As a Carthaginian, Romans to weak in manpower and too passive

[Julius Augustus]

Bad idea. More cities in Italy would horribly unbalance the game. It would lead to Rome stampeding the Gauls. Have you ever noticed how the roman armies tend to go not south, but north. More cities would just lead to rome destroying the Gauls and Germans.

It might have some historical accuracy, but due to the unbalanced AI, it would do more harm than good.