Help with Monarch

[KazumaQB]

I am having a lot of trouble with Monarch Difficulty. I am just not able to keep up technological with the top civilization and I cannot keep the diplomatic enough when I am ahead to prevent all civs on the same continent to declare war on me.

I hear that building a pyramid helps greatly in keeping up technologically. Which civics are the best if you managed to successfully build the pyramid?

 

[Footen]

Try to quickly conquer your closest neighbour, or make him adopt your religion and keep him as a pet. Maintain a strong military to avoid sudden conflicts. Trade or give away excess luxuries and health resources, preferbly for gold per turn, which will slow the AIs growth. A smart trade would be to give fex. fish for weat which is worth 2 health with a granary. Make the AI attack eachother to keep them from growing. Build cottages early and focus on getting library and universities.

BTW, you don´t have to win every game that you play. If you play games you know you´ll lose, you learn how the AI expands and how early it is able to win etc. I don´t even think the highscore lists loss/victory, just the score.