Aztec Civilization: Society, Religion, Warfare & Economy

History of Aztec Civilization

According to George C. Vaillant's Aztecs of Mexico: Origin, Rise, and Fall of the Aztec Nation, the civilization was composed of a strong population of independent groups. These groups resided in the Valley of Mexico and later came together to form an empire that possessed broad authority and came to dominate the majority of southern and central Mexico. A great deal of what is known about the Aztec civilization has been understood and studied because the conquest of this civilization was of major importance to the European world. As Vaillant explains:

"Their history and social customs are better known than their neighbors' because their conquest had such a far-reaching significance for the European world. Spanish observers of military, priestly, and civil status wrote careful accounts of Aztec life and history, and Indian authors a generation later augmented these records, drawing on the tribal lore still only thinly veneered by Christianity. A few pictographic records, either prepared before the Conquest or copied afterward, are precious additions to the Aztec annals. However, our chief data on Indian history come from archaeology, that branch of research which recovers social history through the study of the surviving remains of human handiwork in ages past."

The study of Aztec civilization has long been of interest to historians. The customs, religious life, and government structure of the empire are fascinating in their complexity and depth. Although a great deal is known about the civilization, much of its history was lost or destroyed when the empire was conquered. Accordingly, this discussion draws on various studies in the fields of archaeology, sociology, anthropology, and history.

Basic Life and Family Life

For the Aztec civilization, family structure was a very important part of life. Marriage was a central institution: women typically married as teenagers, while men were somewhat older. Marriages were usually arranged. It was not uncommon for men to have more than one wife, but only the first wife and her children could inherit wealth or become successors in noble families.

Upon marriage, a couple was given land and a home was built for them. Pregnancy and childbirth were regarded as deeply significant and symbolic events. The Aztec people compared childbirth to warfare — during pregnancy the baby was viewed as a captive held by the womb, and birth itself was seen as a struggle in which the baby emerged victorious. Women who died in childbirth were honored in a manner similar to warriors who died in battle.

Once a child was born, certain ceremonial rites welcomed the child into the community and the religious system. Within Aztec religion there existed a goddess of childbirth, and a special hymn was sung to her upon delivery. Following the birth, a soothsayer was responsible for studying the mannerisms and temperament of the newborn and asking questions about the circumstances of the birth. Various other rituals and ceremonies also accompanied the birth of a child.

Husbands were expected to care for all of their wives and children. It is generally believed that men with multiple wives were wealthy, while those with only one wife were usually poor. Marriage was taken very seriously in the Aztec empire — a husband or wife could be killed for committing adultery. Divorce was permitted, however, and either spouse could seek one; when divorce occurred, the couple's possessions were divided equally.

Men held most of the power in both daily and family life, ruling over both the empire and the household. However, women also wielded significant power: they were able to own businesses, exercised considerable authority in the rearing of children, and older women were revered as elders who advised many in the empire.

During the early stages of a child's development, parents bore primary responsibility for education. In most cases the mother educated female children while the father educated male children. Older children continued to learn from their parents but many were also sent to school, and there were different levels of education that children could achieve. Certain types of work could separate families for long periods — for instance, a father might have an occupation requiring travel or military service.

Punishment for children in the Aztec community could be severe. Up to the age of about eight, most punishment took the form of verbal reprimands or scolding. Older children, however, were likely to receive much harsher punishment because they were expected to behave in a more mature fashion and were being prepared for adult Aztec life.

In sum, basic life and family in Aztec civilization were strongly rooted in the institution of marriage and the cohesion of the family unit. The Aztecs placed great emphasis on proper treatment of family members, the education of children, and respect for elders within the community.

Government

The foundation of Aztec government was the family structure, upon which all other governmental elements were built. Above the family unit, the next organizational level was known as the Calpulli. The Calpulli were groups of families that collectively owned land — individual families did not hold land independently. Each Calpulli appointed elders or leaders who ensured that the needs of the group were met, collected taxes, and established the schools that common citizens would attend.

Above the Calpulli level was the city council. Three significant city-states emerged from this system: Tenochtitlan, Texcoco, and Tlacopan. Known collectively as the Triple Alliance, these city-states wielded tremendous power over central Mexico. Of the three, Tenochtitlan eventually came to rule the entire empire.

Within the civilization there were two classes: nobles and commoners. As Michael Ernest Smith explains in The Aztecs, nobles — also known as lords — held the highest positions in government and commanded the army. They also tended to own significant amounts of land and enjoyed much higher standards of living than commoners. Smith describes the position of commoners as follows:

"Commoners varied in their degree of subjugation, from the heavy burdens of slaves to the relative freedom of the pochteca merchants. Most commoners, however, had a number of typical obligations to the lord, first and foremost of which was to provide him with regular payments of tribute in goods. These payments were assessed by family and consisted of cotton quachtli, food items, or specific goods produced by the family. Commoners also provided their lord with regular labor services. Men cultivated the lord's land, women spun and wove for him, and both sexes worked as domestic servants."

Although commoners outnumbered nobles, they were often at the mercy of the noble class and were expected to serve them. That said, commoners retained a considerable degree of control over their own lives and in most cases had enough to meet their basic needs and those of their families.

References

Hassig, Ross. Aztec Warfare: Imperial Expansion and Political Control. University of Oklahoma Press, 1988.

James, Susan E. "Some Aspects of the Aztec Religion in the Hopi Kachina Cult." Journal of the Southwest 42.4 (2000): 897.

Smith, Michael Ernest. The Aztecs. Blackwell, 2002.

Vaillant, George C. Aztecs of Mexico: Origin, Rise, and Fall of the Aztec Nation. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1962.

Winkelman, Michael. "Aztec Human Sacrifice: Cross-Cultural Assessments of the Ecological Hypothesis." Ethnology 37.3 (1998): 285+.