Powerful units in Rome Total War

In Rome Total war, your leader is in fact a hero you can control (usually the most powerful since its the first one you get). When you choose to kill him, he dies so you lose that powerful unit. Eventually, the senate will grow weary of you again later on and will ask for another suicide until you rebel.

One of the most important differences is that you won't be able to build Roman roads. As a result, your ability to move through your own territory will be much less than the speed of the Roman players. You will generally have two other major differences:

1. Faction units: I really like using elephants on those sissy Romans. However, I have great difficulty steering a phalanx properly. This is generally a distinction that doesn't make an overall difference in terms of the game.
2. You'll find that it's much easier to capture the Roman territories than it is for them to capture yours. You see, they build these great roads. You can sack towns all up and down the Mediterranean while they're still trying to work their way across the Alps....