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A Reevaluation of the Role of War Captives in the Aztec Empire

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 October 2022

Robert William Martin Open the ORCID record for Robert William Martin [Opens in a new window]
Robert William Martin*
Affiliation:
Independent Researcher, Melbourne, Australia
*
([email protected], corresponding author)
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Abstract

Traditionally, historians believed that taking captives was a major goal in Mexica warfare, and this tendency has even been given as a reason why the Spanish conquistadors defeated the Mexica. Although historians have largely revised these conclusions, the perception that captives were important to Aztec strategy and warfare persists. In this article I argue that the need for captives was not great enough to affect Aztec military strategy or battlefield conduct. First, rituals only needed a small number of victims, which could easily be acquired through the normal course of battle, and thus did not constitute a specific objective. Second, Mexica strategy focused on economic objectives, rather than captive taking. Finally, individual warriors were not well equipped to take prisoners. Although captives played a vital role in Mexica society, the practice should be thought of as opportunistic, rather than strategic.

Tradicionalmente, los historiadores creían que la toma de cautivos era un objetivo importante en la guerra azteca, y esta tendencia se ha dado incluso como una razón para que los conquistadores españoles derrotaran a los aztecas. Aunque los historiadores han revisado en gran medida estas conclusiones, persiste la percepción de que los cautivos eran importantes para la estrategia y la guerra aztecas. En este artículo sostengo que la necesidad de cautivos no era lo suficientemente grande como para afectar a la estrategia militar azteca o a la conducta en el campo de batalla. En primer lugar, los rituales sólo necesitaban un pequeño número de víctimas que podían adquirirse fácilmente a través del curso normal de la batalla, por lo que no constituían un objetivo específico. En segundo lugar, la estrategia azteca se centraba en objetivos económicos, más que en la toma de cautivos. Por último, los guerreros individuales no estaban bien equipados para tomar prisioneros. Aunque los cautivos desempeñaban un papel vital en la sociedad mexica, la práctica debe considerarse oportunista, más que estratégica.

Keywords

AztecMexicansacrificereligionwarfareSpanish-Mexica WarAztecMexicasacrificioreligiónguerraEspañol-Mexica Guerra
Type
Article
Information
Latin American Antiquity , Volume 34 , Issue 2 , June 2023 , pp. 423 - 437
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the Society for American Archaeology

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