Expansion and Consolidation

And of course my merc lasts a whole two horses before dying.

In 270, I lose out on the Lighthouse. Utica gains a very expensive harbor.

265 gold to Gandhi nets me Currency, and another 205 nets me Polytheism, and Numidia enters the Middle Ages.

And lo, in 10 BC I finally get a marketplace.

I completely miss exporting resources by 10 AD, because NOBODY HAS A FREAKING DOCK YET.

And the state of the nation in 50 AD:

And in 150 AD, I spend 750 gold lavishly upon Rome in return for the secrets of the Republic. The 6 turn anarchy is a painful thing.

Then, all of a sudden, Wang Kon leaps out of nowhere and offers me a deal. I give him Polytheism, Construction, and 50 gold for Literature and his world map. No, Literature is useless, but...

As it happens, this was the right deal, because Wang knows the ENTIRE other continent, which just so happens to be super-advanced, and he got fuedalism as a free tech, which means I get it for exceedingly cheap. The entire world comes rushing to my door about then, and I pick up Monotheism as well.

In 340, the Spain FINALLY gets a harbor up and running that I can trade with, so I toss some Wines at her.

Things went along for a while, and then, in 440, the 2CCing Koreans annoyed Greece and went down:

The people were so happy at this, they expanded the palace.

Also in 450, the world finally gets some tech, so I buy Engineering and Education. The tech pace of the world is moving slower than a lame snail, we note, primarily because the entire world is fighting raging but pointless wars on the other continent. About this time, I notice that I didn't buy embassies over there, so I do.

And this is the end of the barbarian threat menacing Rusicade for eons, which killed something like 5 mercs. Worst combat luck ever.