Either way, the Praetorians and Urbans are way overdone. In real life, the Praetorians were older veteran soldiers who never saw combat anymore. They were an overglorified bodyguard who were actually fairly sucky soldiers. When Emperor Marcus Julianus who bought the office of emperor, which was auctioned by the Praetorians, was attacked by a general from the Eastern Provinces, the Praetorians refused to fight the advancing army despite relative numerical equality because they knew that the advancing Legionaries were superior to them. Urban Cohorts were worst. First off, no soldier was allowed in Rome, so when their description says that they were "garrisoned in important cities like Rome," that's utter BS. They were the laziest of the Praetorians and were essentially the police branch of the Praetorians that would be garrisoned in major cities(not Rome), and often, they hadn't fought in a battle for years since they were elder Praetorians, so they would be the most stale units in the Praetorian Guard.
Then there's the Spartans. They aren't so good. Their description is "beyond elite" yet their attack isn't so great, and their defense is terrible. They aren't worth anywhere near their cost. Sacred Band Infantry, Praetorian Cohort, and Urban Cohorts rape them at about 300-400 denarii less. They also don't have big "Lambda"s on their shields, though this really has nothing to do with their performance, I would like to see a Spartan unit with a big Greek "Lambda" on their shields.
Next there's the Legionary and Praetorian Cavalry. Roman Cavalry had a history of sucking huge ass. Never in history was Roman Cavalry good, yet in this game, they're not only good but better than Companions, Cataphracts, and Sacred Band Cavalry. In Cannae for example, Roman Cavalry was raped by Carthaginian Cavalry, leaving the infantry exposed to being totally enveloped. In their campaigns against Pyrrhus, it wasn't their cavalry that was decisive, Roman Cavalry was destoryed by Epiran Cavalry, but their infantry decimated the Epiran Phalanxes. The only reason Pyrrhus won at all was because his cavalry and elephants were extremely effective.
Egyptian Bowmen and Pharoh's Bowmen are a bit overpowered. The Bowmen because there's too many men per unit, and the Pharoh's Bowmen because they're too fast despite the fact that they wear as much armor as the Pharoh's Spearmen, making them able to run away from most cavalry for a decent amount of time, then after the cavalry are far away enough from the battle, turn around and actually hold their own against them one on one.
Yea, that's my list of unit realism greivances. Don't get me wrong, I don't often bitch about this since I use a lot of these units, I just wish it were more realistic.
I put a dollar in one of those change machines. Nothing changed. ~George Carlin