Army upkeep.

[Ludens]

When a city produces a unit of soldiers is that city then continually charged for that particular unit's upkeep or are the taxes decided differently?

It's done differently: the total upkeep of units, ships, agents and family members is divided across all cities of your empire, with the larger cities paying more. Because tax/trade income does not grow proportionally with population, this often leads to the largest cities in your empire (which produce the most income) seemingly being at a deficit. This is because they bear a disproportionate amount of unit upkeep - in reality, they contribute most to your economy. You can see how much an individual city pays for upkeep on the detail scroll.

[8-bit]

Thanks for reply, seems a little more complex than I had first thought. I'm surprised to hear that tax does not increase with population, I always boost my pop to try and make money! :s

[Ludens]

Thanks for reply, seems a little more complex than I had first thought. I'm surprised to hear that tax does not increase with population, I always boost my pop to try and make money! :s

Tax does increase with population, just not linearly. Check out this old thread on investigation of tax income for details. I also think population affects trade income.

[8-bit]

Thanks, will check it out.

[Vincent Butler]

That is also why you don't always exterminate when you take over a town. More people means more money coming in. Maybe a bigger cash payment right off, but it takes longer for it to be effectively prosperous. I usually check the public order before deciding what to do, looking at the color of the unrest. If it is city level, especially large or huge, red means exterminate. Also, after a revolt or conquering an Egyptian city, I exterminate, but other than that, usually not.

[LordK9]

Don't like those Egyptians, eh? I know, the culture is alien to all others so causes unrest - I'm just being a bore. :)

[Vincent Butler]

Don't like those Egyptians, eh? I know, the culture is alien to all others so causes unrest - I'm just being a bore. :)

Ugh. No, I don't like dealing with the Egyptians. At least with my Seleucids I was able to wipe them out before they got to their (unrealistic) Pharoah's Guards and Pharoah's Bowmen. I did discover that my Phalanx Pikemen are extremely vulnerable to Chariot Archers. And my army did not have archers yet, so I virtually lost four or five full Phalanx Pikemen units. And yes, they do go to unrest very easily.

[weejonnie]

Taking Memphis means that there is no culture penalty. A sine-qua non of taking when dealing with Egypt. If coming from the East and you have port facilities on the red-sea, cross by boat. Egypt is gung-ho for expansion northwards and so the powerhouse-3 cities are very vulnerable if you can get to them.