Agro-town

This also explains why these populations are often very fluctuant, with a large immigration during harvest and a significant emigration during the low season or in case of crises.

Agro-towns being prevalent in warm environments, it's been pointed out that they tended to emerge where water was rare and the population had to cluster around a well.

The prevalence of malaria in wetlands implied that it was healthier to live in higher ground, which may have led to a concentration of the population on some hills.

Incidentally, higher ground and concentrated habitat also provide good defensive positions, which may have played a role in regions where marauders and pirates were a threat to isolated farms.

This process would explain why agro-towns are mostly in regions dominated by latifundia and the high level of tension between the town residents and the landlords.