Hello. Right now I'm playing a game on a single cont. with 8 other civs. Everything was going great till the russians decided it was time to go to war.

They have access to iron (deep in their territory) and I... well, don't. I'm barely hanging on at this point and my veteran archers are getting their butts handed to them on a regular basis. I've already lost one city and noone seems to want to come to my aid... So, what do you suggest I do? What is the ~that-era-counter to swordsmen?

Axemen. That 50% vs melee units will help you keep them at bay.

Yup. Axemen. They're the best general overall unit IMO in the ancient era. The other units are specialized and excell at their own stuff. Axemen should make the bulk of your army. Spearmen, archers, swordsmen, and horses are still very essential to your army, but their uses are limited.

Crossbowmen also get +50% against melee units and can get the city defender promotions.

X-bows are classical era, though. But yeah, X-bows are better than Axemen once you get them. Same goes for Catapults. They're two "ASAP units" that come "later".

IF he has some bronze :lol:

Crossbowmen require Iron, something he doesn't have. Axemen can be built with Copper.

Make some walls and give your archers the city defence promotion and fortify them a few turns in advance and then(if youv got horses) make some riders to take out his catapults so he doesnt drop a whole stack of defenders.

Also make a bunch of axemen with maybe an archer or two and other counters if necessary against whatever the enemy has, and go deep in his territory to pillage his iron (and wheat, rice, etc.). That will hurt him in the long run if you can do that