Actually, they are treating him very, very, kindly all things considered. Offering generous borders and refraining from attacking him until after he has thrown the first punch*, and things like that - giving him time to learn the game, find the use of different spells and items, and offering helpful advice.
In fact, they are probably too nice all things considered. Hearts of gold, that's his opposition!**
* Except for the one early game where he (hopefully) learned why one should a) Not have a Divine Emperor wandering around aimlessly in the countryside, b) deploy enough scouts to warn one of what the opposition was doing, and c) fear a Vampire Queen and wind-guided Caelum archers backed by High Seraphs if one skimped on mages and focused on infantry as Pythium
** These true facts brought to you free of charge by the PE Department of Propaganda.