The ancestors of the Aztecs received a divine command to leave their homeland of Aztlan in 1116 AD and wandered for over 100 years before reaching Lake Texcoco. From modest beginnings in the swamps around the lake, the Aztec city-state of Tenochtitlan grew in size and power through alliances and warfare. After floods and famines in the mid-1400s, Montezuma I expanded the empire outside the valley. When the Spanish arrived in 1519, over 300,000 people lived in the great city of Tenochtitlan, which was larger and more prosperous than Seville.

1. Aztecs empireFor: Jorge torres

2. TheancestorsThe ancestors of the Aztecs, once a despised group of nomadic hunters from northwestern Mexico, received a divine command to leave their homeland, Aztlan, in the year 1116 A.D. After wandering for more than 100 years in the desert, they reached the shores of Lake Texcoco

3. MORE THAN AZTECS From their modest beginnings in the swamps of Lake Texcoco, the Aztec city-state of Tenochtitlan grew in size and strength. Since there was no stone or wood on their island, the Aztecs used warfare and alliances to increase their power within the Valley of Mexico and obtain building materials, tools, and prisoners to use for human sacrifices.

4. Expansion of the EmpireIn 1446 Tenochtitlan was badly flooded, so Montezuma I ordered a great embankment to be built to protect the city. Then, several years of bad harvests caused thousands of people to die of starvation. Pledging to never let this happen again, the Emperor set out to expand outside of the valley

5. TheWonders of TenochtitlanWhen the Spanish arrived in 1519, more than 300,000 people were living in Tenochtitlan. It was much bigger than Spain's finest city, Seville, and much more prosperous and clean. Tenochtitlan dazzled the conquistadors. It was more beautiful than anything they had ever seen on earth.

6. Montezuma IIMontezuma was of medium height and slender build with a large head and somewhat flat nostrils. He was very astute, discerning and prudent, learned and capable, but also harsh and irascible, and very firm in his speech…

7. Omens of DoomBeginning in about the year 1502, rumors were heard in the Aztec Empire about the appearance of bearded white men with strange behavior. Because Montezuma II was a very superstitious leader, he consulted his advisors, but then punished them for their lack of knowledge.