Britannia

[wooly_mammoth]

And managed to wrap things up with Britannia as well. I didn't make it as far East as you did since I invaded North Africa down to Sahara, so the kingdom stretched from the Atlantic to modern day Hungary. As far as shock value goes I don't think there's a substitute for chosen swords + light chariots. Most battles would turn into an instant rout once the sword line charged in and the chariots got around and behind. Sometimes it is enough to simply crash the chariots in to achieve that. Funny that they would be so effective, given that historically they were pretty much obsolete by that point. Head Hurlers are pretty nifty as well but their short range, lack of mobility and temple requirements make them the second option in most circumstances. Still, they are excellent for staging ambushes in woodlands and just funny as hell when they simply murder everything by lobbing heads around (they have a ridiculous melee charge bonus as well so they destroy pretty much anything that they flank).

It was refreshing to have some serious battles with factions such as Dacia and Macedonia. I even got to square it off against macedonian cavalry and royal pikemen. I never got rich though, I think I tend to make my garrisons too big and barbarian infrastructure just cannot be developed to the point that you make stupid amounts of money unless you are a master at stabilizing population growth. As I conquered the last provinces I needed a regular infusion of money from plunder to remain in positive balance.