Quite a bunch of them, really. I've read through some of the forum archives, but they occasionally created more questions than they answered.

1. Am I expanding too fast? It's 240 BC, and I (Julii, no mods, M/M) have 25 provinces and plan to gain 5-10 more within 10 turns.
I have annihilated the Gauls, Germany has one province left (which I would keep as a border against Dacia, but they're unwilling to become a protectorate and probably wouldn't be much good at this stage anyway. Carthago is left with one eastern province. I'm planning to destroy both with a turn or two.

(or whenever I can leave Carthago and the city below it, without starting a riot. Damn mutinous bastards. I need the second city to rebel anyway - I bought it off the Scipii, because it was their only hold in Africa... and the Senate turned right around and missioned me to give it back. But I can't have them rebelling before Cartahgo est delenda)

I'm landing troops in Spain to punish them for their betrayal of our allieance. (my fault, really. I've taken the Cartahgenean and Gaul cities from under their noses, and have tromped all over their lands to do so). I'm also planning to grab the three provinces the Numidians have to secure Africa, (maybe leave one as a border for the Egyptians) and possibly throw the Brittons out of the continent - once their gifted leader hanging out near my German settlements has tripped down some stairs, his army buggered off to conquer Ireland or something. So now they have 4 wooden-wall towns with 2-4 units garisoning each. I just can't resist snapping them up.

So... I should have +/- 35 provinces within a few turns (unless the Brittons bring up an entire army of chariots down on my head, and/or the Spanish prove a stiffer resistance than anticipated. Unlikely, because I've killed their king and his troops with 4 town watch and 2 equites. No general, either. And my captain didn't even make it to man of the hour!). My Senate popularity is 8, but that may plummet once my faction leader dies. My popularity witht the people is 6, and that should rise when I conquer stuff.

However, I'm totally unprepared for war with the other Romans. Turns out that their measly combined 10 provinces can field as many troops as I currently have - for each faction.

So... I'm not sure whether I should stop my conquering (which probably just means that I'lll have a war on several fronts latter), pump some money into the Macedonians (they're facing the Brutii in Greece, and are slugging it out quite well. The Greeks are no longer a factor. The Scipii are confined to Sicilia and the boot). Maybe be prepared to block all the Sicilia ports (or destroy them with an assassin) and hope the Macedonians keep the Brutii occupied while I conquer Italy and then take on the factions one at a time?

2. Are there ANY mods that improve diplomacy/battle AI? Yes, I know its mostly hard-coded, but this is getting very annoying. I would love to leave the numidians alone (even though the current Corduba governor is a former Numidian general who is getting quite homesick. Keeps muttering about barbarian malcontents and foul smelling local girls. Not at all like the friendly folks back home.) - They've helped my navies out quite a few times, but I know they're just going to backstab me. I would also love to negotiate something with the Spaniards - maybe give them Corduba and be glad I got rid of it. But they're unwilling to accept anything, even though it's totally obvious that I'm going to kick their ass. Very annoying.

I've tried Darth Mod, but it only made the AI stupider, unwilling to do much when faced with losing the formation. Like, I don't know... charge my town watch and equites when they're getting ready to surround and annihilate their king.

3. Does giving occasional 100 denari giftd to your allies improve relations, or mess them up? I've encountered some contradictory info, and I'm not inclined to trust the diplomacy guide - seeing how one of the first things it says is that a diplomats talents incerease whether his offer is accepted or refused.

4. If a stack containing several generals seperates, surround an enemy, and all the generals enter the battle as seperate reinforcements leading their own armies - does it or does it not mean that each general has a chance of getting the various "won the battle" traits?

5. Is there some way to counter chariots/HA besides "mob them / return in kind"? I've been able to develop a counter to everything up to and including elephants that doesn't realy on numerical advantage and/or slugging it out, but I can't seem to do anything else with the above. Is there a general unit guide of some sort that does more than just copy info from the game text? Hints on how to use and counter certain units?

6. I know that assassinating fellow romans does not disturb the senate... but will my "allies" take it as an insult if I start pruning their family tree?

7. I understand Rome: Gold Edition, comes pre-patched with patch 1.5. What does patch 1.6 do, what does the Bug-Fixer mod do, and are they compatible?

8. Can bribed enemy generals have children?