The Ancient Aztec Empire

1
The Ancient Aztec Empire
2
If you were born in Tenochtitlan

• You live in a place where many rooms surround an
  open courtyard graced by a bubbling fountain
• Your toys include straw or carved wooded figures
  of rabbits and birds as well as a wheeled wagon
  that you push along the ground
• You are well cared for by your family and servants

3
At Age 6

• Boys
• You are separated from your family and sent to a
  calmecac, a military school where you are trained
  to be an officer in the Aztec army. Discipline is
  strict, as self- punishment, you are expected to
  stick thorns through your tongue or your earlobes
• Upper class boys learned to read and write, lower
  class boys were denied this privilege.
• Girls
• You begin to learn household tasks at home from
  your mother and servants, you do not attend
  formal school because you are a girl and will
  most likely never learn to read or write.
• At about age 8, you learn to spin cotton into
  cloth
• Weaving is considered an honorable task to girls
  and women, even those of the upper class

4
At Age 16

• Boys
• You go to war with the Aztec army, you begin as a
  novice soldier, carrying weapons or supplies
  during long marches.
• At about 18, you experience your first battle,
  bravery is expected , any sign of cowardice in
  the heat of war is an unthinkable disgrace
• Girls
• In your early teens, you are an unmarried girl
  chaperoned where ever you go. Youre required to
  walk with your head held down , your eyes on the
  ground, and speak only when spoken to.
• You marry at age 16, your husband chosen for you
  by your parents with help from a matchmaker.

5
In Your Late Teens

• Boys
• You are married in your early 20s, your wife
  chosen for you by your parents. As a member of
  the ruling class, you have some choice over your
  career. You could either enter government service
  or become a professional army officer.
• If youre an especially good student, you can be
  chosen by priests to lead an active public life.
• Girls
• As a wife and mother, you have little choice but
  to obey your husbands every command. Your life
  is centered around the home and family, should
  your husband die, youre expected to remarry one
  of your husbands relatives, brother or cousin.
• As you become older, you may be able to become a
  community matchmaker yourself

6
Later in Life

• Both men and women were considered to be old at
  age 50. few people in Aztec society lived long
  enough to reach that age.
• As an elder, you were revered by your family,
  people value your advice because it is thought
  that years provide wisdom.
• When you died, you may be buried or cremated.
  Your body, dressed in the finest clothes, is
  displayed for four days while friends and family
  feast and chant prayers.
• Death is not a particularly sad event, rather, it
  is regarded as a stepping- stone into a new and
  usually better life.