The Aztecs: A Very Short Introduction VERY SHORT INTRODUCTIONS are for anyone wanting a stimulating and accessible way in to a new subject. They are written by experts and have been published in more than 25 languages worldwide. The series began in 1995, and now represents a wide variety of topics in history, philosophy, religion, science, and the humanities. The VSI library now contains 300 volumes—a Very Short Introduction to everything from ancient Egypt and Indian philosophy to conceptual art and cosmology—and will continue to grow in a variety of disciplines. Very Short Introductions available now: ADVERTISING Winston Fletcher THE BIBLE John Riches AFRICAN HISTORY John Parker and BIBLICAL ARCHAEOLOGY Richard Rathbone Eric H. Cline AGNOSTICISM Robin Le Poidevin BIOGRAPHY Hermione Lee AMERICAN IMMIGRATION THE BLUES Elijah Wald David A. Gerber THE BOOK OF MORMON AMERICAN POLITICAL PARTIES Terryl Givens AND ELECTIONS L. Sandy Maisel THE BRAIN Michael O’Shea THE AMERICAN PRESIDENCY BRITISH POLITICS Anthony Wright Charles O. Jones BUDDHA Michael Carrithers ANARCHISM Colin Ward BUDDHISM Damien Keown ANCIENT EGYPT Ian Shaw BUDDHIST ETHICS Damien Keown ANCIENT GREECE Paul Cartledge CANCER Nicholas James ANCIENT PHILOSOPHY Julia Annas CAPITALISM James Fulcher ANCIENT WARFARE Harry Sidebottom CATHOLICISM Gerald O’Collins THE ANIMAL KINGDOM Peter Holland THE CELL ANGELS David Albert Jones Terence Allen and Graham Cowling ANGLICANISM Mark Chapman THE CELTS Barry Cunliffe THE ANGLO-SAXON AGE John Blair CHAOS Leonard Smith ANIMAL RIGHTS David DeGrazia CHILDREN’S LITERATURE ANTISEMITISM Steven Beller Kimberley Reynolds THE APOCRYPHAL GOSPELS CHOICE THEORY Michael Allingham Paul Foster CHRISTIAN ART Beth Williamson ARCHAEOLOGY Paul Bahn CHRISTIAN ETHICS D. Stephen Long ARCHITECTURE Andrew Ballantyne CHRISTIANITY Linda Woodhead ARISTOCRACY William Doyle CITIZENSHIP Richard Bellamy ARISTOTLE Jonathan Barnes CLASSICAL MYTHOLOGY Helen Morales ART HISTORY Dana Arnold CLASSICS ART THEORY Cynthia Freeland Mary Beard and John Henderson ATHEISM Julian Baggini CLAUSEWITZ Michael Howard AUGUSTINE Henry Chadwick THE COLD WAR Robert McMahon AUTISM Uta Frith COLONIAL LATIN AMERICAN THE AZTECS Davíd Carrasco LITERATURE Rolena Adorno BARTHES Jonathan Culler COMMUNISM Leslie Holmes BEAUTY Roger Scruton THE COMPUTER Darrel Ince BESTSELLERS John Sutherland CONSCIENCE Paul Strohm CONSCIOUSNESS Susan Blackmore FEMINISM Margaret Walters CONTEMPORARY ART Julian Stallabrass FILM MUSIC Kathryn Kalinak CONTINENTAL PHILOSOPHY THE FIRST WORLD WAR Michael Howard Simon Critchley FOLK MUSIC Mark Slobin COSMOLOGY Peter Coles FORENSIC PSYCHOLOGY David Canter CRITICAL THEORY Stephen Eric Bronner FORENSIC SCIENCE Jim Fraser THE CRUSADES Christopher Tyerman FOSSILS Keith Thomson CRYPTOGRAPHY FOUCAULT Gary Gutting Fred Piper and Sean Murphy FREE SPEECH Nigel Warburton THE CULTURAL FREE WILL Thomas Pink REVOLUTION Richard Curt Kraus FRENCH LITERATURE John D. Lyons DADA AND SURREALISM THE FRENCH REVOLUTION David Hopkins William Doyle DARWIN Jonathan Howard FREUD Anthony Storr THE DEAD SEA SCROLLS Timothy Lim FUNDAMENTALISM Malise Ruthven DEMOCRACY Bernard Crick GALAXIES John Gribbin DERRIDA Simon Glendinning GALILEO Stillman Drake DESCARTES Tom Sorell GAME THEORY Ken Binmore DESERTS Nick Middleton GANDHI Bhikhu Parekh DESIGN John Heskett GENIUS Andrew Robinson DEVELOPMENTAL BIOLOGY GEOGRAPHY Lewis Wolpert John Matthews and David Herbert DICTIONARIES Lynda Mugglestone GEOPOLITICS Klaus Dodds DINOSAURS David Norman GERMAN LITERATURE Nicholas Boyle DIPLOMACY Joseph M. Siracusa GERMAN PHILOSOPHY Andrew Bowie DOCUMENTARY FILM GLOBAL CATASTROPHES Bill McGuire Patricia Aufderheide GLOBAL ECONOMIC HISTORY DREAMING J. Allan Hobson Robert C. Allen DRUGS Leslie Iversen GLOBAL WARMING Mark Maslin DRUIDS Barry Cunliffe GLOBALIZATION Manfred Steger EARLY MUSIC Thomas Forrest Kelly THE GREAT DEPRESSION AND THE THE EARTH Martin Redfern NEW DEAL Eric Rauchway ECONOMICS Partha Dasgupta HABERMAS James Gordon Finlayson EGYPTIAN MYTH Geraldine Pinch HEGEL Peter Singer EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY HEIDEGGER Michael Inwood BRITAIN Paul Langford HERODOTUS Jennifer. T. Roberts THE ELEMENTS Philip Ball HIEROGLYPHS Penelope Wilson EMOTION Dylan Evans HINDUISM Kim Knott EMPIRE Stephen Howe HISTORY John H. Arnold ENGELS Terrell Carver THE HISTORY OF ENGLISH LITERATURE Jonathan Bate ASTRONOMY Michael Hoskin ENVIRONMENTAL THE HISTORY OF LIFE Michael Benton ECONOMICS Stephen Smith THE HISTORY OF EPIDEMIOLOGY Roldolfo Saracci MEDICINE William Bynum ETHICS Simon Blackburn THE HISTORY OF TIME THE EUROPEAN UNION Leofranc Holford-Strevens John Pinder and Simon Usherwood HIV/AIDS Alan Whiteside EVOLUTION HOBBES Richard Tuck Brian and Deborah Charlesworth HUMAN EVOLUTION Bernard Wood EXISTENTIALISM Thomas Flynn HUMAN RIGHTS Andrew Clapham FASCISM Kevin Passmore HUMANISM Stephen Law FASHION Rebecca Arnold HUME A. J. Ayer IDEOLOGY Michael Freeden MODERN IRELAND Senia Pašeta INDIAN PHILOSOPHY Sue Hamilton MODERN JAPAN Christopher Goto-Jones INFORMATION Luciano Floridi MODERN LATIN AMERICAN INNOVATION LITERATURE Mark Dodgson and David Gann Roberto González Echevarría INTELLIGENCE Ian J. Deary MODERNISM Christopher Butler INTERNATIONAL MOLECULES Philip Ball MIGRATION Khalid Koser MORMONISM Richard Lyman Bushman INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS MUHAMMAD Jonathan A.C. Brown Paul Wilkinson MULTICULTURALISM Ali Rattansi ISLAM Malise Ruthven MUSIC Nicholas Cook ISLAMIC HISTORY Adam Silverstein MYTH Robert A. Segal JESUS Richard Bauckham NATIONALISM Steven Grosby JOURNALISM Ian Hargreaves NELSON MANDELA Elleke Boehmer JUDAISM Norman Solomon NEOLIBERALISM JUNG Anthony Stevens Manfred Steger and Ravi Roy KABBALAH Joseph Dan THE NEW TESTAMENT KAFKA Ritchie Robertson Luke Timothy Johnson KANT Roger Scruton THE NEW TESTAMENT AS KEYNES Robert Skidelsky LITERATURE Kyle Keefer KIERKEGAARD Patrick Gardiner NEWTON Robert Iliffe THE KORAN Michael Cook NIETZSCHE Michael Tanner LANDSCAPES AND NINETEENTH-CENTURY BRITAIN GEOMORPHOLOGY Andrew Christopher Harvie and H. C. G. Matthew Goudie and Heather Viles THE NORMAN CONQUEST LATE ANTIQUITY Gillian Clark George Garnett LAW Raymond Wacks NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS THE LAWS OF THERMODYNAMICS Theda Perdue and Michael D. Green Peter Atkins NORTHERN IRELAND Marc Mulholland LEADERSHIP Keith Grint NOTHING Frank Close LINCOLN Allen C. Guelzo NUCLEAR POWER Maxwell Irvine LINGUISTICS Peter Matthews NUCLEAR WEAPONS Joseph M. Siracusa LITERARY THEORY Jonathan Culler NUMBERS Peter M. Higgins LOCKE John Dunn THE OLD TESTAMENT Michael D. Coogan LOGIC Graham Priest ORGANIZATIONS Mary Jo Hatch MACHIAVELLI Quentin Skinner PAGANISM Owen Davies MADNESS Andrew Scull PARTICLE PHYSICS Frank Close THE MARQUIS DE SADE John Phillips PAUL E. P. Sanders MARX Peter Singer PENTECOSTALISM William K. Kay MARTIN LUTHER Scott H. Hendrix THE PERIODIC TABLE Eric R. Scerri MATHEMATICS Timothy Gowers PHILOSOPHY Edward Craig THE MEANING OF LIFE Terry Eagleton PHILOSOPHY OF LAW Raymond Wacks MEDICAL ETHICS Tony Hope PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE Samir Okasha MEDIEVAL BRITAIN PHOTOGRAPHY Steve Edwards John Gillingham and Ralph A. Griffi ths PLANETS David A. Rothery MEMORY Jonathan K. Foster PLATO Julia Annas MICHAEL FARADAY POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY David Miller Frank A.J.L. James POLITICS Kenneth Minogue MODERN ART David Cottington POSTCOLONIALISM Robert Young MODERN CHINA Rana Mitter POSTMODERNISM Christopher Butler MODERN FRANCE Vanessa R. Schwartz POSTSTRUCTURALISM Catherine Belsey PREHISTORY Chris Gosden SHAKESPEARE Germaine Greer PRESOCRATIC PHILOSOPHY SIKHISM Eleanor Nesbitt Catherine Osborne SLEEP PRIVACY Raymond Wacks Steven W. Lockley and Russell G. Foster PROGRESSIVISM Walter Nugent SOCIAL AND CULTURAL PROTESTANTISM Mark A. Noll ANTHROPOLOGY PSYCHIATRY Tom Burns John Monaghan and Peter Just PSYCHOLOGY SOCIALISM Michael Newman Gillian Butler and Freda McManus SOCIOLOGY Steve Bruce PURITANISM Francis J. Bremer SOCRATES C. C. W. Taylor THE QUAKERS Pink Dandelion THE SOVIET UNION Stephen Lovell QUANTUM THEORY John Polkinghorne THE SPANISH CIVIL WAR Helen Graham RACISM Ali Rattansi SPANISH LITERATURE Jo Labanyi THE REAGAN REVOLUTION Gil Troy SPINOZA Roger Scruton REALITY Jan Westerhoff STATISTICS David J. Hand THE REFORMATION Peter Marshall STUART BRITAIN John Morrill RELATIVITY Russell Stannard SUPERCONDUCTIVITY Stephen Blundell RELIGION IN AMERICA Timothy Beal TERRORISM Charles Townshend THE RENAISSANCE Jerry Brotton THEOLOGY David F. Ford RENAISSANCE ART Geraldine A. Johnson THOMAS AQUINAS Fergus Kerr RISK Baruch Fischhoff and John Kadvany TOCQUEVILLE Harvey C. Mansfi eld ROMAN BRITAIN Peter Salway TRAGEDY Adrian Poole THE ROMAN EMPIRE Christopher Kelly THE TUDORS John Guy ROMANTICISM Michael Ferber TWENTIETH-CENTURY BRITAIN ROUSSEAU Robert Wokler Kenneth O. Morgan RUSSELL A. C. Grayling THE UNITED NATIONS RUSSIAN LITERATURE Catriona Kelly Jussi M. Hanhimäki THE RUSSIAN REVOLUTION THE U.S. CONGRESS Donald A. Ritchie S. A. Smith UTOPIANISM Lyman Tower Sargent SCIENCE FICTION David Seed THE VIKINGS Julian Richards SCHIZOPHRENIA VIRUSES Dorothy H. Crawford Chris Frith and Eve Johnstone WITCHCRAFT Malcolm Gaskill SCHOPENHAUER Christopher Janaway WITTGENSTEIN A. C. Grayling SCIENCE AND RELIGION Thomas Dixon WORLD MUSIC Philip Bohlman THE SCIENTIFIC REVOLUTION THE WORLD TRADE Lawrence M. Principe ORGANIZATION Amrita Narlikar SCOTLAND Rab Houston WRITING AND SCRIPT SEXUALITY Véronique Mottier Andrew Robinson Available soon: Film Michael Wood Chinese Literature Magic Owen Davies Sabina Knight The Conquistadors Italian Literature Matthew Restall and Peter Hainsworth Felipe Fernández-Armesto and David Robey For more information visit our web site www.oup.com/vsi/ This page intentionally left blank D avíd C arrasco The Aztecs A Very Short Introduction 3 1 Oxford University Press, Inc., publishes works that further Oxford University’s objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education. Oxford New York Auckland Cape Town Dar es Salaam Hong Kong Karachi Kuala Lumpur Madrid Melbourne Mexico City Nairobi New Delhi Shanghai Taipei Toronto With offi ces in Argentina Austria Brazil Chile Czech Republic France Greece Guatemala Hungary Italy Japan Poland Portugal Singapore South Korea Switzerland Thailand Turkey Ukraine Vietnam Copyright © 2012 by Davíd Carrasco Published by Oxford University Press, Inc. 198 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10016 www.oup.com Oxford is a registered trademark of Oxford University Press All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of Oxford University Press. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Carrasco, Davíd. The Aztecs : a very short introduction / Davíd Carrasco. p. cm. — (Very short introductions) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-19-537938-9 (pbk.) 1. Aztecs. I. Title. F1219.73.C354 2011 972—dc23 2011025597 1 3 5 7 9 8 6 4 2 Printed in Great Britain by Ashford Colour Press Ltd., Gosport, Hants. on acid-free paper To the archaeologists who excavate the Great Aztec Temple and to Friedrich Katz, who fi rst taught me about Aztec civilization