Debate Night: Aztec vs. Rome

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First published: Monday October 2nd, 2023
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Welcome to Debate Night! Were the Aztecs more advanced than the Romans, or vice versa?

Before We Begin

This is my first Debate Night blog. Please tell me your thoughts on it in the comments! I hope you like it!

Premise

The European civilizations have long been thought superior by historians. But why? Is it because they had greater technologies, or is it because of Spanish prejudice and racism toward the Aztec and Inca? The Spanish portrayed the Aztecs as savages, broadcasting their brutal religious sacrifices to the world in documents. Most people do not know of the Aztec chinampas, an amazing food system. Or of their landfill that allowed the city of Tenochtitlan to prosper. On the other hand, the Romans controlled much of Europe. Caesar was, arguably, more brutal than the Aztecs. His soldiers are said to have killed almost 90,000 people in a few hours. And the Roman concrete led to an advanced infrastructure system that led to domination of the ancient European world.

How advanced were the Aztecs?

Were the Romans more advanced?

Instructions

Debate about whether the Romans or Aztecs were more advanced. Why do you think this? This is intended to be an enjoyable and educational activity.

Rules

1. Be respectful and kind. Nobody wants you to be rude or mean.

2. be open-minded. Even if you disagree with someone, try to understand their point of view, or at the very least do not just call them wrong.

The Last Word

I hope you have fun debating over this topic. It never hurts to do research if you do not know enough to debate. And as a friendly reminder, please keep this peaceful. See you next time, JetPunkers!

Level 67

Oct 2, 2023

aren't they thousand years apart?

Level 60

Oct 3, 2023

Yes

Level 60

Oct 3, 2023

Is it really up for debate? Which of the two sacrificed their newborns in blood rituals to their gods?

Level 68

Oct 3, 2023

Well there is evidence of four forms of Roman ritual killing so you can't really use that argument when the Romans themselves cancel it out. Although this "debate" is completely unfair mainly due to the fact that the Romans had advanced knowledge of steel and ironmaking and commonly used those metals to make weapons. The Aztecs usually used wood,stone,and volcanic glass like obsidian

Level 66

Oct 3, 2023

It's only "unfair" because, despite coming a thousand years earlier, the Romans were more technologically advanced and generally more civilized.

Level 68

Oct 3, 2023

Exactly.

Level 50

Oct 3, 2023

But were they more technologically advanced? Did the Aztecs not create one of the most advanced food systems in the world without the wheel, and did they not sprout one of the greatest civilizations in history without being influenced by any other major culture, like the Romans were?

Level 68

Oct 3, 2023

But one of the more important parts of being advanced is military and strength which the Romans would dominate the category of.

Level 60

Oct 3, 2023

You literally just countered the point you tried to make - if they were so civilized, then why didn’t they have a wheel?

Level 73

Oct 4, 2023

Romans used the wheel. Wheels predate both the Romans and the Greeks. Mesopotamia is credited for its invention but India and China also developed wheels on their own accord.

When it comes to the Americas, Aztecs did have toys with wheels but they never developed carts, chariots and so on.

Level 50

Oct 3, 2023

The Aztecs were brutal, but the Romans were as well. Caesar was rumored to have killed almost half the people in Switzerland. And do not forget that some of the most advanced civilizations today practice the killing of others and their own, such as executing criminals and prisoners. I could argue that brutality does not make a civilization less advanced.

Level 60

Oct 3, 2023

It’s not brutality - it’s the religion. More modern, civilized religions such as Christianity or even Islam don’t require the sacrifice of babies.

Level 63

Oct 7, 2023

Remember, the debate is not exactly about who's the most civilized, but rather who's the most advanced.

Personally, I'm not too sure, since I don't know a whole lot about the Aztecs. It's one of my knowledge gaps.

However, I do know a fair bit about the Romans, and though basically all forms of pure mathematics and true science pretty much disappeared during their rule, they were great architects and engineers. You know about the aqueducts. But the Coliseum is so close to a perfect circle that we couldn't replicate it today even with all our technology. The Romans were certainly the most advanced civilization in their time and for the next thousand years afterward. The Aztecs also didn't have many tameable animals either, I think, except llamas, while the Romans had all the Old World quadrupeds to work with. Lots of domesicateable animals equal civilizations with large cities.

Level 50

Oct 8, 2023

About the aqueducts, the Aztecs created their own aqueducts at Tenochtitlan through Lake Texcoco.

Level 60

Oct 3, 2023

Cool thumbnail though.

Level 50

Oct 3, 2023

Thank you.

Level 66

Oct 3, 2023

The next debate should be one of these topics:

1. Ukraine vs Russia

2. Armenia vs Azerbaijan

3. Cyprus: Europe or Asia?

4. Kosovo: Country or Not?

5. Taiwan: Country or Not?

6. Palestine vs Israel

Level 60

Oct 3, 2023

I’d rather not.

Level 50

Oct 3, 2023

Those are good topics, but I probably will not use them as debate topics because they are very politically controversial and would be less enjoyable to debate about. I understand you are from Armenia, and there are Ukrainians and Russians on JetPunk, as well as Jews and Muslims. I think I should keep it to the past, not the present, but I will think about these suggestions. Thank you.

Level 34

Oct 4, 2023

I'd say that Alexander vs Genghis would be a better topic.

Level 50

Oct 4, 2023

I will consider that too.

Level 34

Oct 5, 2023

You could do World War One. Everyone says Germany lost, but in reality both sides suffered gigantic losses for only a few miles of land. Maybe to one sided for this one tho.

Level 63

Oct 7, 2023

I've kinda already done Cyprus as a topic but not as well presented as this one...

Level 50

Oct 7, 2023

You made the Debate Field series, right?

Level 63

Oct 7, 2023

Yes. They were my start at blogging, so not such good quality, but I still enjoyed it and I think sone other people did too.

Level 55

Oct 3, 2023

In the case of a hypothetical war, I'd say Rome was not just more technologically advanced, but also superior in the sense of military experience and tactics. Rome probably would have a lot more army reserves, as an estimated 56 to 79 million people lived in the empire at its peak while the Aztecs only had about 5 to 6 million people living in it.

I think another important factor to mention is longevity, in the sense of both the existence of said states and urbanization. The Aztec Triple Alliance lasted little under a century while the Roman state lasted for (arguably) over 2000 years.

Urbanization wise, a lot of settlements that were built by the Romans still exist today and a lot of them are major cities (e.g. Cologne, Barcelona, London, etc.). This is (unfortunately) not really the case for most native American settlements, with only a handful actually still surviving to this day (e.g. Tlaxcala, Texcoco, Cholula).

I might be forgetting something, but that's my input.

Level 50

Oct 3, 2023

Some people say that the reason the Aztec classic period only lasted a few decades is because Hernan Cortes came and the Spanish introduced diseases, which wiped out countless Indigenous people. It would be interesting to see what the world would be like today if the Aztecs had survived colonization.