If you are a warmonger, you should consider the Byzantines - and if you consider the Byzantines, you should prepare for war.
You will find yourself surrounded by the Ottomans, the Greeks, the Romans, and the Austrians, and you should not be surprised, nor alarmed, if you only manage to build two (or even one) more cities. Just make sure, that you secure the iron resource to the north-west.
As always, you should begin by making contacts, trading, and acquiring goody huts, but you should also quickly prepare for war. The Greeks are an obvious choice for your first conquest. The Dromon seems perfect for bombarding the Greek (and later the Roman) cities, but remember that you then, first must deal with the barbarian galleys.
After the Greeks, you might be tempted to go south for some easy conquests (The Ottomans, The Babylonians, and the Israelites), but this may not be advisable. Firstly, you would have to fight through mountains, hills, and deserts. Secondly, you would conquer moutains, hills, and deserts, and thirdly, you will easily find your army between the Persians and the Arabs.
Furthermore, your capital is the perfect bottleneck against southern aggresion. Keep it well defended, and invaders will be forced to go through the Caucasus or even east of the Caspian Sea.
The real threat will come from Europe, and you should therefore move your border to the north - Austria. Conquering Vienna will give you a great potential industrial power house. Besides an abundance of food and shields, it will later be able to build the Iron Works. Consider Vienna as a place for your Forbidden Palace.
After Austria, your empire will border with Rome, France, Germany, and Russia - a delicate situation. Make sure to make the right friends, as well as enemies.
If you desire to continue your conquests, the Temple of Artemis will be very useful to you, and depending on your war tactics, so will the Statue of Zeus. The Byzantine traits will also come in handy here: Religious gives you monuments, and Commercial makes it easier to manage a large corrupt empire. Finally, the Cataphract is the better of the Byzantines unique units. The extra defence point is handy on the battlefield and you can count on it for fast attacks. But it is far too valuable to be used defending the conquered cities.
A last note. If you wish to be a colonial power, notice that your core is located deep in the Mediterranian. This means that, because of the long coast line, the new naval system will be against you. In defending your colonies, your troops will be delayed, and an easy prey to the European navies. So try to secure a blue water harbour with good infrastructure to your core.
Strength: 3.5/5 - Byzantium has the potential of becoming a great empire. But failing that will see the Byzantines in constant war with the European powers.
). The best I ever got was 22% in an England game, but I got too bored and just built a spaceship.
