MS Ancient History-The Rise of Civilization: Aztec

Aztec History

Dig into the mysteries of Aztec history right here!  What was ancient Aztec art and culture like?  What about the Aztec religion?  And the legendary Aztec sacrifices?

The Aztec Empire was peopled by a group that was once nomadic, the Mexicas.  Their chroniclers told them that after their long journey from Aztlán, they found themselves to be outcasts, until they found the sign sent to them by their god Huitzilopochtli, and began to build their city.  And so the Mexica peoples continued, and the Aztec Empire began.

The city of Tenochitlan was soon to become one of the largest cities in the world.  The power of the Mexica peoples became more consolidated, and they began to form alliances.  Their military power grew as well, and they began to conquer peoples in the surrounding areas.

At the height of its power, the Aztec Empire was organized and strong, but ruled with fear.  In 1519, a clash of cultures was to take place, unlike anything before it.  Although there was much tragedy in both the Spanish and Aztec empires before this, the meeting of the two civilizations was disastrous.  In a few short years, the culture and structure of one of histories greatest empires would have virtually vanished.

Did you know...

• It was against the law to be drunk in public in the Aztec empire, unless you were over 70 years old!
• Each Aztec home had a steam bath!
• It is said that the major Aztec weapon could chop off the head of a horse with one blow!
• Read on for much more ancient Aztec history!

This Aztec timeline includes the generally agreed upon dates of major events in the empire.  For various reasons, experts dispute some dates, but this will give you an idea of the flow of events in the history of the empire, up until its fall.

Foundation Of The Empire

Building an Empire

Height of the Empire

Most people today are somewhat familiar with the Aztec empire. But it may surprise you to know that there is a great deal of disagreement over what kind of an "empire" it really was. This Aztec empire history may surprise you.

Of course, even the term Aztec is a bit misleading. It's a name that is used for a group of peoples in Central Mexico, but really there wasn't any one people group that was "Aztec". The Mexica people were at the heart of the empire, but there were many other cultures that formed the civilization that the Spanish were to discover.

Estimated area of Aztec power

What kind of an empire?

If we use the term empire, we need to know what we mean by it. There were many empires throughout history, and they ruled people in very different ways. It might be helpful to go back and see exactly how the civilization started...

Aztec empire history
Many years after the Mexica people first built their proud city, Tenochtitlan (later to become Mexico City), they formed an alliance with two other cities - Texcoco (Tetzcoco) and Tlacopan (these three cities are shown as yellow dots in the map above). This Triple Alliance was to rule the Valley of Mexico until the Spanish arrived. However, over time one city become the most powerful - Tenochtitlan. It would become the heart of the Aztec civilization.

Essentially, the history of the empire is a history of city-states. As the empire expanded (which it began to do in earnest around 1428) it conquered more cities. Some cities resisted. Others were conquered and began to pay tribute.

How the empire was ruled
The city of Tenochtitlan was the military power, which spearheaded the conquest of new territory. But the Aztec emperor didn't rule every city state directly. Local governments would remain in place, but would be forced to pay varying amounts of tribute to the Triple Alliance (with most of the tribute going to Tenochtitlan).

For this reason scholar Alexander J. Motyl would call this empire a informal or hegemonic empire.
 You also need to remember that the Aztecs didn't necessarily rule connected territories. Because they were conquering cities, they sometimes had power in "pockets" over an area.

But don't think that this was a weak empire. Ruling through a local government ensured that the locals would keep the people happy, and that there would be stability and continuity. This system worked very well for the peoples of the empire.

At its height
The empire might have continued to grow had not the Europeans arrived in 1519. At this time it was at its height, reaching from the Pacific to the Gulf of Mexico, from Central Mexico all the way to Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras. See this map of the Aztec empire for a visual idea. Here's another conception:

This 12-foot-wide calendar stone helped the Aztec keep track of the year.

Photograph by Sébastien Lecocq / Alamy

• Aztec people used cocoa beans as money.
• The Aztec believed that the gods sent them a sign—an eagle devouring a snake while standing on a cactus—to settle in Tenochtitlan. The symbol is still used today on Mexico’s flag.
• These people played ullamaliztli, a game made with a 16-pound rubber ball in which players had to pass the heavy ball using only their torso–no hands or feet allowed.
• The Aztec used two calendars: a 365-day calendar and a 260-day ritual cycle. The two calendars lined up every 52 years.
• The busiest market days in Tenochtitlan drew 50,000 people. (Compare that to the size of your grocery store!)
• Source: https://kids.nationalgeographic.com/history/article/aztec-civilization

To see all four pages of this lesson, click  https://drive.google.com/drive/u/0/folders/0AFf-F5S2E_xcUk9PVA