The rebels usually spawn with 3-4 units and then recruit more as the turns go by. If you get rid of them at the start, not too much of a problem even with high xp chevrons.
As to rebellions in general, could it be that you're favoring the military side of the research tree? With a few extra points in cultural conversion, public order and pop growth (the latter for temple slots), rebellions dont seem much of an issue even on legendary; unless, pesky AI spies cause unrest, of course.
Will have to pay closer attention to that. I just know whenever I have a stationary line of pikes facing strong AI sword infantry, those buggers somehow manage to get between the pikes causing the pike unit to switch to swords.
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