Battle+Strategy

The Aztecs were incredibly organized when making decisions about waging war. They carefully chose city-states and parts of empires that would be worth the effort and risk of war. Small towns were not overrun unless they had particular importance to a campaign. If those towns were desired at a later time, the Aztecs would use force if intimidation was ineffective.
 * ﻿ [[image:aztec-empire-map.jpg width="546" height="318" align="right"]]Battle Strategy: **

Traveling on a campaign was another logistical problem. Aztecs did not have the use of animals such as horses to aid in moving an army and its supplies. The army’s mobility was limited to walking while weighed down with supplies and weapons carried by soldiers and servants. Trade roads were most often used to transport the immense army. These roads were small, only allowing about two soldiers to walk abreast. Due to the nature of the roads, it was impossible to hide the fearsome army. In an effort to mask the size of the oncoming force and expedite the travel time, several routes were taken.

Another factor that determined when to campaign was the weather. Since many members and servants in the army were farmers, campaigns were not held during months important to agriculture. The rainy months of the summer made travel across the landscape nearly impossible. The ideal months for campaigning were in the dry season; generally between December and April.

On the battlefield, the same level of organization and strategy employed in the planning of campaigns is found in the choreography of the battle. Archers and slingers would initiate the fight. Although arrows and slingshots could reach incredible distances, to preserve ammunition and improve accuracy the archers hold their fire until the opposing armies stood at fairly close range. Following the barrage of projectiles, came the first of the soldiers. These warriors would be some of the fiercest and most experienced out of the entire army. A few spears would be thrown by this group, but as the armies came together, the atlatl made that tactic impractical. Instead, swords and small thrusting spears would become the weapon of choice. After the first line, came units of veteran soldiers. Novice soldiers were the last to enter the battle. A few veteran soldiers would lead the neophytes in an effort to allow them to gain practical battle experience while keeping them from the main fighting.

When conquering a nation or city-state, the Aztecs typically did not destroy the city. The economic benefits of a particular city or region could not be exploited if the area was demolished. However, in many cases, the temples of rival deities would be burned. Doing this served a couple of important purposes. The destruction of the temple is a way to assert Aztec superiority, quelling any resistance. The more practical aspect is that the temple was a heavily fortified building that stored weapons and other supplies for war.

Similar to most other wars for conquest, many soldiers were killed, certain non combatants would be killed to ensure cooperation, lands would be seized and the conquered state would be added to the Aztec’s numerous tributary states. While some of the seized property may have been given to nobles and commoners of the Aztec empire, most was left in the possession of the conquered nation. For the most part, the Aztecs uses a hegemonic approach to governing their tributaries. Rather than stationing nobles and army units in the cities, they were left to police themselves. This could potentially be detrimental to the empire if the city thought that the control of the Aztec king was waning. For this reason, the king was chosen based on military ability.

