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maximum road size, usage defined the minimum. Only in the case of armies did wider roads become more significant. |
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Two records of formal road widthsthe 7-meter (23-foot) wide causeways leading out of Tenochtitlan
44 and the 4- to 6-meter (13.1- to 19.7-foot) stone roads built by the classic Maya45offer some help in evaluating how many columns there were. The imperial Roman army calculated approximately a meter between columns,46 and given the equipment carried by the Aztecs, such a figure seems appropriate in their case as well. Thus normal Aztec roads indicate a column of twos as the likely minimum width (see fig. 4),47 while Tenochtitlan's 7-meter causeways permit a column of fours as the likely maximum width. This range yields a minimum column length of 6,000 meters (3.7 miles) and a maximum of 12,000 meters (7.5 miles); at 2.4 kilometers per hour the end of the column would begin marching 2.5 to 5 hours after the head began (or 1.5 to 3 hours later at 4 km/hr). |
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There are also tactical reasons to reduce the column length. Sudden small attacks followed by quick withdrawals could be directed at any part of the army.48 Thus the more compact the column, the safer it was because any element of the line could be more quickly reinforced in the event of attack. Moreover, the thicker the column, the more difficult it was to cut. However, there were disadvantages to this formation as well. The wider the column, the greater the impact of any bottleneck in the march, so hindrances, such as narrow passes, unfordable rivers,49 and so on, slowed the march, backed up the troops, and rendered them more vulnerable to attack at a time when the soldiers on either side of the obstacle could not be reinforced quickly.50 |
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On the march the army went by units and in silence, with the Aztecs leading.51 The priests went first, bearing the gods on their backs, marching one day ahead of the warriors of each city (see fig. 5). Second came the military orders and veteran warriors with the generalsthe tlacochcalcatl and the tlacateccatl. They, too, went one day ahead of the next group, which was composed of the rest of the warriors from Tenochtitlan, all marching in their respective units. Then, also separated by one day, came the warriors of Tlatelolco and of Tetzcoco, then the Tepanecs, Xilotepecas, Matlatzincas, and all the rest of the cities.52 Subject towns marched separately; each was obligated to heed the Aztecs' call to war once a year.53 |
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