WHAT PRE-COLONIZED MEXICO WAS REALLY LIKE FOR THE AZTECS

Mexico has a colorful history, blossoming with cultures rich in art, song, and philosophy, and the Aztecs are among the most famous. According to Britannica, the Aztecs ruled the region in the 15th and 16th centuries. They were an urban society, living in several city states around Lake Texcoco, the largest of which were the cities of Tlacopán, Texcoco, and Tenochtitlán, the Aztec capital. Together, they controlled an empire known as Ēxcān Tlahtōlōyān or the Triple Alliance, as per Time.

Humans had lived in Mesoamerica for at least 21,000 years. Early cultures, like the Olmecs, went on to influence later cultures like the Maya and Aztecs. Then, everything changed when the Spanish attacked. In their quest for gold and riches, the conquistadors ransacked everything in their path. The Yucatan Times explains that this included burning nearly every book they could find, on the orders of Bishop Diego de Landa in 1562. As a result, most surviving accounts of Aztec life were made by the same people who were ultimately responsible for the destruction of their society.

The people themselves didn't refer to themselves as Aztecs, but as Mexica, and their name lives on in the name of Mexico itself. They were likely named for Metzliapán, meaning "Moon Lake," an old name for Lake Texcoco. While most people know little about them beyond brutal depictions of war and human sacrifice, the Aztecs had a complex and fascinating culture.

THE GREAT CITIES OF THE AZTECS

Mesoamerica has a long tradition of building cities, including Teotihuacán, one of the largest cities in the world when it was built. The Aztec contribution to this legacy was their capital of Tenochtitlán. According to Live Science, the city had an extensive system of roads and canals used by hundreds of thousands of people — estimates say at least 400,000 people lived in Tenochtitlán (via Britannica), making it the largest city in pre-colonial Mesoamerican history. As centers for trade and culture, most Aztecs would have either lived in or near cities.

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