Non-governing generals in peacetime

[Titus Marcellus Scato]

I'm playing a pseudo-historical Romani campaign (thanks to Quintus Sertorius' guide) and I finished the First Punic War about 8 years ahead of schedule. All of my provinces have governors, and I'm stuck with half a stack of generals in Roma and various forts with nothing to do during the next few years of peace.

Just looking for some suggestions to keep them busy so they don't pick up unfavorable traits, without outright declaring war on anyone.

You could do what Republican Rome used to do, and help other factions that you want to cultivate as allies. That means sending a general out to an enemy territory, with a small Roman army and hiring local mercenaries to bulk it out, conquering a city, and then using the Force Diplomacy mod to give that city to one of your allies.

If you don't want war with another faction, you could concentrate on Eleutheroi targets, although it is usually easy to fight a short war with a distant faction which doesn't share a border with you, and then make peace with them afterwards. Generally, the AI only hates its neighbours, if you're not a neighbour, you're of less interest to them.

For example, you could help out Koinon Hellenon by taking Crete and then giving it to them. Maybe Halikarnassos and Pergamon too, or the two Bosphorus cities in the Crimea, or maybe Kyrene in North Africa. Or you could take Ankyra from the Eleutheroi and give it to the Arveni or Aedui, to create a little 'Galatian' faction which will recruit its own units and maybe fight off Pontus and Seleukia.

Your generals will get useful experience fighting the Eleutheroi that way.

You could even sail to Britain, fight the Casse, and set up the Aedui or Arveni as a rival to the Casse for control of Britain, preventing Casse domination of Britain.

If you don't want to feel like a Roman general is invading Britain or somewhere else too early, make sure his 'Roman' army is composed entirely of local mercenaries, and during battles, keep your Roman general safely in the rear out of the hand to hand fighting, and pretend he is just an 'advisor' to the locals.

Simply disband the mercenary units when you don't need them anymore, ideally in the city you've just conquered, just before you give it away to another faction.

It can be fun influencing the progress of other factions this way, like fighting a war by proxy, a bit like an 'ancient Cold War'.