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A large landed estate.
A Latifundia is "a piece of property covering a very large land area, found today only in Latin America and Italy." They specialized in agriculture destined for export, and were run by slave labour. They are/were very similar to the Spanish haciendas.
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What factors led to the decline of the Roman republic and the rise of the Roman empire?
The Roman republic began to decline when farmers began to lose sales due to grain coming in from conquered lands. When Rome conquered groups of people, they forced them into slavery, and often to work in wealthy land owner's latifundia. So when grain was pouring in from latifundia all over the republic at low costs, farmers in Rome were forced to sell their land and move to the city in search of work; Joining the crowds of already unemployed, lower class citizens, riots began breaking out. The new wealth in the city from the latifundia caused greed and corruption among the upper class. The Gracchus brothers attempted to reform Rome's republic, but the Senate was angered by their attempts to take power from them; the brothers were killed in waves of street violence. Unable to solve its problems, Rome plunged into a series of civil wars, with many armies fighting for one commander. These wars eventually resulted in Julius Caesar emerging victorious, and taking over the new Roman Empire.
What is a ancient roman farming estate that uses enslaved people?
There was not a name for a farming estate which used slave labour. Slaves worked on large landed estates. These were called fundi (plural of fundus) or latifundia (plural of latifundium, "spacious" + fundus, "farm, estate"). The name remained after these estates stopped using slave labour.
How was slavery a cause of the decline of the Roman Empire?
The heavy use of slave labor brought about economic decline. Small farmers, who could not compete with free labor, went out of business. These former farmers were forced to make their way in the cities, increasing overcrowding. Slaves were often war captives from barbarian tribes used to independence, so slave insurrections, many that came close to immediately toppling the empire, were always a looming threat.
Why was the senate in roman so powerful?
The senate during the early republican phase was powerful because it was completely ruled by the patrician class which was a group of the most influential, wealthy and descendants of nobility. During the later stage of the republic the senate was the seat of power because it held th emajority of power as well as land through the use of latifundia. As well as this it organised the armys which held the power in Rome. During the empire stage the senate had very little actual power. This is because the emperors had slowly taken away those rights and taken the powers for themselves.
What cause the growth of the Roman empire?
Elite competition (in order for the elite to gain power they had to gain notoriety - Africanus showed them the way - by winning wars against Rome's enemies). Additionally, there was a growing desire for arable land (due to the growing number of latifundia in Italy) on which to settle colonies and vetrans from the legions. Additionally, the need for money (which was largely drawn from taxing landowners) to maintain the spiralling cost of the legions created a somewhat perpetual expansion of Roman territory.
