I'm not so keen on the Scipii for several reasons:
1. Growth for their two mains cities is quite often retarded because they sit right beneath a volcano.
2. These two cities are split by the sea, making assembling an army harder.
3. To take Sicily you have to declare war on two countries.
4. Carthage is not the richest faction in the game. Greece is much better.
5. If you don't speed your conquest of Carhtage up quickly, they'll bring in the elephants which are a real pain.