Roman Imperial expansion part of a political game

So, with the summer almost here but still work days at school, I am starting to improve on my classroom simulation SPQR on political competition in the mide Republic (aristocrats struggling to outperform and win more offices and honros than their peers.
(my school did a little article on last year's run that kind of gives the flavor. https://www.countryday.net/news/news-posts/~post/students-re-enact-chaos...)

Note: Yes this shares some conceptual elements with Republic of Rome. RoR, however, is far too complex, lengthy, and nit-picky to get the feel I want (plus mine works for at least 8 players). Even so, trust me, I would never have designed my own games on political competition and imperialism over the years if RofR were a viable classroom game.

The big task this year is to create a more dynamic & fluid system expansion system in the Mediterranean, driving player-aristocrats to compete.This is not a war game. It is a political competition game based on gaining influence that can be spent to win elections or ding other players similarly trying to hold office.
Since the focus is about aristocratic competition in the Republic the geopolitics of the Mediterranean need to feel important but not dominate -- this is not a military strategy game.

So my first step has been to take my map and create boxes for influence cubes. Regions where Rome has significant influence have some red Roman cubes to start. Everything else is neutral wood cubes to represent the regional power.

The goal for Rome as a whole (represented by the fractious aristocrat players) is to put Roman cubes in all the areas.

There will be some rules on expansion order: for example, Rome must have 2 influence in Macedonia before it can have any influence in Asia Minor.)

The part I am working on now is how to have yearly Mediterranean challenges to influence that make sense of the Roman's current role. Rome will always be able to send an army and try to gain influence somewhere (following order of expansion rules), but regional powers should also challenge Roman influence (so if Rome has a cube in an area, that can provoke a fight.)
So, for example, Asia Minor and Egypt should not generate events until late game. Gaul can invade and Hispania can challenge Roman influence. Then when Macedonian influence is gained Macedonia can enter the mix. Maybe decks of cards for each reason that get incorporated into a big event deck as the ROmans gain influence? I like the idea of decks. I used to do it with a table and dice, but I don't like that so much.

Last thing, I moderate the game now, but I am trying to get a design that will play without me, which could then lead to a tabletop commercial version. So a bot of some sort is the answer.

Feedback on this or any part of the system is welcome.