At the beginning of the sixteenth century, the Inca Empire appeared strong and vigorous, its people and its enemies seemingly under control. Its roads and public buildings were a constant reminder of the Incas' might and power. Yet that might and power was about to be challenged by a foe unlike any this Andean people had ever known, the Spanish conquistadors.

Even before the Spanish arrived in 1532, the empire was having its troubles. Indeed, the last decade of imperial rule was a stormy period, marked by disease and civil war. And then came the Spanish invasion. Under these hammer blows of misfortune, the empire crumpled. Its collapse was hastened by its subject peoples' grasping the opportunity to break free of Incan control. In the end, Incas and non-Incas alike found themselves under new rulers, the Spanish.

Old and New Ways

The Incas...