I chuckled a little reading that someone only saw himself playing 2 campaigns before an expansion released. I've now played 8. Having just played Carthage, my 2c worth is:

1. they are not underpowered. The real problem is the Roman obsession with taking them out. I stood my ground in Sicily and Caralis and found that to pursue relentless attacks on me, the romans gave up campaigns in Greece and Gaul. Once I fought them off, my reak opponents were Gaul and the Greek cities.

2. the lack of foot archers hurt, but nothing cavalry couldn't compensate for.