Thanks for the words of wisdom, Duke. Its always so fascinating to hear from other Civ-atics. I enjoy reading their versions of conquest. Yes, infinite city sprawl, that's appropriate. I typically can't do that until I've evolved to a higher form of government than despotism and at the deity level on a large map that can sometimes take longer than you'd like. Triremes really can't get the job done on this map so without Navigation you're pretty well handcuffed unless you meet a few other Civs in the meantime. In my opinion, other than the true test of battling other human players, the deity level with large map is a great test of strategy, patience, and supreme test of resource manageability.
MAMBO out!