There's in fact a time factor: usually time passes when you visit your council members and during war campaigns. As I said, the game is a bit complex to get the hang of it. It's not really a RTS (Real Time Strategy) like Age of Empires for example. I myself think time passes slowly enough to give you all the time you need to make your decision
k:
If you have other doubts, by all means post them here. I'll gladly help.