Don't get disappoined Bkeela
The problem isn't with the game, it's with the scenario. For example, Marla Singer's world map was made waaay before PTW was made, before any of the Civ3 patches which allowed custom starting locations. Since they had to bundle the map unaltered, the starting locations are random because the editor at the time coudn't handle them.
Trust me, it won't take more than 3 minutes to reassign all starting locations on a world map, just open any one on the editor, and on the starting locations right-click, goto reassign, go to the third line (says Rome faded) and choose the correct civ for that location. Save and play!
If you want some world maps with starting locations pre-assinged (I think) check out El Mencey's website:
http://perso.wanadoo.es/civ3maps/
Have fun