Definition
The Aztec Empire was the dominant power of central Mexico in the fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries CE. It was built by the Mexica people, whose capital, Tenochtitlan, stood on an island in a lake on the site of modern Mexico City.
Rather than a single unified state, the empire was an alliance-led network that collected tribute from many subject peoples. At its height it was one of the largest and most populous political systems in the Americas before European contact.
Why it matters
How it works
The empire functioned as a tribute system. The Mexica and their allies conquered or intimidated neighboring peoples, who were then required to send goods — food, textiles, precious materials, and labor — to the capital. Subject cities often kept their own rulers, which made the system efficient but also fragile.
That fragility proved decisive. When the Spanish arrived, many resentful subject peoples joined them against the Mexica. Combined with the Spaniards' weapons and, above all, the spread of new diseases, this brought the empire down within just two years.