One game I saw the Papal States do it, and in other games I've seen Milan pose a threat, but eventually it's an Italian who reaches the Atlantic before I see the Byzantines even consider retaking Anatolia, before the HRE really takes out the Poles.
I don't understand it. I've modded fairly extensively, and yet last night, there it is again--in a hands-off game, Venice has an empire stretching from Naples to the Baltic! They've united the HRE's territory, something I have never seen the Germans do.
I don't want to indulge in developer-bashing, but is this a case of Rome: Total War's hand-me-downs? Is Sicily just the Scipios in grey? They sure act like it, in game after game after game. They don't even go after the Balkans. And though Milan is green, they run toward Dijon, again in almost every game I can remember. Perhaps they're the Julii? Or did red Venice get that code? They don't go in the same direction at first, but they sure have the appetite of their predecessors.
I don't know. I see France rise to its feet every so often, which is good. But for the most part, it just feels like R:TW. Some, like the HRE and the Byzantines, do great against rebels but then just fail miserably against other factions, and there is a dynamic feel. Sometimes the Egyptians do great and other times they do nothing. But most of the time, the other factions fumble around, sending armies around with no real thought, achieving little, while the Italians find so much manpower, so much wealth, and I just don't know what to do about it. In hands-off games, it's close to over after a hundred turns. In games I actually play, I don't want to go after the Italians every time.

