AGRICULTURE

Without food, you can not have an empire because you need to feed the people of the empire in order to keep them happy. If there are unhappy people, then it is difficult to keep an empire together. More time and energy needs to be spent on keeping control of them.

Without agriculture there would not have been an Aztec empire. Beginning in the 1300s the Aztecs’ moved to swampy, uninhabited land in Lake Texcoco. Here they learned how to adapt to the land. The first thing they figured out was how to use the swampy land for agriculture. They created gardens called Chinampas, which were narrow strips of land surrounded by canals. Soil and other compost material were piled over the reclaimed lake bottom. Aztec farmers grew a wide variety of vegetables such as; beans, corn, tomatoes, peppers, squash and cotton. The second thing the Aztecs did was to make use of all cultivatable land for growing food. Where the land was hilly the Aztecs terraced the lands. The third important factor behind the Aztecs success with agriculture was the system of irrigation that they were able to develop. They built dams to catch water and canals to move it to where it was needed. This again allowed them to grow food in areas that normally would not be suitable for farming methods.



The Roman also made important improvements in agriculture. The Romans developed better methods for plowing land using Oxen and plows. Like the Aztecs, the Romans understood how to improve the soil so crops could be grown successfully. One thing the Romans did that the Aztecs didn't was that they spent time breeding farm animals. By doing this, they improved the quality of the animals they were raising. Irrigation was also an important part of Roman agriculture. Like the Aztecs, Romans understood that water allowed crops to grow in ares that were normally were too dry. The Romans improved upon the Aztec system of dams and ditches to move water. They built massive aqueducts out of concrete that moved water great distances. The Roman empire was much larger than the Aztec empire. Food was transported through out the empire. New provinces and territories were important because they produced foods and other goods for the city of Rome. The Aztecs produced food for local use and only traded with other groups if they had enough to spare.