Aztec Warfare

The Aztecs engaged in warfare (yaoyotl) to acquire territory, resources, quash rebellions, and to collect sacrificial victims to honour their gods. Warfare was a fundamental part of Aztec culture with all males expected to actively participate and battle, referred to in Nahuatl poetry as 'the song of shields', was regarded as a perpetual religious and political necessity. The Aztecs were so accomplished in combat that they eventually forged an empire which covered 200,000 square kilometres and, at the height of their power, they extracted tribute from 371 city-states across 38 provinces.

The Aztecs believed that the god of the sun and war Huitzilopochtli had been fully armed and ready for war from the very moment of his birth from his mother Coatlicue. Indeed, the first act of this blood-thirsty war god was to kill without mercy his rebellious sister Coyolxauhqui and his 400 siblings, the Centzonhuitznahuac and Centzonmimizcoa. In mythology, the dismembered bodies of Coyolxauhqui and the 400 became the moon and stars respectively. That warfare was an everyday reality is reflected in the Aztec belief that the conflict between Huitzilopochtli and his siblings re-occurred every day, symbolised by the contest between sun and moon each 24 hours. Further, that war was glorified is evidenced in the belief that fallen warriors accompanied the sun on his daily journey and later returned to earth as hummingbirds. Human sacrifices were regularly made to Huitzilopochtli at his temple atop the great pyramid, the Templo Mayor, at the Aztec capital Tenochtitlan. One of the most important such sacrificial ceremonies was held on the winter solstice, the traditional beginning of the campaign season.

The military commander-in-chief was the king himself, the tlatoani. He was assisted by his second-in-command, who had the title cihuacoatl. Joining these two in a war council were four more of the highest ranking nobles, typically relatives of the king. These four had the titles of tlacochcalcatl, tlaccetacatl, tillancalqui, and etzhuanhuanco. Reporting to the council were diverse units of warriors with varying levels of status, although it is important to note that brave and able soldiers could certainly climb through the ranks if they took a specific number of captives.

World History