Quote Originally Posted by Secundus the Mighty
As i need every pilum I can in the field, rather than on garrison duty, what (in your opinion) is an ideal size for a garrison??
This thread should help with planning garrisons. Basically, the ideal garrison size depends on how big your settlement population is; but (for the Roman factions at least) peasants are both the fastest and cheapest units for establishing order. Against this, of course, you must set the risk of being besieged - peasants aren't much good for defence, so only use them to garrison cities that are well away from the front line.

As for the advice about letting your cities revolt, recapturing them and exterminating the population: I'd say "Use with caution". It's a great short-term solution, it raises cash fast and solves unrest fast. The downside is that in the long term you're losing out on tax income and productivity. So unless you can be sure of converting the short-term gains into a win within 10 - 15 years, you may actually be digging a bigger financial pit for yourself in the long term.

Salve Secundus!