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Podcast Transcript
Following the collapse of the Toltec Civilization, the Aztecs rose to prominence in central Mexico.
The Aztecs constructed the most powerful state in the Americas, guided by a supreme emperor and a spiritual worldview that viewed human sacrifice as essential for cosmic stability.
By the 16th century, the Aztec Empire was finally overcome by a combination of Spanish ingenuity, advanced weaponry, and devastating disease.
Learn more about the rise and fall of the Aztec Empire on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily.
Many people think that the Aztecs were a long-lived ancient civilization. As we will see, they were not.
The word Aztec is a recent one, dating only to the 19th century, a reference to the ancestral homeland of Aztlan, from which the Mexica, the indigenous people of the Mexico Valley, migrated before founding their capital of Tenochtitlan (teh-nohch-TEET-lahn) in 1325
The Aztecs succeeded the Toltecs in the Valley of Mexico, the site of present-day Mexico City. It is a high plateau, surrounded by volcanic mountains, that sits at about 7,300 feet above sea level. Building in this unique setting, the Aztec civilization thrived in a valley defined by five interconnected lakes.
The Aztecs constructed a major urban center atop the swampy island at the heart of Lake Texcoco. The choice of this location is the very reason why Mexico City is sinking today.
In 1428, the city of Tenochtitlan, under the leadership of Itzcoatl (eets-KOH-ahtl), joined forces with the cities of Texcoco and Tlacopan to overthrow the powerful city of Azcapotzalco (ahz-kah-poht-SAHL-koh), home of the Tepanecs. Together, these three city-states defeated the Tepanecs and formed the Triple Alliance.
This alliance is what historians usually mean by the Aztec Empire. In theory, it was a partnership among Tenochtitlan, Texcoco, and Tlacopan. In practice, Tenochtitlan gradually became dominant, Texcoco remained a major but secondary partner, and Tlacopan became the weakest of the three.
The Mexico Valley is a terrific place for agriculture, thanks to its favorable climate; however, there are few rivers in the region, so the use of lakes for irrigation was essential.
As urban centers expanded around Lake Texcoco, the Aztecs faced mounting pressure to increase food production for their growing population. To address this need, the Aztecs developed chinampas. Chinampas are floating gardens that maximize agricultural productivity, particularly in regions with no prominent river systems.
Chinampas were cane frames filled with mud, weeds, and dirt, floating on the lake, allowing the plants to receive constant irrigation. Chinampas covered more than 20,000 acres in the five-lake network, and each was approximately 1/5 of an acre and was publicly owned and maintained by commoners.
A common misconception about Aztec culture is that it was dominated by Mayan influence in its cultural and political practices. In truth, the Mayans occupied a completely different region of Mexico, and their civilization had collapsed centuries before the emergence of the Aztecs.
A more appropriate description of their connection is that the Maya and the Aztecs were part of the same mother culture. The cultural qualities of the states that occupied this region trace their roots to the foundational cultures of Mexico.
The Olmecs originated the calendar, subsequent regional cultures altered it over centuries, and the Maya ultimately improved it. The Aztec calendar was built on this synthesis and was a 365-day agricultural calendar divided into 18 months, each broken into 20-day increments, with one five-day period at the end of the year.
The number of festivals and the deities that they honored were connected to agriculture and seasonal change. The Aztecs believed that proper observance of festivals prevented crop failure, plagues, or defeat.
Aztec architects modeled their monumental public pyramids on the traditional Mesoamerican architectural archetype. Remarkably, while these pyramids were not as tall as their Egyptian counterparts, classic Mesoamerican structures like the nearby Great Pyramid of Cholula were actually larger by volume than those at Giza.
Few Aztec traditions have garnered as much attention as the “ball game”.
Known as ullamaliztli (oh-lah-mah-LEEST-lee), the ball game was a ritual combination of sport and religious sacrifice. The game involved two teams hitting a dense rubber ball with their elbows, knees, and hips to try to get it through a small hoop.
The Spanish were surprised at the brutality of the game. One Spanish observer wrote: “To protect themselves from the terrible blows of the ball—for the ball was solid, heavy, and hard as a stone—they wore loincloths of thick leather, and padded patches over their hips… Even so, I have seen players receive such terrible blows from the ball in the mouth, or the stomach, or the intestines, that they dropped dead on the spot. Others were so severely bruised on their thighs and hips that the blood had to be lanced and squeezed out of the wounds.”
Priests frequently sacrificed the losing teams, who were usually captive warriors from Aztec military victories.
Few topics garner as much curiosity about the Aztecs as human sacrifice. The Aztec practice of human sacrifice grew out of a long-standing set of principles that remained consistent across Mesoamerican civilizations.
Across mother-culture societies, beginning with the Olmec, the peoples of the region believed in a cosmic debt owed to the Gods who created the sun and the universe. In the Aztec language Nahuatl (na-wat), the word for sacrifice is nextlahualli (nes-tlah-WAHL-lee), which literally means “repayment of debt.”
The Aztecs paid their debt over and over with blood. Bloodletting was a way for every Aztec to repay the debt they all owed. Aztecs would often pierce their flesh with obsidian blades, thorns, or the stingers from stingrays.
Piercings went through the earlobe, the gaps between the fingers, or the tongue. The Aztecs believed that sacrifice was necessary for bountiful harvests, and priests conducted these rituals at the beginning and end of harvests throughout the Aztec world.
Many victims, up to 20,000 a year, came from conquered areas, losing teams, defeated warriors, or slaves purchased for festivals.
The Aztecs and the Spanish collaborated on a history of the Aztecs known as The Florentine Codex. The Codex was compiled by indigenous Aztec survivors who wrote the history in their native tongue, alongside Spanish friars who provided parallel commentary.
The Florentine Codex describes the nature of the sacrifice by noting: “And the captive, as he went along breaking his clay flutes, ascended the steps of the pyramid… And when he reached the summit, the priests seized him. They threw him upon the sacrificial stone. Then, one of them pierced his breast with an obsidian knife, reached into the opening, and tore out his heart, offering it directly to the Sun.”
Because the conquest destroyed so many primary Aztec sources, uncertainty persists about the accuracy of our knowledge of Aztec religious practices. Sadly, not a single Aztec book survived the destruction following the Spanish conquest.
Juan de Zumárraga, Mexico’s first Archbishop, saw Aztec writings as obstacles to conversion and destroyed texts systematically. He gathered ancient books and administrative records from all over the Valley of Mexico, focusing heavily on the royal archives, and then set them on fire.
There are several Spanish accounts that do seem to offer an accurate appraisal of Aztec life before Cortés. The Spanish accounts from the period of and after the conquest describe the Aztec cities as massive centers, filled with glorious public buildings, festivals, and vibrant markets.
The opulence of Spanish cities like Cordoba, Madrid, and Toledo defined Spanish expectations, and in many areas, Tenochtitlan (teh-nohch-TEET-lahn) exceeded them. Spanning five square miles and home to more than 150,000 residents, the metropolis showcased breathtaking gardens and a massive imperial zoo.
Aztec merchants, called “Pochteca,” conducted business across great distances on foot, as there were no horses in the Americas before the arrival of the Spanish.
The most prized commodities in Aztec markets were cacao beans, which served as currency to buy luxury items such as jade, obsidian, and feathers. Smaller farmer-style markets sold foodstuffs such as corn and fish.
Aztec cities were home to a complicated network of social relationships that provided the framework for Aztec life. The Aztec social order was anchored by the Pipiltin, a hereditary nobility that controlled the empire’s political and religious power, and the Calpulli, foundational commoner clans that organized local labor, land distribution, and military recruitment.
By the early sixteenth century, the nobility had amassed a disproportionate amount of the Aztec state’s social, political, and economic capital. This growing class disparity destabilized internal unity and ultimately paved the way for the Spanish to exploit these fractures.
The Aztecs were governed by a “Great Speaker,” who served as an emperor and oversaw other cities that elected their own “Speakers.” The relationship was one-sided: the Aztecs would collect tribute from these neighboring states, enriching the emperor and his inner circle of pipiltin.
This arrangement created animosity between the central leadership of the Aztecs and the tributary states outside of the capital, who resented the relentless demands for tribute in the form of people, jade, foodstuffs, and obsidian.
Seeking the immense riches of the Mexican states he had heard of since reaching the Caribbean in 1504, Hernan Cortés looked toward Mexico as the ultimate opportunity to secure the wealth and prestige he desired after participating in earlier regional conquests. In 1519, Cortés amassed a force of approximately 550 Spaniards, armed with steel blades, muskets, and horses.
When Cortés arrived on the coast, imperial scouts quickly alerted the Aztec leadership. Local governors greeted the Spanish guests diplomatically. According to oral traditions, attendants constantly fanned them with burning incense and aromatics.
While the Aztecs observed strict diplomatic protocol, they also had a practical motive: masking the horrible odor of the Spanish. The Aztecs maintained exceptionally high standards of daily hygiene, a trait the conquistadors lacked.
Cortés quickly made his way to the Aztec capital, taking advantage of regional political divisions and tensions between the Aztecs and their tributary states. Cortés had few challenges finding Aztec enemies.
Those who betrayed the Aztecs anticipated an easier life under the Spanish. They completely miscalculated what lay ahead.
Cortés and his men arrived in Tenochtitlan in 1519. Moctezuma II welcomed the Spanish into the city not out of superstitious fear, but to contain the small foreign force and separate them from their thousands of indigenous allies.
The Aztecs were well-versed in the lethality of Spanish weaponry; their fatal misunderstanding lay in how the Spanish intended to use it. Anticipating a conventional Mesoamerican conquest aimed strictly at battlefield soldiers, the Aztecs were entirely unprepared for a European total war, one designed to bring systematic destruction to their entire civilian state.
The Spanish captured the Aztec Emperor and then attempted to assault the city on June 30, 1520, in a battle known as the Night of Sorrows. The attack was repelled, and the Spanish were driven out of the city.
Upon their return the next year, the Spanish used their greatest weapon yet, smallpox. By the time the Spanish again attempted to conquer Tenochtitlan (teh-nohch-TEET-lahn), nearly 50% of the population had died from the disease.
Tenochtitlan eventually collapsed under the weight of the Spanish siege with the help of disease and guns. The Spanish captured the city in 1521 after a fierce defense led by the new Aztec emperor Cuauhtémoc (kwah-oo-TAY-mohk).
Cortés tortured Cuauhtémoc and kept him alive as a puppet ruler to provide legitimacy to the Spanish transition. When the Spanish were satisfied with the gold and their control, Cortés ordered Cuauhtémoc’s execution by hanging.
The Aztec Empire was only around for about a century, yet in that short time it built one of the greatest cities in the world and dominated much of central Mexico.
Its rise from a small island settlement to a powerful imperial capital was extraordinary, and its fall was one of the most dramatic turning points in world history.
The story of the Aztecs is a reminder that empires can appear permanent at their peak, but even the strongest can collapse with astonishing speed when disease, enemies, and circumstance all converge.
