科罗纳多CORONADO

墨西哥中部可能一直是蛮荒的西部。阿兹特克人只是其中一个部落，试图在众多部落的土地上立足。但是,
Central Mexico might as well have been the wild west. The Aztecs were just one tribe trying to make it in a land of many tribes. But,

赫尔曼·杰·维奥拉，卡洛琳·马戈利斯编著，《变化的种子：一个五百年的留念》(华盛顿：史密森学会出版社，1991年)，第31-32页：
Herman J. Viola, Carolyn Margolis, eds., Seeds of change: a quincentennial commemoration, (Washington: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1991), pp.31-32:

"阿兹特克人的传说中说，阿兹特克人与已经建立起来的那些国家经历了无数次战争，强行将新来者驱逐到湖中的一个小岛上，从而成为了墨西哥山谷的主要势力。在不到两百年的时间里，他们在中美洲建立了最强大、最庞大的帝国。他们要求被征服的山谷邻居向他们进贡，并控制了周围的浮园耕作，也就是著名的墨西哥“漂浮花园”。所有这些都是你在图书馆能找到的一本书上写的，看看噢。
"After numerous battles with already established states that, despite Aztec legend, had actually forcibly relegated the newcomers to a small island in a lake, the Aztecs ...became the main power in the Valley of Mexico. In less than two hundred years they built the most powerful and extensive empire in Mesoamerica. They demanded tribute from their conquered neighbors in the valley and took control over the surrounding chinampas, the famous ‘floating gardens’ of Mexico. All this is from a book you can get at the library. Check it out.

阿兹特克社会等级森严，包含许多世袭阶级，如祭司、贵族、军人、某些商人阶层、平民和奴隶阶层。不过，实现某种阶级流动的办法是有的，主要是通过军事。社会结构是围绕着地主阶层组织起来的，有20个法人团体可能是从社区的原始氏族中衍生出来的。每个地主阶层都任命一名首领负责民事和宗教事务，任命第二名首领负责战争。由于农业是古代墨西哥人生活的基础，地主阶层控制着养活其成员的土地。战争以商品和奴隶的形式带来了新的土地和财富。成功的战士被授予土地和劳力。这种奖励制度很像西班牙人，他们通过重新征服摩尔人，在差不多同一时期获得了西班牙的土地。西班牙人最终在墨西哥重复了这一传统。事实上，在赐封制度诞生前的一个世纪，西班牙的土地赠予和契约劳役制度就在墨西哥产生了，阿兹特克人习惯占用整个村庄的人口，把他们转移到更可控的地区，强迫他们从事国家建设项目。被征服的民族被迫向阿兹特克统治者进贡大量的成品，如纺织品、陶器和其它工艺品。他们也支付原材料——玉石、黄金、白银和其它珍贵的物品，如热带鸟类的羽毛。此外，还要求贡奉者为奴隶或祭祀提供人。想想那些被征服民族的巨大付出，就不难理解[战败的]民族一定对阿兹特克人怀有怨恨。
Aztec society was tightly stratified and contained many hereditary classes, such as the priesthood, the nobility, the military, certain classes of merchants, commoners, and slaves. There were, however, means for achieving some class mobility, chiefly through the military. The social structure was organized around the calpulli, twenty corporate groups probably derived from the community’s original clans. Each calpulli appointed one chief for civil and religious affairs and, almost always, a second chief for war. Since agriculture was the basis of life in ancient Mexico, the calpulli controlled the land that supported its members. Warfare brought new lands and riches in the form of goods and slaves. Successful warriors were granted lands and people to work them. This system of rewards was much like that of the Spaniards, who gained land in Spain at approximately the same period through the reconquest from the Moors. The Spaniards would eventually repeat this tradition in Mexico. In fact, a century before the encomienda, the Spanish system of land grants and indentured servitude, was initiated in Mexico, the Aztecs were in the habit of appropriating entire village populations, moving them into more controllable regions and forcing them to work on state construction projects. Conquered peoples were forced to pay tribute to the Aztec overlords in quantities of finished goods, such as textiles, pottery, and other craft articles. They also paid in raw materials - jade, gold, and silver and other items considered precious, such as tropical bird feathers. In addition, tribute payers were required to supply human beings for slavery or sacrifice. Considering the enormous payments extracted from conquered peoples, it is not difficult to imagine the resentment that [defeated] groups … must have harbored toward the Aztecs.

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