Small problem. Easy solution I hope.

[Dutch_guy]

for the spiked feet , I think you need to turn on ANti- Aliasing ( sp? )
just check options and you'll find the option Anti-Aliasing.

[Sir Toma of Spain]

When i open the drop down thing for the Anti-anylizing thingy. The only thing there is is NONE

[sunsmountain]

Besides re-installing your video card / direct x drivers, i can only recommend making the desired changes in

PREFERENCES.TXT

in your Rome - Total War directory..

That should work. If it doesnt, try deleting that txt file (make a backup), that should force the hardware detection algorithm to be run again. (apparently, during install, it is executed, but wrongly so / buggy).