Making effective use of commanders

[Firebreath]

I have a few questions regarding commanders. I'm relatively new to the game, though I believe I have garnered most of the basic concepts. Any enlightenment will be....enlightening

So...

1)Do unit specific commanders add bonuses when commanding their unit type? (for example, will a hoplite commander command hoplites better than a mounted commander, or will a salamander lord make the salamanders function more effectively?)

2)Are standard (millitary) commanders useful for anything other than just being there (and commanding units) on the battlefield without dying? i.e. Since most of the time they don't fight (to avoid dying and routing friendly troops, is there any point in having extra millitary commanders (other than to make it harder for the enemy to kill them all)?

3)Other than *godlike* commanders like the vamp. queen or the mataharaja, who are pretty effective on the battlefield, is there any point in equiping standard commanders with forged items (early game, anyway)?

4)Some nations have lots of commanders that all look the same - is there any difference between them other than that one has a mace and the other has an axe as his basic weapon (and what difference does it really make if he has a mace, a halberd, a pike, an axe or anything else anyway, since most likely he won't be using it?).

5)If your nation has both leadership 25 and leadership 50 commanders, for pretty much the same price, what's the point in the leadership 25 ones? (i'm still talking about basic non-magic non-priest commanders, with no special abilities).

6)Off topic - taking ulm as an example, what difference does it make if I pick units with a sword, say, or an axe or a halberd (ignoring the very minor differences that they bright to attack/defence Ratings) - I assume that some are better against various shield or armoured units, whilst others are less encumbered and so better at militia bashing?

Thanks for any answers