Quote Originally Posted by Primus_Pilus
Guys, I think your overlooking the fact that the Romans in history WERE the super-powers. It's not so much that the units are over balanced; CA actaully did alot of research in to the tactics and unit strengths of the time to insure that they had realism.
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This goes for almost any other empire they faced. Rome didn't start loosing battles until close to their fall, and that's only because of the decline of the economy and the leadership.
During the first Punic war the Romans suffered appaling loses and it was only their ability to recover from these that won them the war. The Second Punic War started even worse, with Hannibal Barca annihilating the Romans at Tictinus, Trebia, Trasimene and Cannae, while his fellow countrymen pushed back Roman power in Iberia and Sicily. Only when the Roman legions obtained a decent degree of field experience did they manage to turn the tide. Then did the Roman empire turn into an unstoppable behemoth that trashed the Hellenic powers. Yet as soon as these experienced soldiers became too old for active service, the Romans started losing again. The start of the Third Punic war was a catalogue of incompetence and disaster for the Romans, despite the fact that Carthage was only a shadow of it's former power. In Iberia things weren't much better, and it was the Scipio Africanus the younger who saved Roman pride on both continents. The Numidian war didn't go quite as badly, but it hardly was a walk-over, nor did the Marius and his reforms make much difference. Then the German tribes migrated into Italy and inflicted several crushing defeats on the Romans, including one where casualties may well have rivaled that of Cannae.

I could go on, but I think the point is clear. The Romans did lose battles. Quite frequently actually, and more frequently the further you go back in their history or the Republic. However, this does not mean that the Romans of the late Republic or early empire were invincible either: take Carrhae and Teutoberger Forrest, for example. These weren't isolated defeats either, as the continued treat of the Germans and the Parthians/Sassanids proves. Even Julius Ceasar suffered a defeat at Gergovia, although it did not prove a permanent one.

Rome became a world power not because they did not lose battles, but because they did not lose wars.