And, if alliances are so key, I still can't understand how Scipi overrun Sicily without save/loads and do nothing with save/loads when THEIR FACTION IS LOCKED INTO ALLIANCES WITH ALL THEIR LAND NEIGHBORS EXCEPT IN SICILY.
Umm, heck, I just explained this. I played as the Julii in my experiment, but the Brutii would probably still turn out the same way. All you have to do is make alliances with Carthage and the Greeks, and then your Roman allies will honor that alliance and the Scipii will not overrun Sicily. It depends if you want to weaken your future enemies, the other Romans, later in the game or if you would prefer to weaken Carthage or the Greeks immediately. Carthage is actually considered (historically) as the target of the Scipii and the Greeks are considered (historically) as the target of the Brutii, but both are excellent trade alliances for the Julii, especially if you build a port in Ariminum immediately. However, if you would prefer for the Roman factions to be stronger for more of a challenge later in the game, you can always allow the Scipii to take all of Sicily.

Harun, listen. If you don't feel the game is challenging enough for you, what's to stop you from making your own rules? What's the earliest year that you've hit the victory conditions? Well, OK. Do it ten years earlier.

And if that's not a challenge, then try fifteen. And so on.

Truthfully, Harun, the AI is not even close to a match for me also. Maybe, you know, the very first time you played a TW game, it seemed like a real challenge. You know, maybe, if you think about it, there were numerous possibilites you'd never encountered before in a standard RTS or action game. And maybe you've become so jaded over being a "professional" that you feel content in being critical of an AI.

The first Chess Master that ever got beat by an AI felt the same way. He thought an AI would never be able to beat him, and was so confident that he offered a $10,000 reward (which was nothing to him based on his chess championships). But he did get beat.