The Aztecs: Building an Empire - Part 2

Teotihuacan is destroyed. In the big empty power crater it leaves behind, a group of relatively peaceful city states takes over in its wake. This is where the first mention of the Aztecs come into play.

According to their records (in which it's pretty much only their records as they had a nasty habit of burning a lot of the old books to make sure it's all up to date with the pro-Aztec propaganda machine) they came from a wonderful island called Aztlan. Supposedly an island to the west, they decided to leave their ancestral home and settle in central Mexico. Now, you have to take this with a grain of salt; Aztlan could very well have been some island to the west somewhere, but it's fairly likely that they created the place as a means to make their whole coming to Mexico more imposing. If you say you're from some mystical land, it lends credence to a "blessed by the gods" impression. That being said, it's hard to overlook the fact that maybe they just came from an island in the west. Anyways. They've arrived.

A monument to the founding of Tenochtitlan in Mexico City. It
shows the moment the eagle omen is seen, as the man
on the left is clearly saying "well, finally."

The problem is they didn't really have anywhere to go. They were pretty well the equivalent of the homeless of today - you wish them the best and hope they land on their feet, but for the most part they're making you feel uncomfortable as you pass by them. Perhaps the better word for them would be drifters. They would stay in a few places until the more powerful residents (the city states) decided to get rid of them and send them packing. It wasn't until they found a most beautiful swamp containing an eagle resting on a cactus with a snake in it's mouth - an omen, apparently - that they finally found their home. If I learned anything, it's that a cactus can exist in a swamp. Interesting side note: there is a band called Swamp Cactus. I'm sure they're great.

Originally the Aztecs founded two cities: Tenochtitlan in the south and Tlateloco in the north. However, the swamps drained and eventually the two were merged into one large city.  According to their written history, and bear in mind they're not going to speak ill of themselves, the Aztecs were proficient farmers, allowing them to settle quite nicely into their home and put up their "Swamp, Sweet Swamp" welcome mat. What allowed them to thrive, however, was their battle prowess. Again... this might be similar to a high school kid saying he can "bench 350 back when he was training," as this is coming from their own records, so take it as you will. They must have at the very least had something going for them though, as they were hired as mercenaries for the Tepanec, a group of people not far from their location, under the leader Tezozomoc. They would raid other places on their behalf and got a pleasant share of the loot to sustain themselves. It was a proper working relationship in which no one was left with any major grievances - save for the looted, of course.

Cortes, the man who conquered the Aztecs: his best
weapons were disease, a strong fashion sense, and weapons.

Unfortunately for the Aztecs, Tezozomoc died, the reins falling to his son Maxtlatzin. Now, Max (can I call him Max?) wasn't as friendly with the Aztecs as his father, and decided that they had their fun together but it was time to split apart and... promptly eliminate the Aztecs. It was not an amicable break-up. This proved to be a costly mistake; under the leadership of Itzcoatl, the Aztecs rallied and defeated their former employers. Suddenly Tenochtitlan and the Aztecs seem a force to be reckoned with as they take what they please from the city and burn all their books. The disposal of the literature was an idea from Itzcoatl to promote the idea of Aztec glory, and any book that didn't contain that concept was a book that wasn't meant to be read.

Now that they have a foothold, it was important to believe (and to make their citizenship believe) that the Aztecs were destined for greatness; the gods' chosen people. To further increase their power, they entered into what was later to be called the Triple Alliance. The might of Tenochtitlan was at the forefront with the allies of Texcoco and Tlacopan, two cities not far from their own. From there they waged war with the dominant powers in the north, Heuxotzingo and Tlaxcala, for the purpose of tribute, power, and above all, sacrifices. Tenochtitlan grew to be a massive empire, filled with a colossal number of people, unimaginable levels of tribute flowing in, and enough sacrifices to satisfy what can only be really, really bloodthirsty gods.

But all that couldn't last forever. We all know how the Aztecs fell from power; Cortez comes in with all his weaponry (and all his diseases) and before long they're out the door. In part three, even though it seems to be going backwards a little bit, I'll be talking all about the goings on of Tenochtitlan itself. I assure you it's more interesting than it sounds.