Armageddon, if you didn't talk to them they would've attacked you anyway. It was better off that you paid the 8,000 Denarii or they would've attacked you by surprise instead of warning you.
Anyway, diplomacy is dead useful. Some clever diplomacy will get you anywhere. In a game I'm playing now as the Greeks, I have all of Greece, Western Asia Minor, and the Agean. I sent a diplomat to the east to improve relations with my Seleucid allies, get Trade Rights from the Egyptians, etc. and while on my way there, I realized Phoenicia was revolting and an Egyptian army was beseiging Sidon. I proceeded to bribe the Egyptian general, hire a ton of mercenaries, assault and capture Sidon and establish a force there. I next went a bit west to Palmyra which just rebelled against the Egyptians. I bought the city sold it to the Egyptians, bribed it back, and then gave it to the Seleucids, pretty much ensuring that they stay my firm ally, completely cheating Egypt out of a ton of money, and managing to get a general in the process.
Sidon gets beseiged by the Egpytians like 2 turns later, but my diplomat buys off the army beseiging it, getting me another new family member. I then hire a ton of mercs with him and send a general that married into my family to Sidon, and with a force that I built up in Sidon I beseige Jerusalem and continue to build forces. Currently I'm bribing every Egyptian army that comes my way, I have strong allies in the Seleucids and I've got a huge army beseiging Alexandria with a diplomat that bribes away anyone that tries to break the seige. In this game the pen can be mightier than the sword if you have the denarii to up your words.
I put a dollar in one of those change machines. Nothing changed. ~George Carlin[This message has been edited by Ace_Cataphract (edited 01-03-2005 @ 09:33 PM).]