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The Aztecs of Mexico built the largest and most powerful empire in the Pre-Columbian world. The Aztec Empire encompassed most of what is central and southern Mexico today and its influence spread beyond the Rio Grande River in the north and into the rain forests of central America to the south. In many ways, the structure of the Aztec Empire was not unlike that of old world pre-modern societies, especially those from the Bronze Age, but the fundamental difference was that it was driven by a unique combination of warfare and human sacrifice. The Aztecs were by far the best and most organized warriors of the region and the nearly constant wars they waged were not only to spread the geographic limits of their empire, but also to acquire more captives for human sacrifice, especially for the warrior god Huitzilopochtli.

===The Aztec Empire===

At the beginning of the Common Era, the Central Mexican Valley, which is where the modern city of Mexico City is located, was home to some of the most advanced cultures in Pre-Columbian America. The city of Teotihuacan rose to prominence early in the era and dominated the region until the eight century AD. Teotihuacan’s power was eclipsed by the Toltec people, whose capital was in the Valley city of Tula. After the Toltec culture collapsed in the twelfth century, the people of the Valley retained the high-culture that was first established by Teotihuacan and the Toltecs, but the region was more politically fragmented and the cities often engaged in long wars for hegemony over the Valley. <ref> Townsend, Richard F. <i>The Aztecs.</i> Revised Edition. (London: Thames and Hudson, 2008), pgs. 44-47</ref> Historians have collectively considered all of these different cultures and cities as different phases of the same civilization, of which the Aztecs would be the final, imperial phase.

===Aztec Warfare===

[[File: Sacrifice.jpg|300px|thumbnail|right| Copy of an Aztec Mural Depicting a Human Sacrifice Ritual]]

An examination of the expansion of the Aztec Empire reveals that there were both standard reasons for the expansion as well as uniquely Aztec factors. The standard reason for any empire to expand, no matter the period or the people, is the control of resources. When the Triple Alliance expanded to control most of central and southern Mexico, precious luxury goods such as jade, obsidian, and bird feathers were brought to the cities of the Central Valley to be traded in the markets. The Aztec economy was essentially a market system and therefore needed a steady supply of exotic and precious goods coming to the markets in order to keep the economy moving. <ref> Townsend, pgs. 83-99</ref> The control of resources was a vital part of the Aztec Empire’s success and among those resources were human captives taken in war.

The Aztec Empire has proved to be as enigmatic to modern scholars as it is intriguing. One of the mysteries that continues to surround Aztec history is the nature of the Flower Wars. Although there are differing theories among modern scholars concerning the details of the Flower Wars, namely what were the primary motivations on the Aztecs’ part, there is no debate that the wars were another source of the nearly constant stream of sacrifice victims who were being brought to Tenochtitlan.

===References===

[[Category: Pre-Columbian History]] [[Category: Mexican History]] [[Category: Native American History]] [[Category: Military History]] [[Category: Historiography]]