Most notable Faction Progression I've ever Witnessed

[Grade_A_Beef]

Yeah, I played about ten more turns and the Lusos have already taken three Sweboz territories. My buffer state of Rome at Patavium is now useless as the Lusos border me at the northern alps, as I own the settlement where the southernmost super stack spawns. Funny enough I can never fully remember the name of the settlement (luva something?), but I can so remember Satres.

On a side note I wouldn't count on the numidians being much of a threat to Carthage. AI Carthage always seems to focus on Northern Africa first, and the Numidians have no reliable trade partners or allies that can be an early threat to Carthage's core cities.

In my experience Antiochea is pretty much the key city that defines which superpower will dominate the East. If the Ptolemaics fail to take and hold it before losing Side and Tarsus they're usually screwed, and the opposite is true for the Seleucids. In my experience not even the combined expansionist aims (read early war) with Pontos, Parthia, and Bactria match losing Antiochea to the Ptolemaics, as that city pretty much opens up the Babylonian heartlands for invasion.