I'm in a Cleopatra game now, tiny map with 3 other civs, Scotland, India and Spain, Emperor dif. level, I think, the one above King, early middle ages now.
Nothing unusual in regard to diplomacy, Spain (
Philip II) dislikes me, more due to his character than mine I think, he has converted most of my cities to catholicism, so he is still yellow and peaceful to me, although he has been attacking my vassal Hong Kong all game long, losing many units it the process, with little to show for it.
Scotland's
Robert the Bruce is friendly, and recently became my ally. India -
Gandhi is in between, green but refuses my declarations of friendship, possibly because of an early war he had with Scotland...
I was able to move from my start position and settle in the Nile valey, and make good use of my no-damage-from-flooding ability so I am on par with the AI in regard to units, although their science level is above mine, my army is stronger.
The chariot-archers were useful to defend my strung out holdings early on, although they have become obsolete now I keep some around as garrisons and fog busters.
I think it pays to check out the particular civs you share the map with, just now I learned that the Bruce is strong in science and dislikes civs that go to war against their neighbours for example, probably the reason he was willing to ally with me since I played a peaceful game so far. Gandhi on the other hand is the "ultimate peacekeeping civ". The 2 are next to eachother, so I'll have to check how they did end up at war in my game..
From King level on up you consistently get a worse start postion than the AIs - you need to counter that, either by moving or taking a neighbour's land early - imho.
