Download The Aztec Empire

The Aztec Empire
Like other Native American groups, the Aztec of central Mexico — and the Inca of South America lacked metal
tools, large work animals, and a practical use of the wheel. Yet they were able to develop centralized
governments, raise armies and conquer empires. Both civilizations, however, came to sudden ends in the early
A.D. 1500s, when they were overwhelmed and destroyed by Spanish invaders from Europe.
The Aztec Empire
The early Aztec were hunters and warriors who moved from the north into central Mexico during the A.D.
1200s. In A.D. 1325 they founded a city in central Mexico named Tenochtitlan (tayNAWCH'teefLAHN), today the
site of Mexico City, According to Aztec legend, Aztec priests told their people to settle in the area where they
would find an eagle sitting on a cactus and holding a snake in its beak. After much wandering, the Aztecs finally
saw on an island in Lake Texcoco what the priests had described. There, they established Tenochtitlan.
Tenochtitlan
The Aztec turned Tenochtitlan into an agricultural center and marketplace. Since land for farming was scarce
on the island, they built chinampas, or artificial islands, by piling mud from the bottom of the lake onto rafts
secured by stakes. These became floating gardens where farmers grew a variety of crops, including com and
beans. With a plentiful food supply, the population grew and people moved outside the city to the mainland. A
network of canals, bridges, and causeways was built to connect the mainland with the capital city.
Empire
Strengthened by early alliances with neighboring city­states, the Aztec then conquered more distant rivals. By
A.D. 1500 their empire stretched from north­central Mexico to the border of Guatemala, and from the Atlantic
Ocean to the Pacific Ocean. Conquered peoples had to pay heavy tribute in the form of food, clothing, raw
materials, and prisoners for sacrifice.
As the Aztec Empire expanded, Tenochtitlan prospered. Estimates of the city's population by A.D. 1500 range
from 120,000 to 200,000. Goods and tribute came to the city from all parts of the empire.
Government and Society
Unlike the Mayan city­states, each of which had its own king, the Aztecs had a single ruler. The emperor was
chosen by a council of nobles and priests to lead in war. Below him, nobles served as officials, judges, and
governors of conquered provinces. They enjoyed special privileges such as wearing luxurious feathered cloaks
and gold jewelry. Next came the warriors, who could rise to noble status by killing or capturing enemy soldiers.
The majority of people were commoners who farmed the land.
At the bottom of society were the slaves, mostly criminals or prisoners of war. Despite their low status, slaves'
rights were clearly spelled out by law. For example, slaves could own land and buy their freedom.
Protected by Aztec power, a class of long­distance traders ferried goods across the empire and beyond. From
the highlands, they took goods such as weapons, tools, and rope to barter for tropical products such as jaguar
skins and cocoa beans. They also served as spies, finding new areas for trade and conquest.
The Aztec civilization was organized as a hierarchy—divided into levels of authority, each level more powerful
than the level below it. At the top was the emperor. His power came from his control of the army and was
reinforced by religious beliefs.
The Aztec social order had four classes: nobility, commoners, serfs, and slaves­ Land could be owned by
noble families and commoners. Commoners included priests, merchants, artisans, and farmers. Serfs were
farmworkers tied to noble lands. The lowest class included criminals and debtors, as well as female and
children prisoners of war. Male prisoners of war were sacrificed to the Aztec gods.
Medicine
Like many other ancient peoples, the Aztecs believed that illness was a punishment from the gods. Still, Aztec
priests used herbs and other medicines to treat fevers and wounds. Aztec physicians could set broken bones
and treat dental cavities. They also prescribed steam baths as cures for various ills, a therapy still in use today.
Education and Learning
Priests were the keepers of Aztec knowledge. They recorded laws and historical events. Some ran schools for
the sons of nobles. Others used their knowledge of astronomy and mathematics to foretell the future.
Aztec children were raised by their parents with concern that they learned their responsibilities and basic life
skills. The boys attended either a calmecac or a cuicacalli. The cuicacalli was more of a military school.
Children of the noble class attended a calmecac, a school for noble children that was connected to the
temples.
The Macehualtin or the workers were tradespeople, peasants, and builders. The children of this class went a
local school, called telpochcalli. There they were taught basic occupational skills, the elements of warfare, and
good citizenship.
In Aztec society, females were subordinate to men so they were mostly taught from home. They started
spinning at four and cooking at twelve. The schooling of girls was a basic training for marriage, except that
noble girls spent a year at the age of twelve or thirteen helping in the temples. Because of this temple training,
some girls went on to become priestesses.
Religion and the Arts
Religion motivated the Aztecs to engage in war and sacrifice. Borrowing ideas from the Maya and the Toltec,
the Aztecs believed that live human sacrifices were needed to keep the gods pleased and to prevent drought,
floods and other natural disasters. The chief deity was the sun god Huitzilopochtli (wee­tsee­loh­POHKT­lee),
whose giant pyramid­temple arose in the center of Tenochtitlan.
Huitzilopochtli, the Aztecs believed, battled the forces of darkness each night and was reborn each morning. As
the Legend of the Suns shows, there was no guarantee that the sun would always win. To give the sun strength
to rise each day, the Aztecs offered human sacrifices. Priests offered the hearts of tens of thousands of victims
to Huitzilopochtli and other Aztec gods. Most of the victims were prisoners of war, but sometimes a noble family
gave up one of its own members to appease the gods.
Priests used a 360­day religious calendar to determine appropriate days for activities, such as planting crops or
going to war. The Aztec also had a 365­day solar calendar that consisted of 18 months of 20 days plus 5 extra
days. These extra days were considered very unlucky. One of the most famous surviving pieces of Aztec
sculpture is a large, circular calendar stone that represents the Aztec universe, with carvings that stand for the
days of the Aztec month. Aztec artists decorated temple­pyramids with scenes of deities or battles. Writers
glorified Aztec victories in their works.
The empire, however, proved to be fragile. Though other cultures, such as the Olmecs and the Mayas, had
practiced human sacrifice, but it was not on the massive scale of the Aztecs. The Aztecs carried on, almost
continuous warfare, using the captured enemy soldiers for a regular source of sacrificial victims. Among the
conquered peoples, discontent festered and rebellion often flared up. Revolts in outlying areas weakened Aztec
control. When the armies from Spain later arrived, they found ready allies among peoples who were ruled by
the Aztec empire. In A.D. 1521 the rebels joined the Spaniards in destroying the Aztec heritage.