Quote Originally Posted by Spartiate
Please tell me that the Egyptians are rich.They had a booming economy centered on Alexandria which had a population of 3 million as compared to 1 million in Rome.Antioch had 2 million people and was also an area of some considerable wealth.I'm getting the game on Friday with the rest of my Europeon brethren and if i find out that a lot of the advantages in relation to wealth that the eastern kingdoms had is not reflected in the game i will be one unhappy bunny.
Dont worry. Just look at their roads and your question will be answered (the amount of caravans = the amount of trade. Their roads are packed!)

The AI seems pretty good at advancing technically. I'm playing on normal, and the AI's army seems quite up to date.