|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The selection of Metztitlan as a target was a poor one, since a numerically inferior opponent was offered the advantage of a superior defensive position. Moreover, the Aztecs needed to secure a victory and not merely stave off a defeat, and because of the limited time allowed by their supplies, they had to take the offensive without being able to outflank their opponents. This exposed the Aztec warriors to a far greater likelihood of injury or death, while the warriors of Metztitlan were content to fend them off, wear them down, and slowly withdraw, trading off land for the enormous casualties being taken by the offensive forces. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The Aztecs claimed a victory but took only forty prisoners in the battlesome from Metztitlan but mostly Huaxtecsand lost three hundred of their own warriors before returning to Tenochtitlan.
11 They did not conquer the town of Metztitlan, nor is it likely that they conquered Itzmiquilpan but probably fought their armies at the Metztitlan battle site. Other towns conquered in the Huaxtec area, including Tlatlauhqui-Icxic, Micquetlan, Tamachpan, and Occentepetl ("another mountain," not a town name),"12 were probably not directly involved in fighting, at least not at their own cities, but acquiesced to Tenochtitlan's traditional dominance.13 Four of the six lowland towns had been conquered by the Aztecs previously, and the remaining two may have been as well, with the record now lost.14 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Although he lost more men in the raid than he took, Tizoc maintained that he had taken the required number for the coronation.15 He may have been referring to the sacrificial captives needed for religious purposes, but his statement reflected a misunderstanding of the power purposes of the preinaugural raid. Nevertheless, the inauguration proceeded: rulers from all over the empire were invited, and Tizoc became king.16 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Two years after the start of Tizoc's rule there was a war between Cuauhnahuac and Atlixco17 in which the Aztecs apparently took no part, perhaps because of their own campaign (the campaign season of |
|
|
|
|
|