Rome: Total war trouble

I really enjoy this game the most of all total war games I own. Though in this game (and almost every game in paticular), I tend to run into a problem. I always end up with about 3, maybe 4 pretty full stacks, probably 3/4 to full. Naturally with the army, comes upkeep, and to pay for the upkeep I raise taxes. Well I always end up having to leave a decent amount of units behind in a city I conquer, or a city in general, to keep the population from rioting because of the taxes. This not only weakens that generals army, but the need for more units increases upkeep, which increases taxes, ect. Its a vicious cycle. So my question would be, is having that many armys hurting me? Would I be better off having only 1 or 2 armys total to conquer with so as not to have to raise taxes and cause so much civil unrest?

The size of your army needs to be balanced with your economy. Don't necessarily raise taxes, unless the it's at least minor city and the population is happy. Focus on farms and trade. Especially sea trade, can make you tons of money. Try to control Greece and the Asia Minor area, including any islands, and watch all cities provide revenue of over 10k each turn. It's insane.