Quote Originally Posted by d'Arthez
Mines and ports make you the most money. Although, sadly for the Seleukids, you don't get that much money out of trade.

Don't use bigger garrisons than needed. Public order bonus first, and hopefully the Skirmishers / Pantodapoi are strong enough to deal with the basic rebel scum.

Distance to capital penalty: it not only affects trade and such, but also Public Order (Distance to Capital) penalty. Try to put your capital in the most central city. You can use the financial screen to see what is ideal. It can literally save you about 5-10k Mnai per season!

Manage family members well. Don't rely too much on governors (lvl4 government). It looks a freebie, but you actually pay hefty sums for their upkeep.

As much as you may hate it, conquering Alexandreia and Memphis may be a sound idea afterall. Ptollies have a very limited area for Homeland Recruitment, which means their elites come only from these cities. Once those are under your control they will find it harder to send meaningful armies towards you.

In Alexandreia, you could just set 14 units of Eastern Slingers or basic Persian Archers on Large Stone Walls (cross your fingers the city does NOT have epic walls). As annoying as an automatic 3000 vs 0 heroic victory may seem, it does cripple them, and the stacks will virtually disappear.
The thing about capitol is VERY interesting. So far I've been very proud of keeping Babylon as my capitol because of a personal affinity for the place. But since my current situation prevents me from ever fulfilling my goal of making Babylon a mighty city full of great buildings, since I absolutely NEVER have the money to build anything for aesthetical reasons, a fully-built non-capitol Babylon would satisfy this urge of mine as well as a completely wasted capitol Babylon would
I might just conquer northern Egypt. But they're really not much of a threat anymore. And I don't think my army in Jerusalem/Bostra is particularly expensive: three Successor Medium Cavalry + six phalanx of that type with golden shields and red clothes (the one that's better than the ones merely in bronze) + three phalanx of the type that's even better (steel-coloured shields). They beat any Ptollie army :) - and I think the Ptollies have had so many defeats at the walls of Jerusalem that they've given up that war... I think - not enough to disband, though ;)

Would more lvl 3 and 4 governments, as opposed to lvl 2s, be a good idea?