And here is the climax of that game, the turn I took Rome.
115 provinces.
Funny story behind this.
The Romans and Gauls jointly declared war on me the turn I captured Carthage. The Numidians were my allies, so I didn't think anything of their armies. I still don't. Anyhow, I wasn't expecting this so soon, I wanted to go to war on my terms, at my time, when my army was ready.
Rome didn't let this happen. Fortunately, by my own wisdom I had border garrison armies along the Alps that held them off until my "sleeping beast" was awakened.
In the meantime, however, I wanted to hit Rome hard and quick; since I dominated the seas and had three armies sitting around beating off in Carthage, I shipped them over to the practically undefended Sicily, which I conquered very quickly.
The Numidians are smart little bastards, as soon as my armies got to Sicily, they attacked every city I had west of Lepcis Magna. So back goes one army to deal with the Numidians. They prove to be a pushover, and a few careful manouevers later, their most populous cities are mine, and their armies are dust.
Back to Rome, though. I have to get ten fully packed armies from Greece, Anatolia, and Dacia over to the Illyrian border before the Romans can counterattack in Sicily. You see, they have lots and lots of armies, which they all sent south immediately to deal with my expiditionary force. Granted, this had the wonderful side-effect of drawing them out of Etruria, it also meant that one thousand Greeks (well technically Egyptian, since they were trained there) had to hold out against ten thousand Roman legionaries.
My plan was to bleed the Romans dry, and hold them up as long as I could in Sicily, which I figured I would lose for sure. I managed to take three thousand of them with me before my army bought it (to give reference, a single Roman unit is 82 large, I think it's the "large" category in the options). Somehow, though, I managed to hold onto Syracuse and Lilyabeum.
So, since the Legions are south, I can just walk right into Italy, right? 'Fraid not. The Gauls have fairly large cities now, so their armies are comparably large. The "phony war" in Venetia has given them time to bring their full power to bear. The Gauls plant ten thousand men in Venetia, and another five in Cisalpine Gaul. I'm forced to hack my way through Northern Italy, bleeding the Gauls dry, but also denting my force considerably. Thankfully, three extra armies from Eastern Anatolia arrive, supplimented by mercenaries from Greece, just in time to keep my momentum up, and charge full throttle into the peninsula proper.
The legions are on the march north again. As they reach the area of Capua, two armies arrive from Aegyptus, boasting the best mercenaries and troops from the East, plus several units of African Elephants. The three legions still in Sicily decide to engage me piecemeal; it proves a Phyrric Victory for me, all three legions are destroyed, but not before they bled both armies dry. It proves to be strong enough to wrench back Sicily, however, and the island is once again mine.
It appear that the Gauls are out of this race now, too. All those armies I faced appear to have been all the military they had. As my spies march through Gaul, they spot only town garrison units, with the exception of a single army in Narbonensis, which I meet at the Rhone River bridge. You can guess the rest of that.
My armies continue down the Italian peninsula, capturing the first two Roman cities, towns boasting twenty thousand souls a piece. They are promplty sold into slavery, boosting my empire's already incomprihensible population of 12 million by what amounts to only marginal increase in each city.
At the time the legions remaining reach Capua, the climax of my conquests are very near. Five Macedonian armies are converging on Rome, which boasts considerable defences. Together with the three legions heading north, my expedition certainly stands on thin ice.
But wait! Just when it seems steam has run out, for surely even if I took Rome, I would be unable to continue on to Tartentum, my remaining three armies arrive from the East and land beside each southern Roman city. These armies are more exotic, boasting Indian Infantry, Indian Elephants, Cyrtian Swordsmen, and Arab Cavalry, to name a few.
I will here digress for a moment simply to name the indigenous peoples who lent their services - and units, to my cause.
Thracians
Sarmatians
Illyrians
Greeks
Cretians
Galatians
Cyrtians
Persians
Egyptians
Arabs
Beoduins
Lybians
Numidians
Nubians
Bastarnae
Germans
Machmoi
Indians
Gauls
Cilicians
Iberians
During my conquest of Italy, there were units from each of those ethinicities hired or trained across the Empire, and of whom converged on Rome in the glory of multicultural cooperation.
So, the exotic armies from the east capture the two southern Roman cities, and my five glorious armies simultaneously assail the Seven Hills. In truly epic fashion, probably half my force is destroyed in taking the city, and my general's unit slays the Roman Consul on the steps of the Temple to Jupiter.
Rome is mine.
