Go Back
The Aztec Empire (Triple Alliance). The Aztec Empire was a massive, highly organized Mesoamerican state formed in 1428 through a military alliance between Tenochtitlan, Texcoco, and Tlacopan in the Valley of Mexico. Built on an island in Lake Texcoco, their extraordinary capital city of Tenochtitlan grew into one of the largest and most densely populated metropolises in the ancient world. This empire matters immensely because it developed breathtaking engineering feats, including causeways, aqueducts, and artificial agricultural islands called chinampas.
The Aztecs commanded a formidable military machine that subjugated hundreds of surrounding city-states, extracting heavy tribute in gold, textiles, and food. Deeply religious, they conducted widespread human sacrifices to nourish their chief sun deity, Huitzilopochtli, and sustain the cosmic order. The empire reached its territorial zenith in the early 16th century under Moctezuma II. In 1521, a coalition of Spanish conquistadors led by Hernán Cortés and tens of thousands of indigenous allies who resented Aztec rule violently destroyed Tenochtitlan.