Rhye,
A bit more playtesting, this time as the Egyptians/Russians, leads me to two conclusions:
when this is finished, you'll probably a much better Civ than Rhye's for Civ3. That was a bigger improvement, but this time it's making a much better base superior.
However, the primary problem is that the AI simply isn't aggressive enough. I played to 1340 AD and the only AIvsAI war was between France and Germany. I also had Spain declare war on me when I was Russia. Currently, the drivers of the game are the barbarians, who managed to destroy Rome and Egypt (when I left it).
This typically leads to Persia assuming a dominant role in the game, thanks to their central position - their neighbors trade with them, but don't attack. Have you tried the mod on Aggressive AI?