I had a great game blitzing Italy and using my starting elephants until they were gone rather than disbanding them... I used them as super mobile siege weapons after some epic battles against Rome. I then used cost-effective armies of mostly levy phalanxes and Italian regionals (I recruited Hastati as skirmishers since their pilas are armor piercing, and then I'd use Samnites or axemen at their flanks) to conquer Carthage, Greece, and Asia Minor... but yeah come to think of it this was a migration campaign of sorts. Thorakitai are a personal favorite too and I know the Maks can't get them. I've always preferred mobile close combat infantry and lots of javelins over the phalanx and I wanted Italian and Celtic mercs to carry the day while the citizens just pin down the enemy. When you conquer all of Italy you stop feeling the debt as much too.