When is a good time to build courthouses?

[Yosho]

Originally posted by trev
Courthouses must have a greater priority than marketplaces and libraries, rapid expansion is the key to success particularly at higher levels, with enough couthouses, instead of building 6 cities as in the example, you may be able to move to 10. Libraries will not give you that option and courthouses are considerably cheaper than marketplaces.

(shrug) Sure they will. More libraries means you can run a slighly lower science setting and still get just as much science. When it comes down to it, commerce is commerce, and it dosn't really matter in the long run what form it comes in.

Courthouses are pretty good, but if you need to build some millitary units (which you usually do), you're almost always better off building the millitary units in your high maintence cities and marketplaces and libraries in your high commerce cities then the other way around, until you run out of things to build in your high commerce cities.