![]() ![]() The incredible story of a wandering tribe that was able to build an empire in one century (from the beginning of the 14th century to the beginning of the 15th) can be largely explained by three main factors: the Aztec religion, the thriving trade routes centered on Tenochtitlan, and Aztec military organization. The priestly and bureaucratic classes were involved in the administration of the empire, while at the bottom of society were classes of serfs, indentured servants, and outright slaves. Valor in war, notably in the feared Jaguar Warrior formations, was the surest path to advancement in Aztec society, which was caste- and class-divided but nonetheless vertically fluid. By commerce and conquest, Tenochtitlan came to rule an empire of 400 to 500 small states, comprising by 1519 some five to six million people spread over 80,000 square miles. Under a succession of ambitious kings they established a dominion that eventually stretched over most of present-day Mexico. The empire the Aztecs established was equaled in the New World only by that of the Incas of Peru, and the brilliance of their civilization is comparable to that of other great ancient cultures of the New and the Old World. The high productivity gained by these methods made for a rich and populous state. The basis of the Aztecs' success in creating a great state and ultimately an empire was their remarkable system of agriculture, which featured intensive cultivation of all available land, as well as elaborate systems of irrigation and reclamation of swampland. ![]() The Aztecs settled on islands in Lake Texcoco and in 1325 founded Tenochtitlan, which remained their chief city. It is possible that their migration southward was part of a general movement of peoples that followed, or perhaps helped trigger, the collapse of the Toltec civilization. The Aztec were so called for Aztlan ("White Land"), an allusion to their origins in northern Mexico. The origin of the Aztec people is uncertain, but elements of their own tradition suggest that they were a tribe of hunter-gatherers on the northern Mexican plateau before their appearance in Meso-America in the 12th century. Montezuma's Aggressive trait gives melee units strength to swarm enemy cities, and the Spiritual trait allows him to switch civics without causing Anarchy. A mixed force of Jaguars, Axemen, Spearmen, and Horse Archers will be deadly early in the game, as Jaguars receive a bonus when attacking cities and the other units can protect them while they do. The Aztecs are very effective for a Domination or Conquest Victory. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |