Aztec warfare

Aztec warfare concerns the aspects associated with the militaristic conventions, forces, weaponry and strategic expansions conducted by the Late Postclassic Aztec civilizations of Mesoamerica, including particularly the military history of the Aztec Triple Alliance involving the city-states of Tenochtitlan, Texcoco, Tlacopan and other allied polities of the central Mexican region. The Aztec armed forces were typically composed of a large number of commoners (yāōquīzqueh jaː.oːˈkiːskeʔ, "those who have gone to war") who possessed only basic military training, and a smaller but still considerable number of professional warriors belonging to the nobility (pīpiltin piːˈpiɬtin) and who were organized into warrior societies and ranked according to their achievements. The Aztec state was in the center on political expansion and dominance of and exaction of tribute from other city states, and warfare was the basic dynamic force in Aztec politics. Aztec society was also centered on warfare: every Aztec male received basic military training from an early age and one of the few possible opportunities of upwards social mobility for commoners (mācehualtin maːseˈwaɬtin) was through military achievement — especially the taking of captives (māltin ˈmaːɬtin, singular malli). Thus, only specifically chosen men served in the military. The sacrifice of war captives was a very important part of many of the Aztec religious festivals. Warfare was thus the main driving force of both the Aztec economy and religion. There were two main objectives in Aztec warfare. The first objective was political: the subjugation of enemy city states (Altepetl) in order to exact tribute and expand Aztec political hegemony. The second objective was religious and socioeconomic: the taking of captives to be sacrificed in religious ceremonies. These dual objectives also influenced the kind of warfare practiced by the Aztecs.