Topic

It's much more hands on than Sim City. Rather than designating areas where types of buildings may be built, you're placing specific buildings and using their characteristics to attract immigrants. The game sort of revolves around setting aside plots of land for housing, maintaining desirability and employment levels to attract citizens, and giving them enough of what they want in order to upgrade the housing. At too high a housing level they stop working, so you want to maintain a section of the population at a level where they'll work and not only operate utilities but also generate tax revenue. On top of that you have to manage your city's resources well enough so you'll be able to export goods and generate revenue that way, maintain a military to ward off enemy or barbarian attacks, and keep the gods happy so you're not smitten from heaven.

is this more addictive, interesting missions than pharaon?
I was very big fan of pharaon:cleopatra. :) perfect everything.

I don't know, I played both, and enjoyed both. I think Pharaoh (I never played the expansion) was more fleshed out than Caesar III was (though that was because Pharaoh came out afterward, I think). The missions for Caesar I remember being more difficult faster than the Pharaoh ones, less learning curve I guess.
I would say if you enjoy(ed) Pharaoh then you would probably enjoy Caesar III.
And that made me think about how I also used to play the Greece one, which I now forget the name of. I was so in the civilization/city simulator when I was younger!

Zeus: Master of Olympus

Yes the Greek one is called Zeus.
That's where my love for the series ended. Zeus had very strage graphics...it hurt my eyes just looking at it. :o
But Ceasar III and Pharoah are one of those games you can keep on playing. Ceasar III has that really cool 'roman' feeling. Mostly due to the fantastic music.
However. For people who have only played Paraoh: Ceasar III is a step back! But only a small one. What you will miss most in C III is that you don't have roadblocks.

Another difference from SimCity is that buildings in Caesar 3 do not have zones of influence. The services that buildings provide are distributed by employees who walk the roads; as they pass a house, that house receives that service. Laying out your roads well and keeping certain things close together are important.

I have always loved Sim Town:p

But i saw some gameplay from SimCity 4 and must say it looks really intresting, downloading it right now. I just hope it will work =p

No games that I've played reach up to the level of the old city builders, the pinnacle of which was Zeus (I haven't played Emperor, though).
You could try Imperium Romanum and/or Grand Ages: Rome, which are similar to these games in scope and what-you-have-to-do, but are way easier than the games of old. Still, if you don't mind the lack of real challenge, or even enjoy building a sandbox-style city, they ARE fun games on their own right.

Not exactly the same, but there's Tropico 3 and Anno 1404.