Citations

Diamond, Jared M. Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies. New York: W.W Norton &, 1998. Print.

"Carthage." World History: Ancient and Medieval Eras. ABC-CLIO, 2012. Web. 30 May 2012.

"Battle of Plataea" World History: Ancient and Medieval Eras. ABC-CLIO, 2012. Web. 30 May 2012.

"Battle of Salamis." World History: Ancient and Medieval Eras. ABC-CLIO, 2012. Web. 30 May 2012.

"Battle of Thermopylae." World History: Ancient and Medieval Eras. ABC-CLIO, 2012. Web. 30 May 2012.

Jackson, Peter. " Mongols." World History: Ancient and Medieval Eras. ABC-CLIO, 2012. Web. 30 May 2012.

In conclusion we see how the fertility of land has actually affected the expansion and development of Ancient Europe. We come to this conclusion after examining ancient Greece, ancient Rome, the Mongols; a barbarian tribe, and even modern day Papua New Guinea. By comparing all of these places other than Papua New Guinea we notice that they were all extremely successful and had an amazing military or trading partnership, which lead to their development as a more sustainable empire. These places did not only have to rely on their soil they had to learn how to rely on each other and start to have business oriented minds while trading and tactical minds while dealing with their military. Also by not having to rely on solely on their soil it gave them times to experience other ways of life. In Papua New Guinea since they had some fertile land at the time they did not expand their thinking into a more developed modern way of life. If they had done this some feel as though they would have become a dominant force due to their high intelligence, unfortunately their lack of opportunity paved them into the way of life they are living now. They struggle for the daily necessities while living on that island. If they would have started up a government, military, and gained possible trading partners would they still in the daily struggle they are today?

Map of Papua New Guinea 

Papua New Guinea


Some people you talk to might believe that the New Guineans are unintelligent but in fact they are the complete opposite. The New Guineans are probably some of the smartest people in the world unfortunately they were held back while others learned about new ways of life and evolved into more efficient and sustainable places. In Papua New Guinea they had fertile land for farming wheat. They have drier highlands in the central part of this island where they farm wild root crop; yams and taro, if you go even more inland they can farm sago, bananas, and sugar cane. Unfortunately none of these crops are very nutritious but the New Guineans were persistent and were able to live and survive for many years off of these crops and still do today. Nevertheless by the New Guineans solely focusing on farming and being able to have a sustainable amount of food for the community they did not broaden their horizons and discover more efficient ways of living. With the intelligence the New Guineans have they could have become a dominant and easily, efficient country.  If Papua New Guinea had not focused so much on farming and focused more on trading or their military they would have been able to develop into a higher functioning society like the one we live in today.

The Mongol Empire

Map of what Ancient Rome looked like with all of it's colonies 

A map of Ancient Greece with all of it colonies

Barbarians - The Mongols


Through out ancient times another era that existed was the barbarian era. The barbarian era like Greece and Rome's era faced the same difficulties with being able to have a sustainable living environment. The mongols a nomadic tribe whom first appeared in Chinese texts were mainly located on the steps of central Asia. This location did not provide any usable farming land seeing as it was very dry, treeless grassland with infertile soil. Due to their location they were mainly hunters and gatherers, which proved them very self reliant. The made their own milk, cheese, and alcohol. This was good because they did not have to rely as much on their land, the problem they faced though was that the animals that they hunted would eventually leave, or the specific species would become extinct in that area therefore they would have to pack up and follow the animals. This resulted in a very good trading system with china. They traded with China for grain, luxuries, and metals/weapons. This trading relationship helped better the Mongols army. By the Mongols receiving weapons from China they had an added advantage while being in battle with other barbarian tribes or other villages. This proved to be one of the main factors as to why they could so easily win battles. With their dominating force they were able to invade and conquer areas including central Asia and eastern Europe; China, Korea, modern day Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Ukraine, and Hungary. By the Mongols being able to conquer all of these places they became one of the most feared barbarian tribes of all time. The Mongols would not have focused so much on their military, or their trading partnerships if they did not focus mainly on the animals which they needed, to supply to the community as a source of food. If they would have had fertile land to farm on they would not have been so reliant on hunting and gathering and focused more on farming which would not have lead them to be the dominant, feared tribe that they were.

Ancient Rome 

Like ancient Greece's land, ancient Rome's land was extremely hilly and mountainous which was the cause of their infertile land. What the lacked in resources, in terms of food, Rome made up in  military power. Ancient Rome was able to offer their protection in return for food and other resources. This made them heavily reliant on their naval fleet and trading routes within the Mediterranean. A major opponent was Carthage who was also battling for control over this lucrative body of water. The first Punic war was the first struggle for control which resulted in a military draw. Unfortunately, this reduced Carthage's naval fleet and with desperate need of fertile land sent them on a trip up north for more control. The two players met north of Spain and battled for ultimate control once more. Rome was victorious in this struggle and from this gained access to further fertile land. In conclusion, it is the need for fertile land that caused these two smaller populations of people to grow into enemies by expanding and broadening their horizons. If either of these places had fertile land to start with there would have been no need to expand and learn more about other ways of surviving; using their military force to sustain an environment. 

Ancient Greece


Due to the fact that ancient Greece rested upon very infertile land and was contained within mountainous they could not grow enough sufficient crops to sustain their people. This forced Greece to invade other cities so that they could get sustainable fertile land. This helped evolve ancient Greece into a dominant colonized empire because they were forced to invade other fertile areas in order to expand their population. By ancient Greece expanding they were forced to build up their military and create a dominating force that would rule the Mediterranean. By Greece continuing to expand their territory their military kept getting better and near the end of Ancient Greece's era they were the most feared army. An example that Ancient Greece was probably one of the most feared and powerful armies during its era was the Battle of Thermopylae. This battle was between the two greatest forces at the time and in he end after a tedious amount of fighting Greece was able to get Persian troops out of Greece's territory. The Persians wanted Greece's land most likely because they needed more fertile land of their own showing just how needed fertile land was. Also another example of a battle resulting in a victory by Greece would be the battle of Plataea. The battle of Platea was once again between Persia and Greece. In the end of this battle however Greece not only got Persian troops out of their territory but gained more land along the Aegean sea as well. This was very helpful because land by the Aegean sea was extremely fertile and perfect for a sustainable community. Another example of the effectiveness of the Greek army would be the battle of Salamis. In this battle the Athenians gained control of even more land along the Mediterranean sea. Therefore you see just how effective the Greek army was. By the army proving itself victorious over a numerous amount of battles they need not go on the search of new land since whenever they won a battle they gained control over land and with this new fertile land they were able to grow a sustainable community. This new fertile land allowed them to develop further and prosper as a country.

An example of fertile soil/land, which s perfect for farming 

Wheat being farmed, which was a very popular crop in the ancient civilizations

In the ancient world due to the fact that people of those times were not as fortunate as we are to have the daily necessities that simplify and pave our way of life, they had to become extremely independent. Ancient families could only rely on two thing to survive; their own work ethic, and their land. Their land was probably the most important thing in these peoples lives. Their land determined when, how much, and what they would eat. Since almost every person in the ancient world was either a farmer or hunter and/or gatherer this was crucial. The downfall of the ancient world was spending most of their time focusing on their land, they did not get to expand and learn about other ways of life like people whom were living on infertile/bad land and were therefore forced to move out and expand their territory which then created a greater understanding and a greater development to their way of life. Most people eventually figured out that expansion was key and the way our world is today is a great example of that. Today most of the developed world can access over and beyond the daily necessities with ease, but places like Papua New Guinea still struggle to efficiently get these necessities. While thinking about why places like Papua New Guinea are still not as successful as places like Canada even though they have the knowledge to flourish as an evolving country, we have to take into account the fact that since they never had to relocate or focus on building a military or modern day governments they felt as though they did not need to change their ways of life. They could farm their land and get the needed nutrients from it at the time, therefore not seeing any reason to broaden their territory. Due to the fertility of land some civilizations focused mainly on farming and did not explore other ways of living which lead to their slower progression and development, whereas areas with less fertile land needed to expand which then further developed their way of life.