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Template:Infobox CivThe Aztecs is a minor tribe in Age of Empires III. In The WarChiefs, they are replaced by the Zapotec tribe, but are still available in custom scenarios.

Units

Technologies

  • Aztec Initiation (improved Explorer stats)
  • Aztec Chocolate Recipes (1 coin crate for every 2 minutes game has lasted up to half an hour)
  • Aztec Chinampa (improved Villager Mill gathering rate, improved fishing rate)

History

The most densely populated region of the New World in 1492 was Mesoamerica, where North and Central America meet in modern Mexico and the Yucatan Peninsula. The people living here were called the Aztecs (also Mexica or Tenochca); they built an amazing civilization centered on their great capital city of Tenochtitlan (modern Mexico City). This was one of the largest cities in the world (with an estimated population of 200,000), and arguably more beautiful and cleaner than any contemporary capital in Europe.

The Aztecs were just one of several tribes in the area, but had risen to prominence due to their ferocity in battle and adept diplomacy. Their soldiers wielded weapons of wood and stone, and they often sought prisoners to be sacrificed in religious ceremonies. Their society depended on sophisticated agricultural techniques; from them the world learned of foodstuffs including tomatoes, corn, cocoa, and chili peppers. They were handicapped by the lack of large domesticated animals (they had no horse or ox), and the use of the wheel only in toys. Everything to be moved was carried by human porters.

Despite their large population and fighting prowess, the Aztecs fell relatively quickly to the determined Spanish conquistadores under Cortez. This was due in large part to the epidemics the Europeans brought ashore. By some estimates the Aztec population of 12 million people in 1520 had fallen to one million by 1600. The Spanish also allied with the Aztecs' enemies to increase the size of their armies, and had the advantages of steel and gunpowder weapons.

Template:Civilizations (AoE3) Template:Wpalso

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