Ahhh....I saw this post and had to jump in on this discussion, as Rome is my pet civ, and some of you already know that I have written a Roman strategy guide, which should be available here soon.
I have read most of the posts here and while I agree with some, I disagree with more of them. Given a decent starting position, Rome can defeat a Hittite rather well. We all know Hittite reigns supreme as the "best" overall civ, but they can be beaten using Roman and I have done it many times.
I will point out alot of this in the guide, but mostly Rome has several advantages against civs like Hittite.
1). They can Tool rush better.
2). They have a superior economy.
3). They will progress through the ages faster.
4). They can counter EVERY unit in Iron.
Hittite has no chance against a well executed Roman Tool rush. Without slingers, Hittite is in trouble if the Roman player towers his base. Accompanied with axers and archers, Hittite will be forced to move elsewhere and rebuild, exhausting precious resources and time.
I agree that Rome's bronze is inferior to Hittite's....in fact, inferior to most other civs, but they still can fight. Forget about swordsmen. They will die to archers. Mass chariots are very useful and will be beneficial once in iron as they can be upgraded to scythes. I hate to research anything in bronze if I am not going to use it in Iron. To me researching improved bowmen is useless. Research swordsmen only if you are going to use them in Iron. I stay away from swordsmen because then Rome would be a VERY gold dependent civ. You need the scythe chariot to relieve your gold consumption in Iron. Believe me, using a lot of cats and helos will deplenish your gold reserves quickly. Also, Rome needs some fast units for vilager killing and scythes are great for that.
Against civs like Hittite and Sumerian, of which have superior cats, I use a scythe/helo combo. Why? People who play Hittite mostly use a cat/HA combo. Cats die easily to scythes and it would be foolish for Rome to have a cat battle against Hittite. Use the scythes for cats and horse archers, then follow in with the helos for archer cleanup and finally building destruction.
If the Hittite player becomes smart and makes scythes, then you already have Helos for them. Scythes die miserably to Helos. Only against poor siege civs like Phoenician and Egyptian would I use cat/helo combo, and then I would still have scythes for priest killing.
Rome can beat Hittite a lot easier than what most people think. The tricky part is getting past bronze while Hittite is in bronze, but that shouldn't happen if you Tool rushed him right. Hittite has a vastly superior bronze, but Rome can still fight. Tower up your base with those cheap towers and make chariots and some upgraded slingers. As for navy, Hittite has the advantage through bronze, but once iron, Rome reigns supreme on the seas.
Good luck and cya on the battlefield WarLust