Marian reform.
i'm shure this has been asked a 1000 times, but i've been unable to find any info on this. when does it occur. at a certain date, through scripting?
Set to 107BC by the script, but the team has stated they want to introduce dynamic conditionals for the reforms (eg, lose several battles, your population in Rome decreases, etc etc).

Pirate fleet.
I've noticed a 4 star pirate admiral, who has been kicking ass in the mediteranean sea. there is not a single roman, karthaginian, greek or whatever fleet left. somewhat unrealistic considering the amount of money i need to raise a fleet. these pirates are charity workers maybe?
I agree, that pirate fleet is somewhat overpowered. Triple gold chevrons?

AI conquest.
I started a campaign at medium diff. I know that is not really difficult (hey, it says medium), but the ai is really struggeling. i know ca sucked at the AI, but this is really something. i have yet to discover a computer controlled player that has taken a rebel provice. but that will probably be the medium diff.
Hmm, the AI seems to expand just fine in my games. They snap up most Eleutheroi provinces pretty quickly in most cases. Try H or VH Campaign difficulty, that will get them going.