I won!!!

And I thought it was impossible.  Granted I was playing a Beginner game, but I'm still surprised I won on my third attempt.  I achieved a diplomatic victory and I did it thanks to the advice I got here. 

1.  I put my 3 extra points into Research, Diplomacy, and Trade.

2.  I went after alliances with a vengeance.  I discovered that most of my AI's would accept an alliance for 5000+ bc!