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The City Of The Aztec Empire

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When thinking of ancient, urban centers many think of ancient capitals such as Rome, Athens, or Cairo. However, across the Atlantic Ocean in Central and South America, there were a number of growing urban centers being built by the Aztec, Mayan, and Incan civilizations. An example of a Central American urban center is Tenochtitlan. Tenochtitlan was the capital of the ancient Aztec capital which is located in present-day Mexico-City, Mexico. The development of this ancient city was dependent on three important factors: favorable ecology, advancing technology, and social organization. With these three preconditions, the growth of Tenochtitlan as a major urban center and as the capital of the Aztec’s civilization was able to flourish.
Similarly to modern-day real estate, location played a detrimental role in determining whether or not an urban center could truly develop and flourish. A location with favorable ecology allows for resources such as agriculture to be produced near or within the city. However, agriculture is not the only element of ecology that allows for a city to develop. Other ecological elements such as rivers, lakes, elevation, mineral resource, and building materials are important in determining whether or not a location has favorable ecology (28). Tenochtitlan is often compared to Europe’s Venice due to its structure and location within the Valley of Mexico. The landscape of the Valley of Mexico consisted of multiple lakes and “resembled a water-filled

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