not sure if anyone is still playing this old gem, but i decided to have another go.
i expanded fast with much smaller "armies" than i usually do. rarely more than 5-7 per stack. i blitzed through carthage and took the entire domain without once stopping for peace. macedon declared war on me VERY early (same turn as carthage first did) and sent stacks of hoplites and cataphracts up to northern italy. while this seemed daunting at first, i realized this would give me lots of servii earlier than usual, and give me lots of elite legios who would otherwise simply sit and wait for hannibal. i got as much of the indy greeks as i could to ally with me against macedon, so they would wear each other out. and once the aetolian league (my allies) fell, i landed troops. through a combination of luck and planning i managed to land a pretty strong force in greece at the same time as my other force in spain (africa had already fallen), which was about 230 BC at the latest. after defeating the barca brothers and taking the final carthaginian strongholds, i took out magna graecia with several independent stacks (via cumbae), while simultaneously taking the rest of northern italy and Thrace. (~200 BC) splitting forces again, i attacked spain, pergamum, and illyria (from north and south). next, i let the seleukids and bithynians waste their forces on my single stronghold, then blitzed north up to pontus and south-east until i controlled every seleukid city. next was a simultaneous declaration on egypt and pontus. i allied with galatia and armenia and was lucky enough that the former was taken out. i rolled through pontus, soaked up the egyptian hordes (which was slow going), pressed down the nile, and wrapped up my spanish campaign at about the same time. (after, i took nabataea in about 3 turns). at this point i realized how far ahead i was and wanted to see how much i could do. Gaul declared was on me and i had a pretty easy time of taking their jabs and pushing back, roading along the way.
just for perspective: at 140 BC I made it to Paris. when i built the lex agraria, i was able to grant citizenship from Seleukia in the southeast to Lutetia in the northwest. the best part about this is building triumphal arches VERY close to your eventual permanent borders (quick upgrades, healing etc). another notable thing in this game is that i was so fast that i built the naval Pompey wonder IN BELGIUM. i figured, why not have a free navy in this theater? also, all the conquests other than gaul were done with the original legio. i got the marian reforms halfway through egypt, so there was no need.
next, i had an early war against germany (to preempt their stronger units) and took the usual settlements, as well as 2 for the peace treaty. however, the real wrench in the works was that germany took Tibiscum (formerly of Dacia). so i knew that i either had to eventually start another war with germany, or conquer dacia, that city, and THEN get the peace treaty. naturally i did the latter. in fact i rushed through dacian territory with one stack to take that last german city and get my peace treaty. but dacia fell quickly, way before they had falxmen. next was a quick campaign in britain (which was fun for me because im currently in london and my "Named Tribus" is also in England.) and a jugurthine war for those 3 numidian cities.
next came the fun/daunting part. I like to conquer Persia. ALL of it. (i waited quite a while before starting. i didnt begin until antonine golden age, as you cant conquer persia without the cohortes imperatoria.
all my armies (as in consular, caesar, etc) were brought to seleukia. i also brought pretty much every legio and allied hoplite (totaling i think ~90 legios, and ~70 hoplites), as well as 10ish numidian mercenaries, and about 20 allied celtic cavalry.
I had tons of money at this point, so upgraded all legios to imperial, all hoplites to miles auxiliarius, and built up 60 catapults. the other thing you need are at least a 20 servii.
anyway, i declared war, let them come, but through to undefended cities behind the front. (did this with the cohortes imperatoria so they wouldnt attack frontline cities.) i had advanced with all catapults and a few cohortes the turn before and took Ctesiphon for the roads. but their stack was huge. about 80 of each parthian horse archer, so 160 ish total units (i counted later) all together, 3 squares north of babylon. but i was ready. i sent my servii to block all neighboring tiles, allowing my 1 move legios to destroy their faster cavalry. it was the most satisfying battle ive fought in civ. it was my carrhae and cannae rolled up into one masterstroke.
i destroyed every unit.
and then, because i was only 1 move from a triumphal arch, i could heal everything within 2 turns. but i didnt need it. mesopotamia was a breeze for the cohortes and numidian cav. but beyond that i found that persia had inexplicably disbanded (?) some of its 23 hp praesidia magna. literally, every city but their northernmost 4 (herat, thara, rhagae, and sarmias) was just garrisoned with archers! i blitzed through, taking all the other cities with my fast units and then went slowly, city by city with all my artillery and a few cohortes and other units, bombarding until nothing was left. i walked into each city unharmed. and before the end of my golden age i had conquered all of persia! (around 160 AD i think)
this freed up HUGE numbers of troops, who are now guarding my northern limes (which incidentally were completed very quickly since i could send my syrian munitores up north.
before the crisis i had about 80,000 gold, and 100 imperial legios (and a cohortes in EVERY city on the border!) and while its hitting me hard and im down to 65,000 gold (-3300 per turn) i also have another 100 mercenary legions.
i have this very weird cat and mouse thing going with gothia though. they have all their huge forces but are looking for a way through my fortifications, unwilling to attack anything. so i open up the limes in by colonia agrippina until their troops make it close, then close it there and open the limes by the black sea. in this way, i basically have a SECONDARY WALL of gothic troops defending my border! and im happy to have them there. eventually, germany will get strong enough to think about attacking me, but to do so they will probably need to attack gothia, which will in turn make them think twice about attacking me and also (probably) destroy gothia!
I have no idea how this will work, but its pretty fun! im a little slow (maybe 10 turns behind) because i wanted an extra legio caesaris much earlier. and im a bit worried,about the happiness issues, but i think ill make it alright. anyway, its an exciting game. ill post some pictures soon.