Now the Senate want me to send ships to help blockade Syracuse down in Sicily! I see the Scipii faction are attacking there so why should I send a ship on a dangerous voyage to help them out? Sorry, my fleet has a nasty bout of er… shore leave.
Think my opening strategy is to quickly attack the weakly defended nearby rebel towns - at least before others get to them - because that won’t start wars with another faction, which I want to delay for as long as possible. And no-one cares for rebel scum. If that hems in the Skippy and Brutes all the better.
Now: do I split my forces to land-grab quickly or remain concentrated? Split, and recruit some peasants and town watch to provide a follow-on garrison so my armies can move out quickly and not have to linger to persuade the locals roman rule is best. Really you think they’d understand the benefits of toilets a lot quicker. First targets are Caralis in Sardinia (Carthagian owned) and Massilia (rebels) in southern Gaul.