Well, apparently I've been a junior member since '06. That must be some record right?

Yeah, it might be building a school. I wonder if the number of towns effects how fast or how many buildings you can construct. Maybe they're just a new form of governor's house/city wall. More advanced regions have more towns which means more building options.

I don't know if it means we can see it on the battlemap again. A general was selected, so right-clicking would garrison the army in the town, no? I do hope option to see the towns and cities on the battlemap is back in. I liked checking out my cities in Rome. I wouldn't be too pissed off if it's not in, but it was a nice touch.