|
|
|
|
|
|
|
were all such clashes necessarily flower wars. Sometimes there were compelling reasons to fight a difficult opponent, and at other times such clashes resulted from poor assessments of the enemy's strength. But since in wars between strong opponents the stakes were high and the outcome was uncertain, there was a clear preference for determining dominance through the xochiyaoyotl, in which superiority gradually became evident over a long period of time and at relatively low cost. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Because flower war objectives differed from those of ordinary conquest wars, so, too, did the order of battle. The projectile barrage of arrows, stones, and atlatl darts that began ordinary wars was absent, because demonstrating martial superiority was the primary objective. Consequently, killing by means that demonstrated no individual combat skills in either slaying the opponent or keeping from being slain played little part in the xochiyaoyotl. And there was a greater per capita reliance on shock weapons that required skill than was usual in ordinary combat. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
After eight years of nonlethal combat with Chalco and no decisive demonstration of one side's dominance, the nature of the flower war changed: people began to be killed, but not the nobles.
8 Captives were taken by both sides, but the nobles were released and only the commoners diedpresumably as sacrifices.9 These changes accelerated the struggle for dominance, making it more costly to both sides, but stopped short of all-out battle that risked total defeat. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Flower wars do not necessarily reflect strategic military planning relevant to other conquest battles in which the Aztecs participated, but they do reflect something of the Aztecs' early political strategy. Chalco was an exceptionally rich agricultural region both near at hand and independent of the Tepanec Empire. Thus it presented an attractive and accessible target whose conquest could alleviate the Aztecs' food supply problems and eliminate their continued dependence on the Tepanecs. However, it was too large and powerful to be conquered outrighthence the recourse to a xochiyaoyotl. The twelve-year conflict during Acamapichtli's reign was the opening sequence in a flower war that ultimately spanned many decades. Neither side was vanquished, neither side demonstrated marked superiority, and neither side was apparently willing to risk the consequences of an all-out war.10 But by carrying out a long-term, intermittent, and low-intensity struggle, the Aztecs could pressure the Chalcas and still engage in other military ventures. |
|
|
|
|
|