Quote Originally Posted by GottMitUns
I found that out the hard way. Everyone attacks them and their begining units suck. The game being so chalenging so early on is kind of fun though.
What??? Militia Hoplites and Militia Cavalry are both outstanding beginning units. Build lots of both, hire mercs as desired, and you can crush Egypt, Parthia, and the Asia Minor rebels simultaneously from the very start of the game. A single diplomat will work well to keep the Armenians off your back, and get you a cataphract as part of the deal. Two more cataphracts can be purchased from Parthian armies that come down to try to retake Susa.

Commenting on Professor Spatula's remark - remove cataphracts from his list, you don't actually get to build those in a Seleucid blitz strategy. In my game, the first city which could build them turned out to be Tarentum, province #46. Pikemen are great, and elephants can be handy, but the militia cav do most of the killing even in the endgame against the Romans.