Aztec Empire Essay

The Aztec Empire started with a message from Huitzilopochtli, the God of war, sun, human sacrifice and the patron of the city of Tenochtitlan. He commanded the Aztec natives to depart from their hunting and gathering way of life and travel to a land, "where the cactus grows, on which the eagle sits happily...” After a few hundred years of migrating, the Aztecs established themselves on a marshy island in Lake Texcoco, in the Valley of Mexico. At the start of the 1300s, the Aztecs began to advance their cultivation methods and initiated trade with more powerful and sophisticated tribes. Learning vital military skills, the Aztecs became warriors in the armies of these tribes. Later, the Aztecs created treaties with two other tribes, effectively
The Romans created superior methods for plowing land by means of Oxen and plows. Like the Aztecs, the Romans realized how to develop the soil so that crops could be developed effectively. One thing the Romans did that the Aztecs didn't was that they utilized the domestication and breeding of livestock. By doing this, they enhanced the quality of the animals they were raising. Irrigation was also an vital part of Roman agriculture. Like the Aztecs, Romans understood that water permitted crops to grow in regions that were usually were too dry. The Romans improved upon the Aztec system of dams and ditches to move water. They constructed huge aqueducts out of stone that transported water over great lengths. The Roman Empire was a great deal bigger than the Aztec empire. Food was transported throughout the empire. New provinces and territories were important because they provided foods and other supplies to the city of Rome. The Aztecs only grew enough food for local use and traded only with other tribes, should they have a sufficient amount to
Many of these structures can still be seen in the present day at their original sites and in museums. Perhaps, the greatest Aztec accomplishment was the building of Tenochtitlan. This was the capital metropolis of the Aztec empire and the largest city on earth at that point in time. What is incredible about this city is that it was built in a marsh. Huge causeways linked the city to the mainland. The causeways even had bridges built into them to allow the passage of boat traffic. The same thing can be said about the city of Rome as it was also built on a swamp. The Aztecs constructed remarkable pyramids, with the largest of them being the The Pyramid of The Sun; the third largest pyramid in the world. “Aztec pyramids, pyramid-shaped structures, are an important part of ancient architecture of the Aztec Civilization. These structures were usually step pyramids with temples on top – more akin to the ziggurats of Mesopotamia than to the pyramids of Ancient Egypt…The one noticeable feature about the Aztec pyramids was the step pattern incorporated in the design. These Aztec pyramids were mainly built for religious purposes. As mentioned before, the Aztecs were a religious group of people. These pyramids were therefore used to worship their Gods as well as to offer a sacrifice.” Without the Aztecs and the Romans, we may not have the cities that we have at the moment. The Aztecs built