I would say Brutii is my favorite faction of all. Why becuz they have nice Temple bonuses but too bad not the Neptune. Having a few Mars Temples for recruiting, one for Juno to train your governors/generals then the rest is Mercury.

Mercury have nice bonus on trade depend on traffic conditions and cities populations.

Amazing seeing Macedon's Artemis:Hunting with a whopping +5 missile upgrade for missile type units. They are very handy Temples indeed, esp defending a fort or mega city.

I usually let out pack of spies and diplomats to search for other good leaders and if they are not protected well enough and that leader has good skills like Retinues, bribe them and take that skill that you cannot possibly have.

Maximum of 8 Retinues is what i heard, but nice to have all that bonuses on governors and generals. Btw, watchout for leader faction besure not to leave any valueable Retinues on him, if he dies it all lost.

-Vikings