Cathy refuses, so I give up the Honorable scenario points and declare war! Here's the play-by-play from the Russian front:

190 BC: Take Sevastopol with the second archer attack. It's destroyed, but I have a settler on standby. Also take Odessa after about six archers. I refound Sevastopol one square SW of that hill - the reasoning being this: The fresh water is surrounded by tundra, which you can't irrigate. But you can irrigate through city squares, so I should be able to irrigate the grassland S of the city. Turns out you can't - cities on tundra don't count as irrigation.

170 BC: Map Making, build a galley and finally contact Japan. I'm not their first contact, unfortunately. But they lack Philosophy! So that research wasn't wasted after all. Trade that to them for Iron Working (finally!). A Russian galley kills mine though.

130: First Russian sword shows up. I move 8 archers and 3 spears next to Kiev. Russia attacks with a warrior (why?) and a sword, which kills one spear.

110 BC: This is it. Can I take Kiev? No vet spears are showing, just a regular...

Much blood later...

Not yet.

Russia's counterattack...

doesn't exist!

90 BC: Second archer takes Kiev! I also took Tblisi sometime.

I'm thinking about peace now. Russia will give me 3 of their 4 techs for peace, but won't give up communication with Babylon or Zulu. Plus Moscow has two wonders, Oracle and Colossus, that I wouldn't mind taking. Onward!

Russia has some irrigation in this area! Round up some captured workers, and start the LONG process of getting irrigation home from here.

70 BC: Galley finds Babylon. Trade contact with Russia and Japanese to Hammi for three of the techs we lack and contact with Zulu. Trade contact with Russia and Japan to Zulu for Mathematics, Horseback, 11 gold and his world map. World maps and all known tech get swapped all around. Looking at the map, I see Babylon has conquered most of the Zulu!

10 AD: Stack of Ancient Doom moves next to Moscow.

Grrr. Let's try that again. 210 AD: Stack of Ancient Doom II moves next to Moscow.

Grrr! Notice it still has an undamaged elite spear, even!

Should we make peace? Russia will give me one contact and Construction for peace. They do not have Currency, so they're two techs away from pikemen (remembering they get Monotheism for free.) I should have time to get swordsmen backed up with catapults to take Moscow before they get pikes.

Babylon will trade me Construction for naught but Horses, so I'll take that from Babylon and keep war going with Russia. (How'd Babylon conquer most of the Zulu without horses? Retreating Impis are tough to kill. Maybe they flipped a few Zulu cities?)

Russia's hoarding contact with Persia, Egypt, and China, though. I'll have to poprush a galley in Tblisi to find them. Hopefully one of them will have Republic or Monarchy (Russia has both, nobody else does.)

I trade for somebody's world map. How the ding-dong did Russia get waaaay over here?

250 AD: Galley from Tblisi finds the Chinese, who do know Persia and Egypt. I broker around all contacts to everybody, and get Currency and Monotheism in the process. Middle Ages in 250 AD. I'm the only one with Literature. Egypt is behind in tech. Russia got Currency from somebody, ugh; they're one tech away from Pikemen.

300 AD: For the first time, the people love me and add to the palace! Wow, THAT took a while.

330 AD: Buy Monarchy and revolt to it.

350 AD: Russia gets Feudalism, so have impending pikemen. I throw everything I've got left against Moscow now, but it's decidedly insufficient. It'll have to wait for knights, if not cavalry.

Russian swordsmen take out all but our last spearman (whew, kept the catapults.) Time to make peace. Probably won't attack them again until after Cavalry. They concede a tundra city on the north. Time to revolt to Republic (yeah, I spent three whole turns in Monarchy, rather a waste even with a religious civ.)

The world in 350 AD: