Well, this was very interesting. I only ever played Caesar 3, I haven't been able to see the development of the series by myself. It was interesting to see the previous chapters.
But I did play that one a lot. I remember when I bought the game, I spent days reading the manual in its entirety. It had a lot of content and it was, to me, very instructive not only when it came to how to play the game, but also to get to know some facts about the Roman way of life. Sierra did that sometimes. I live in Rome, and the game was kind of a big deal around here.
I still have nighmares about that Prosperity value, though. I always chose peaceful villages because I didn't like wars in the game, but boy was it hard to create a decent, productive city.