Added an image from 2nd play through as Rome. The punic war actually rages now, Carthage is a thorn in my side, and an opportunistic barbarian tribe declared war and sacked Rome just when I was fighting Carthage in the south. Fun!

Historical map shows that Rome is now realistically contained during the early period. I could have done better in my 2nd game, having controlled corsica and sardinia briefly, and was allied with Syracuse, but a few blunders ran me out of both places. Of course this is a far cry from the standard game where, at 220 BC I had all of Gaul conquered and Carthage destroyed with my eye on moving into Iberia, Germania, or east. *yawn*