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
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structuring an authoritative triple alliance. In the upcoming years, the Aztecs began to conquer bordering tribes and increase the volume of their empire, until finally it reached the southern end of Mexico and the northern half of Guatemala. In 1502, Moctezuma replaced Ahuitzotl as the leader to the Aztec empire, continuing to develop its strength. In 1519, Spanish explorers arrived at the coast of Central Mexico. Led by Conquistador Hernan Cortes, the Spanish had brought horses, canons, and guns, introducing things that the Aztecs had never seen prior. This caused great concern amongst the Aztecs. Concurrently, a civil war had begun and was ripping the empire apart. The Aztecs were forced to fight numerous battles throughout the empire. The expenditure of the civil war, smaller amounts of tribute from conquered tribes, and a famine, caused Moctezuma to require more tribute from members of the empire. Disturbances in the empire and the influx of the Spanish marked the end of the Aztec empire.
The Roman Empire began its ascent in the year 14 A.D., under the instruction of Emperor Augustus. Emperor Augustus was able to stop the disorder and warfare over leadership that had taken place after Julius Caesar's murder. The Roman Empire then began to increase. As citizens and territories alike were conquered, by 17 A.D., the magnitude of the Roman Empire had developed to its biggest size. It stretched into Britain, North Africa, Spain, and Syria. For several years the empire maintained a functioning society as Rome was protected and receiving great amounts of taxation and resources (food, natural resources, and manual labor) from dominated areas. By 161 A. D., troubles started to come into view in the Roman Empire. Two of the most important reasons that the empire began to disintegrate were due to troubles with their borders and politics. Their borders were a dilemma due to the total size of the empire. It was so massive that there was not an adequate amount of Roman soldiers to protect it from invading barbarians. These barbarians were not enthusiastic about living peacefully beneath the laws of Rome. During the late 300s, many Barbarians came to the empire in order to flee from the Huns, who were invading from Asia. This left Rome with large amounts of Barbarians within the empire who didn’t care much for Rome's rules. These people, who were heavily armed, were capable of reaching deep within the Roman Empire, leaving Rome much more dangerous than it had previously been. Political troubles were also a main cause of the demise of the Roman Empire. Since 193 A. D., countless military leaders and politicians tried to take power over the empire. Different branches of the army took a liking to the generals that best supported their interests. The soldiers of the army were promised a pay increase for the support of certain candidates; however, this caused trouble due to the fact that Rome didn’t have that money to give. This combination of problems with invading Barbarians and the Roman army lead to disorder in the empire. Farmers were no longer capable of producing crops so costs went up, leading to citizen unhappiness. Rome tried to increase the size of the army in order to chase all the Barbarians out. This brought more problems because a better army required more money and Rome was no longer as prosperous as it once was. Eventually Barbarian armies conquered Roman territory and in 476 A. D., the very last of the Roman Empire was overthrown, bringing the finish to the Roman Empire.
With no food, you can’t have an empire for the reason that you need to feed the people of the empire in order to keep them content. If there are discontented citizens, then it is hard to keep an empire intact. More time and energy is required to be spent on maintaining control over them. With the lack of agriculture there would not have been an Aztec empire. Beginning in the 1300s the Aztecs’ moved to marshy, unoccupied territory in Lake Texcoco. Here, they learned how to become accustomed to the land. The first thing they learned was how to use the marsh lands for agriculture. They made gardens called Chinampas, or “floating gardens”, which were thin strips of land bordered by canals. Soil and other compost matter were piled over the domesticated lake bed. Aztec farmers grew a broad assortment of vegetables such as; beans, corn, tomatoes, peppers, squash and cotton. The Aztecs made use of all the possible cultivatable land that they could for producing food. The last important factor responsible for the Aztecs success with agriculture was the organization of irrigation that they were able to create. They built dams to catch water and canals to move it to where it was needed, again, allowing them to grow food in areas that generally weren’t be appropriate for farming methods.
The Roman also made significant developments in agriculture.
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 …show more content…
spare.
Both the Romans and Aztecs will be remembered for their beautiful structures that they put up.
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
marvelous structures by hand and with very little equipment. The Romans though, seemed to enhance everything the Aztecs did. They built aqueducts to transport water to their cities, enhanced roads, built community baths, protective walls, theatres, arches, bridges, water ways, temples, and palaces.
Both the Roman and Aztec Empires were built on military power. The military gains of the Roman Empire are well recognized. Their army was the most prevailing and triumphant of all time. The Roman army was the earliest full time professional army on earth. Due to the fact that they were so well controlled, they were capable of conquering much bigger armies even though they were outfitted with essentially the same weaponry. As the empire extended, citizens of dominated lands united with the army and aided in the protection the frontiers and borders of the empire. Generals from different parts of the Roman army fought for control of the Empire. The hostility among different members of the army caused instability in the empire. Ultimately this struggle would be one cause of the fall of the Roman Empire. Unlike the Romans, the Aztecs had no professional army, however they did have expert military leaders. From a young age, all Aztec males were trained to be warriors. The Aztec's reputation of being vicious and fearless warriors aided them in preserving their empire. Like the Romans, they effortlessly conquered opposing armies. The Aztec army fought to have power over the Valley of Mexico while, the Romans fought an assortment of enemies all through their empire. The Aztecs also dressed in elaborate costumes and uniforms as they went into combat. They didn’t put on protective covering like the Romans did, but they did however, dress in animal hides and leather. Both armies would use captured soldiers as their slaves. While the Romans would on occasion use them as gladiators to be sacrificed for sport, The Aztecs nearly always sacrificed their captured enemies for their gods.
Both the Aztecs and the Romans are recognized for creation of their own calendars. The Roman calendar was a lunar calendar produced by the Emperor Romulus. Months often contained 29 or 30 days, and it was determined by lunar cycles and the seasons of the agriculture. “This dating system, however, was probably a product of evolution from the Greek lunar calendar, which in turn was derived from the Babylonian. The original Roman calendar appears to have consisted only of 10 months and of a year of 304 days. The remaining 61 1/4 days were apparently ignored, resulting in a gap during the winter season.” The Aztecs made two of their own calendars. The first one, known as Xiuhpohualli, was used to measure time. This calendar had 365 days, and was used to decide when to plant crops. The second calendar, called Tonalpohualli, was employed to place the dates of holy festivals. Aztecs used this calendar to help know when it would be a good time to communicate with the gods and to perform sacrifices for them. Both calendars were comparable for the reason that they were both used in determining when the optimal time for planting and harvesting agriculture was. However, they were different in the fact that the Aztec calendar was calculated on the movement of the sun, while the Roman calendar was based on the cycles of the moon.
Religion played equally strong role between the Aztec and Roman Empires. Aztec people understood that the gods were in direct power of their lives from the day they were born. The Romans, on the other hand, had to interact with an assortment of religions as their empire extended. Every characteristic of Aztec life was centered on religion. With over one thousand Aztec gods representing the forces of nature, the two most important gods were Huitzilopochtli and Tlaloc. Huitzilopochtli was the God of the Sun and Tlaloc was the God of Rain. The Aztecs permitted conquered tribes to maintain their own religions, languages, social structures and customs. The Romans, on the other hand, had no choice but to tolerate the worshipping of a multitude of unusual gods. They had to accept these various religions because as the empire got bigger, they also had to include the many different cultural beliefs. Every one of the cultures had a special god. The Romans knew that if the didn’t permit a variety of religions to exist, people would be miserable and harder to manage. Unlike the Aztecs, the Romans couldn’t focus as much time and energy on just one or two gods. They did not consider that their very way of life could depend upon a god being content with them. The Romans did not like a few religions such as Judaism and Christianity so they persecuted them. “By and large, Romans regarded Christians as a laughable and easily expendable group...” and stating that “Christians are a joke; Alexander is a fool; he worships his god – a crucified donkey.” Some Jews and Christians were sent abroad. At one point in the empires history, citizens were anticipated to give devotion to emperors as if they were living gods. Aztec priests also undertook a vital roll in the Aztec Empire. They conducted countless ceremonies and rituals in the course of the year. For the duration of these ceremonies, the priest would sacrifice humans to the gods, ensuring a good harvest or, to just keep the gods pleased. “The greatest ceremonial precinct where the majority of sacrifices took place formed the architectural axis of its four sides measured 440 meters. Tenochtitlan and each of its four sides measured 440 meters. It contained more than eighty temples, skull racks, schools, and other structures." Likewise, men and animals alike were sacrificed in Rome; but only for sport, not religious reasons.
structuring an authoritative triple alliance. In the upcoming years, the Aztecs began to conquer bordering tribes and increase the volume of their empire, until finally it reached the southern end of Mexico and the northern half of Guatemala. In 1502, Moctezuma replaced Ahuitzotl as the leader to the Aztec empire, continuing to develop its strength. In 1519, Spanish explorers arrived at the coast of Central Mexico. Led by Conquistador Hernan Cortes, the Spanish had brought horses, canons, and guns, introducing things that the Aztecs had never seen prior. This caused great concern amongst the Aztecs. Concurrently, a civil war had begun and was ripping the empire apart. The Aztecs were forced to fight numerous battles throughout the empire. The expenditure of the civil war, smaller amounts of tribute from conquered tribes, and a famine, caused Moctezuma to require more tribute from members of the empire. Disturbances in the empire and the influx of the Spanish marked the end of the Aztec empire.
The Roman Empire began its ascent in the year 14 A.D., under the instruction of Emperor Augustus. Emperor Augustus was able to stop the disorder and warfare over leadership that had taken place after Julius Caesar's murder. The Roman Empire then began to increase. As citizens and territories alike were conquered, by 17 A.D., the magnitude of the Roman Empire had developed to its biggest size. It stretched into Britain, North Africa, Spain, and Syria. For several years the empire maintained a functioning society as Rome was protected and receiving great amounts of taxation and resources (food, natural resources, and manual labor) from dominated areas. By 161 A. D., troubles started to come into view in the Roman Empire. Two of the most important reasons that the empire began to disintegrate were due to troubles with their borders and politics. Their borders were a dilemma due to the total size of the empire. It was so massive that there was not an adequate amount of Roman soldiers to protect it from invading barbarians. These barbarians were not enthusiastic about living peacefully beneath the laws of Rome. During the late 300s, many Barbarians came to the empire in order to flee from the Huns, who were invading from Asia. This left Rome with large amounts of Barbarians within the empire who didn’t care much for Rome's rules. These people, who were heavily armed, were capable of reaching deep within the Roman Empire, leaving Rome much more dangerous than it had previously been. Political troubles were also a main cause of the demise of the Roman Empire. Since 193 A. D., countless military leaders and politicians tried to take power over the empire. Different branches of the army took a liking to the generals that best supported their interests. The soldiers of the army were promised a pay increase for the support of certain candidates; however, this caused trouble due to the fact that Rome didn’t have that money to give. This combination of problems with invading Barbarians and the Roman army lead to disorder in the empire. Farmers were no longer capable of producing crops so costs went up, leading to citizen unhappiness. Rome tried to increase the size of the army in order to chase all the Barbarians out. This brought more problems because a better army required more money and Rome was no longer as prosperous as it once was. Eventually Barbarian armies conquered Roman territory and in 476 A. D., the very last of the Roman Empire was overthrown, bringing the finish to the Roman Empire.
With no food, you can’t have an empire for the reason that you need to feed the people of the empire in order to keep them content. If there are discontented citizens, then it is hard to keep an empire intact. More time and energy is required to be spent on maintaining control over them. With the lack of agriculture there would not have been an Aztec empire. Beginning in the 1300s the Aztecs’ moved to marshy, unoccupied territory in Lake Texcoco. Here, they learned how to become accustomed to the land. The first thing they learned was how to use the marsh lands for agriculture. They made gardens called Chinampas, or “floating gardens”, which were thin strips of land bordered by canals. Soil and other compost matter were piled over the domesticated lake bed. Aztec farmers grew a broad assortment of vegetables such as; beans, corn, tomatoes, peppers, squash and cotton. The Aztecs made use of all the possible cultivatable land that they could for producing food. The last important factor responsible for the Aztecs success with agriculture was the organization of irrigation that they were able to create. They built dams to catch water and canals to move it to where it was needed, again, allowing them to grow food in areas that generally weren’t be appropriate for farming methods.
The Roman also made significant developments in agriculture.
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 …show more content…
spare.
Both the Romans and Aztecs will be remembered for their beautiful structures that they put up.
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
marvelous structures by hand and with very little equipment. The Romans though, seemed to enhance everything the Aztecs did. They built aqueducts to transport water to their cities, enhanced roads, built community baths, protective walls, theatres, arches, bridges, water ways, temples, and palaces.
Both the Roman and Aztec Empires were built on military power. The military gains of the Roman Empire are well recognized. Their army was the most prevailing and triumphant of all time. The Roman army was the earliest full time professional army on earth. Due to the fact that they were so well controlled, they were capable of conquering much bigger armies even though they were outfitted with essentially the same weaponry. As the empire extended, citizens of dominated lands united with the army and aided in the protection the frontiers and borders of the empire. Generals from different parts of the Roman army fought for control of the Empire. The hostility among different members of the army caused instability in the empire. Ultimately this struggle would be one cause of the fall of the Roman Empire. Unlike the Romans, the Aztecs had no professional army, however they did have expert military leaders. From a young age, all Aztec males were trained to be warriors. The Aztec's reputation of being vicious and fearless warriors aided them in preserving their empire. Like the Romans, they effortlessly conquered opposing armies. The Aztec army fought to have power over the Valley of Mexico while, the Romans fought an assortment of enemies all through their empire. The Aztecs also dressed in elaborate costumes and uniforms as they went into combat. They didn’t put on protective covering like the Romans did, but they did however, dress in animal hides and leather. Both armies would use captured soldiers as their slaves. While the Romans would on occasion use them as gladiators to be sacrificed for sport, The Aztecs nearly always sacrificed their captured enemies for their gods.
Both the Aztecs and the Romans are recognized for creation of their own calendars. The Roman calendar was a lunar calendar produced by the Emperor Romulus. Months often contained 29 or 30 days, and it was determined by lunar cycles and the seasons of the agriculture. “This dating system, however, was probably a product of evolution from the Greek lunar calendar, which in turn was derived from the Babylonian. The original Roman calendar appears to have consisted only of 10 months and of a year of 304 days. The remaining 61 1/4 days were apparently ignored, resulting in a gap during the winter season.” The Aztecs made two of their own calendars. The first one, known as Xiuhpohualli, was used to measure time. This calendar had 365 days, and was used to decide when to plant crops. The second calendar, called Tonalpohualli, was employed to place the dates of holy festivals. Aztecs used this calendar to help know when it would be a good time to communicate with the gods and to perform sacrifices for them. Both calendars were comparable for the reason that they were both used in determining when the optimal time for planting and harvesting agriculture was. However, they were different in the fact that the Aztec calendar was calculated on the movement of the sun, while the Roman calendar was based on the cycles of the moon.
Religion played equally strong role between the Aztec and Roman Empires. Aztec people understood that the gods were in direct power of their lives from the day they were born. The Romans, on the other hand, had to interact with an assortment of religions as their empire extended. Every characteristic of Aztec life was centered on religion. With over one thousand Aztec gods representing the forces of nature, the two most important gods were Huitzilopochtli and Tlaloc. Huitzilopochtli was the God of the Sun and Tlaloc was the God of Rain. The Aztecs permitted conquered tribes to maintain their own religions, languages, social structures and customs. The Romans, on the other hand, had no choice but to tolerate the worshipping of a multitude of unusual gods. They had to accept these various religions because as the empire got bigger, they also had to include the many different cultural beliefs. Every one of the cultures had a special god. The Romans knew that if the didn’t permit a variety of religions to exist, people would be miserable and harder to manage. Unlike the Aztecs, the Romans couldn’t focus as much time and energy on just one or two gods. They did not consider that their very way of life could depend upon a god being content with them. The Romans did not like a few religions such as Judaism and Christianity so they persecuted them. “By and large, Romans regarded Christians as a laughable and easily expendable group...” and stating that “Christians are a joke; Alexander is a fool; he worships his god – a crucified donkey.” Some Jews and Christians were sent abroad. At one point in the empires history, citizens were anticipated to give devotion to emperors as if they were living gods. Aztec priests also undertook a vital roll in the Aztec Empire. They conducted countless ceremonies and rituals in the course of the year. For the duration of these ceremonies, the priest would sacrifice humans to the gods, ensuring a good harvest or, to just keep the gods pleased. “The greatest ceremonial precinct where the majority of sacrifices took place formed the architectural axis of its four sides measured 440 meters. Tenochtitlan and each of its four sides measured 440 meters. It contained more than eighty temples, skull racks, schools, and other structures." Likewise, men and animals alike were sacrificed in Rome; but only for sport, not religious reasons.