ok that makes sense then. I was worried that the A.I. would just stagnate in financial woes until you managed to come along and pounce on them.
Though playing as Rome, so far the only faction that I have seen make any kind of gains in 55 years is Makadonians. All other factions take maybe...one other city and then seem to just sit there and do nothing. Though I have not seen farther east than macedonia so I dont know what those factions are up too.