Latifundium
A
latifundium is a very extensive parcel of privately owned land. The latifundia of Roman history were great landed estates, specializing in agriculture destined for export: grain, olive oil, or wine. They were characteristic of Magna Graecia and Sicily, of Egypt and the North African Maghreb and of Hispania Baetica in southern Spain. The
latifundia were the closest approximation to industrialized agriculture in Antiquity, and their economics depended upon slave labour. During the modern colonial period, the Portuguese and Spanish monarchs often rewarded military service with extensive land grants in Brazil, Bolivia, Mexico, Venezuela, Uruguay, Cuba, Chile and Argentina. The forced recruitment of local laborers allowed by colonial law made these land grants particularly lucrative for their owners. These grants,
fazendas or
haciendas, were also known by terms borrowed from the word "latifundia", respectively
latifúndios or
latifundios or simply
fundos.