As i was playing another roman campaign i've come up with several ideas/suggestions that i wanted to share in the hope that at least some of them would be implemented like others before (the nice quilted ptolemaic cataphracts come to mind).
1)Oscan/Samnitic short tunic. Samnites and several oscan tribes used a particular distinctive short tunic well represented in many archeological sources. it would be nice to see it added to those units present in the mod to add even more flavour to them.
some simple references:
2) Oscan tribes used a distinctive oval scutum that some authors believe Pyrrhus's army brought back to greece and became the thureos.
the shield is already used by some italic units in DEI albeit in very few numbers. i think its frequency should be higher as it is very well attested in archeological sources. possibly it should be added to some camillian roman units too.
3)oscan warriors are always depicted as barefooted. it would be nice to see some men barefooted in the oscan units present in the mod to add more ethnic flavour.
4)horned saddles were adopted by the romans probably around the 1st century BC. it would be better to remove them from all roman/italic units from around that time period (camillian and polybian) to better represent them.
5)beside the parma equestris, probably derived form greek cavalry shields, the romans used an own designed called the "popanum" (from its resemblance to a kind of votive cake used in certain religious ceremonies) used probably up to the times of augustus. it would be nice to see it used beside the parma for roman cavalry units.
references:
6)early equites were described by polybius to not wear any kind of armor. while this is probably a bit too much, right know in DEI they wear a mix of bronze and linothoraxes for an armor value of 80. to better represent them it would be better to equip them with a mix of linothoraxes and bronze pectorals with the occasional man wearing no armor at all while of course lowering their total armor value. the same is true for most early italic cavalry units (campanians, samnites etc etc).
7)right now all auxiliary cavalry units present in DEI use the draco as a standard. the draco was probably adopted, among other already existing cavalry standards, during the 2nd century AD. As DEI auxiliary units looks are vaguely based on the augustean/early principate era, the draco is absolutely out of place. it would be better to replace it with regular cloth vexilla already present in the mod. besides i find it a little bit akward, with its tail always inflated even while the unit is stationary.
8)among the 8 temple avalaible to the romans there are several very important ones missing. namely. Juno, Ceres and Vesta.
Together with Jupiter and Minerva, Juno (in her aspect of "Regina") was part of what is known as the Capitoline triad. Pratically one of the three most important roman deities.
-Juno was considered the protectress of the state (remember the sacred geese during the gallic sack of rome? they were sacred to Juno) and women, especially pregnant ones, but also for a connection to war being frequently depicted armed. her temple could replace the sacred grove, giving the highest PO bonus and a good amount of cultural conversion. a bonus to growth or population could be considered to as well as one to defending armies replacing hte one from mars temple.
-Ceres was mainly an agricultural deity tied to fertility. her cult was particulary important in rome. her temple could provide bonii to farming income, growth and population growth especially lower classes (2nd and 3rd).
-Vesta. difficult to think of a more typical roman deity. Vesta was mainly the deity of the hearth and house. her temple could provide the highets cultural conversion rate and a fairly good PO bonus.
9)the remaining temples provide some akward bonii which not always make sense for every deity:
-Minerva. as one of the elements of the capitoline triad her temple should provide high PO and cultural conversion. she was also the goddess of industry so a better bonus to industrial income could be fitting too(right now it is granted only through edict and at the highest level of the temple)
-Jupiter. the main roman god, the all-father, god of rightful rule. right now his temple does not providd such good bonii. since his ties with law and order i think bonii to lower banditry and corruption would be fitting. together with a healthy dose of PO an cultural conversion.
-Neptune. god of water and horses. while neptune is one of the oldest worshipped roman deities it became the god of sea pretty late in its history. at first he was tied to springs and other inner waters while the god portunus was the one thanked for naval victories and the goddess fortuna for protection during sea voyages. there is almost nothing tying him to maritme commerce like it is in the mod now though. probably a higher bonus to sanitation or cavalry exp and/or cost would be more fitting for him.
-Mercury. as the main deity of commerce and financial gain it could see his financial bonii increased to replace the lost one from neptune temple proposed above. its bonus to commerce should be moved to the commercial stimulation edict instead of the bread and games one in order to stack them and better counter the removal of neptune's temple bonus. and i think his PO bonus should be lowered to better blend with other changes proposed above for other temples.
10)right now the look of marian pretorian is bit akward. as we all know the pretorian guard was officially founded as the princeps' guard by octavian when he seized power. before this the pretorian were just and ad hoc formation created from among the best soldiers in a legion to escort the general/legatus. so while better equipment could definitely be a possibility certain elements, like scoprions on shields, more closely tied with the later pretorian guard should be avoided as they are totally out of place.
11)hastati samnitici and principes samnitici both early and late. this units are there to represent the alae of italian socii enrolled by the romans through the "dilectus" and required to fight in a similar way to the romans. the samnites were only one among several other people to provide soldiers to the alae. renaming them to simply socii hastati and socii principes would more fitting.
i really hope that at least some of my suggestions would be taken in consideration as i think they could add a little bit more of historical flavour and uniqueness to the romans. i have several others in mind that i will share as soon as i can give them a proper shape.