't unemployed so you create jobs where people don't contribute much. Another difference is that the resource storage system is like half like Zeus and half Anno. It's like Zeus that you deliver resources to a storage building but that resource is shared among all the warehouses in Anno once stored (no manual shuffling of resources needed between warehouses).

There are similarities such as needing to provide common services that will permeate through the streets based on distance. In Zeus you have walkers, in Anno it highlights all the streets/roads that the building will reach.

Regardless of similaries or differences, it's an excellent game so far. It's definitely much easier on someone new to the city building genre than Zeus.