Macedonia sometimes gets Cyrenicia due to rebellion- it isn't because Macedonia mounted any sort of invasion. If a city rebels against the rebels, it reverts to the original owning faction. In the case of Cyrenicia, this is for some reason Macedonia.

I can confirm your experiences with the campaign map. I have also found that, as either the Scipii or the Brutii, taking Caralis causes the Julii to sit in their lands without taking action against Gaul for thirty years or so. At least that has happened in four different games that I have played. It was wonderful playing the Brutii and being attacked, in Greece, by a never ending stream of Gallic armies.