I usually dont bother with my cities on the boarders in the beginning and disband most of my troops to get way more than 10.000+ every round and than humiliate the ptollis by taking everything except egypt from them. Than I conquer minor asia and cyprus. Having sea trade makes minor asia extrem rich. Just have trading agreements with Macedonia, epeirus or whoever the heck is in charge of greece. Having so much money and provinces makes the AS game a little bit too easy for my taste.
Esspecially with the considerate Alex.exe Ki you are never endangered.