Yeah, actually we renamed it hoplite reforms. and I am now OK with the the of them getting the -10% pop bonus… even though Athens was maybe 2 to 3 times the size of Thebes… all 3 were by far the smallest of the 16 factions. Also I like maybe none of them having Will to fight, but stronger militiaty techs or something?

Very true. We can have their citizens be more productive but penalize the economy another way. Perhaps withhold some economic upgrades? I'm just riffing here    On the other hand, maybe this is a good enough bonus for city-states. Maybe it can be adapted a little with a name change like civic pride.

Im throwing ideas around Sparta had manpower issues with respect to other Greek city-states. This was mainly due to their idea of a full citizen having the obligation to enter a Sysition with a regular donation, much like a membership fee. Over time, the number of upper class which could maintain this cost diminished. I guess, an ancient form of enshitification was in works . All Greek city-states had restricted manpower compared to empires. Considering both arguments, my proposal is: - Athenians and Thebans as well as Spartans have more restrictive population limits. - Spartans have a further limit on their champions which have excellent stats already. It does not have to be a hard limit, one idea is to have it as a percentage of current population.  

Well generally barracks cost 200 wood 100 stone for most civs... but the tribal ones now cost 300 wood only, 20% faster build time but 20% less health and capture points.... similar to temples, forges, all of those things are wood only.