Alright, that seems like enough time. Thank you.

We have:
Emperor: 10
Caesar III: 8
Zeus: 5
Pharaoh: 4
So I'll play them in that order. I'll take the suggestion to skip the first two campaigns of Emperor; I've finished those easy, more limited scenarios at least twice, maybe three times already anyway. I'll install the lot in one fell swoop, then hop to the next in the list when each threatens to become stale. Then, hopefully, I shall go back after a short time, until eventually I complete the lot.

Agreed on the greedy hero point, and on the benefits of independence. A hurrah for being able to send your army to crush annoying rival cities and exact tribute. Add a froggy frown to jealous gods who demand yet another batch of temples which I don't have space/workers/funds for/just plain don't want to build, but must build to prevent lightening bolts from pouring down from on high.

Sim City isn't a game I own, and I do have a definite preference for historical city builders. But then I loved Rollercoaster Tycoon, Theme Park/Hospital, and a few others of that ilk, so I shall try the demo. :takes a quick look for the demo via google: Hmm, I take it that there is one? Because I'm not finding any downloads ...