A couple times as I've been playing the Hegemony Rome beta, I've asked myself how far the map 'really' goes.

I have to admit that I was slightly disappointed when I first heard that only part of Italy will be in the game.
But now that I've actually played the beta, I've noticed when you zoom out you can see quite a bit of Italy in the south, as well as quite a bit of Britain in the north

It looks like maybe Roma might be able to fit down there? Is this the case? Will Roma be in the final version?
In Sandbox in the future will I be able to play as Rome and actually recruit troops from Roma?

What I mean really is, is there a percentage of the map that is currently viewable when zoomed out, that in actuality will essentially be out-of-bounds?
An example would be if in the full game you can't even enter Italy at all, even though you can see it. (Don't know if that's the case, it's just an example)

If there isn't a border then I think there should be one at the rubicon. Unless they want to play around a bit and force rome into an auto war where it spawns waves and waves of armies when you cross the river.

Still, in the full map sandbox I suppose there would be nothing stopping you from going down there if they rendered the ground. Currently only a northern, more focused sandbox mission was available though.

They're planning DLC. I for one am hoping for expansions in all directions, actually. Caesar went all over the Mediterranean during his lifetime. Maybe top that idea off with a huge sandbox and you'll have the definitive Roman strategy game of all times. I can dream, can't I? :)

I'd love to be able to play as Romans from the time they basically only had Rome until they had conquered the Mediterranean world and divided their empire.