Oriental Despotism 181to build great hydraulic works in the early days of his power; and in the course of
his reign he completed colossal works of the nonhydraulic public and semi-private
types. Having destroyed all his territorial rivals, he constructed the previously
mentioned network of highways which gave his officials, messengers and troops
easy access to all regions of his far-flung empire. Later he defended himself against
the northern pastoralists by consolidating the Great Wall. Palaces for his personal
use had been built in the early days of his reign; but it was only in 213 BC that work
was begun on his superpalace. This monster project, together with the construc-
tion of his enormous tomb,^89 is said to have occupied work teams numbering over
700,000 persons.^90
Eight hundred years later the second monarch of a reunified China, Emperor
Yang (604–17) of the Sui Dynasty, mobilized a still larger labour force for the
execution of similar monster enterprises. In addition to the more than 1 million
persons – men and women – levied for the making of the Grand Canal,^91 he dis-
patched huge corvée teams to extend the imperial roads^92 and to work on the Great
Wall. According to the History of the Sui Dynasty, over a million persons toiled at
the Great Wall.^93 According to the same official source, the construction of the
new eastern capital, which included a gigantic new imperial palace, involved no
less than 2 million people ‘every month’.^94
d. Temples
The position, fate and prestige of the secular masters of hydraulic society were
closely interlinked with that of their divine protectors. Without exception, the
political rulers were eager to confirm and bulwark their own legitimacy and maj-
esty by underlining the greatness of their supernatural supporters. Whether the
government was headed by secular monarchs or priest-kings, the commanding
centre made every effort to provide the supreme gods and their earthly functionar-
ies with adequate surroundings for worship and residence.
Government-directed work teams, which erected gigantic palaces, were equally
fitted to erect gigantic temples. Ancient inscriptions note the many temples built
by the Mesopotamian rulers.^95 Usually the sovereign speaks as if these achieve-
ments resulted solely from his personal efforts. But occasional remarks indicate the
presence of ‘the people’ who toiled ‘according to the established plan’.^96 Similarly,
most Pharaonic texts refer to the final achievement^97 or to the greatness of the
directing sovereign;^98 but again a number of texts refer to the government-led
labour forces, ‘the people’.^99
In the agromanagerial cultures of pre-Columbian America, buildings for reli-
gious purposes were particularly conspicuous. Native tradition as well as the early
Spanish accounts emphasize the tremendous labour required to construct and
maintain the sacred houses and pyramids. The Mexicans coordinated their com-
munal energies to erect the first temple for the newly established island city, the
later Aztec capital;^100 and their increasingly powerful descendants mobilized the
manpower of many subjugated countries for the construction of increasingly huge
temples.^101 The city-like palace of the famous King of Tezcuco, Nezahualcoyotzin,