今日的世界特大城市墨西哥城是建立在昔日繁华的阿兹特克帝国首都——特诺奇蒂特兰城的废墟之上的。这座古城曾拥有一段令世人惊叹的古文明——阿兹特克文明。虽然阿兹特克文明存在的时间短暂，但它伟大的文化艺术成就以及高度发达的社会生活表明，它是墨西哥古代文明中最璀璨的明珠。
1. Aztec：The ups and downs in the Valley of Mexico and its civilizing process
The Aztec people were certain ethnic groups of central Mexico， particularly those groups who spoke the Nahuatl language and who dominated large parts of Mesoamerica from the 14th to 16th centuries.
阿兹特克：墨西哥谷地的起起落落与文明历程
阿兹特克人是墨西哥中部某些种族群体，特别是那些说纳瓦特尔语、并于14世纪至16世纪期间盘踞在中美洲大部分地区的人们。
The life and brief history of the Aztecpeople
The Nahuatl words aztecatl （singular） and aztecah（plural） mean "people from Aztlan"， a mythological place for the Nahuatl-speaking culture of the time， and later adopted as the word to define the Mexica people. Often the term "Aztec" refers exclusively to the Mexica people of Tenochtitlan （now the location of Mexico City）， situated on an island in Lake Texcoco， who referred to themselves as Mexica Tenochca.
Sometimes the term also includes the inhabitants of Tenochtitlan’s two principal allied city-states， the Acolhuas of Texcoco and the Tepanecs of Tlacopan， who together with the Mexica formed the Aztec Triple Alliance which controlled what is often known as "the Aztec Empire". In other contexts， Aztec may refer to all the various city states and their peoples， who shared large parts of their ethnic history and cultural traits with the Mexica， Acolhua and Tepanecs， and who often also used the Nahuatl language as a lingua franca. In this meaning it is possible to talk about an Aztec civilization including all the particular cultural patterns common for most of the peoples inhabiting Central Mexico in the late postclassic period.
From the 13th century， the Valley of Mexico was the heart of Aztec civilization： here the capital of the Aztec Triple Alliance， the city of Tenochtitlan， was built upon raised islets in Lake Texcoco. The Triple Alliance formed a tributary empire expanding its political hegemony far beyond the Valley of Mexico， conquering other city states throughout Mesoamerica. At its pinnacle Aztec culture had rich and complex mythological and religious traditions， as well as reaching remarkable architectural and artistic accomplishments. In 1521 Hernan Cortes， along with a large number of Nahuatl speaking indigenous allies， conquered Tenochtitlan and defeated the Aztec Triple Alliance under the leadership of Hueyi Tlatoani Moctezuma II. Subsequently the Spanish founded the new settlement of Mexico City on the site of the ruined Aztec capital， from where they proceeded with the process of colonizing Central America.
阿兹特克人的生活与简史
纳瓦特尔语中的“aztecatl”（单数）和“aztecah”（复数）表示的意思是“来自亚兹特兰的人们”，这是那个年代纳瓦特尔语文化区域的一个神话般的地方，后来被人们用来定义墨西卡人。通常情况下，“阿兹特克”这个词专指生活在特诺奇蒂特兰城（如今一座墨西哥城市）的墨西卡人，它位于特斯科科湖上的一个小岛上，那里的居民自称墨西哥特诺奇人。
有时，这个词还包括特诺奇蒂特兰城的两个主要盟国城邦的居民，特斯科科的阿卡哈斯和特拉科班的坦潘尼斯，它们与墨西卡一起组成了阿兹特克三国同盟，统治着一个名叫“阿兹特克帝国”的地方。在其他情况下，阿兹特克与墨西卡、阿卡哈斯、坦潘尼斯共享着大部分民族历史和文化特质的各个城市国家及其人民，他们通常把纳瓦特尔语当做通用语来使用。从这个意义上讲，谈谈对于后古典时期居住在墨西哥中部的人们来说很普遍的包括所有特定文化模式在内的阿兹特克文明，那是可能的。
从13世纪开始，墨西哥谷地成为阿兹特克文明的中心：阿兹特克三国同盟的首都，特诺奇蒂特兰城即建立在特斯科科湖上耸起的小岛上。三国同盟形成一个进贡帝国，将其政治霸权远远扩展到墨西哥山谷之外，征服着中美洲的其他城市国家。在其顶峰时期，阿兹特克文化拥有着丰富和复杂的神话与宗教传统，以及卓越的建筑和艺术成就。1521年，西班牙人荷南·科尔蒂斯与大量的纳瓦特尔语本土盟友一起，征服了阿兹特克帝国的皇帝蒙特苏马二世统治下的特诺奇蒂特兰，随后西班牙人在阿兹特克首都遗址之上建立了新的墨西哥城，从那里开始了中美洲殖民地的历程。
Tenochtitlan， Texcoco and Tlacopan：Rise ofthe Triple Alliance
The true origin of the Mexicas is uncertain. According to their legends， the Mexica tribe place of origin was Aztlan. It is generally thought that Aztlan was somewhere to the north of the Valley of Mexico； some experts have placed it as far north as the Southwestern United States. Based on these codices as well as other histories， it appears that the Mexicas arrived at Chapultepec in or around the year 1248. At the time of their arrival， the Valley of Mexico had many city-states， the most powerful of which were Culhuacan to the south and Azcapotzalco to the west. The Tepanecs of Azcapotzalco soon expelled the Mexicas from Chapultepec. In 1299， Culhuacan ruler Cocoxtli gave them permission to settle in the empty barrens of Tizapan， where they were eventually assimilated into Culhuacan culture.
According to Aztec legend， in 1323， the Mexicas were shown a vision of an eagle perched on a prickly pear cactus， eating a snake. This vision indicated that this was the location where they were to build their home. In any event， the Mexicas eventually arrived on a small swampy island in Lake Texcoco where they founded the town of Tenochtitlan in 1325. In 1376， the Mexicas elected their first Huey Tlatoani， Acamapichtli， who was living in Texcoco at the time. For the next 50 years， until 1427， the Mexica were a tributary of Azcapotzalco， which had become a regional power， perhaps the most powerful since the Toltecs， centuries earlier. Maxtla， son of Tezozomoc， assassinated Chimalpopoca， the Mexica ruler. In an effort to defeat Maxtla， Chimalpopoca’s successor， Itzcoatl， allied with the exiled ruler of Texcoco. This coalition was the foundation of the Aztec Triple Alliance.
The Triple Alliance of Tenochtitlan， Texcoco， and Tlacopan would， in the next 100 years， come to dominate the Valley of Mexico and extend its power to both the Gulf of Mexico and the Pacific shore. Over this period， Tenochtitlan gradually became the dominant power in the alliance.
特诺奇蒂特兰、特斯科科和特拉科班：三国同盟的崛起
墨西卡的真正起源并没有定论，据说墨西卡部落的发源地是亚兹特兰。人们普遍认为，亚兹特兰位于墨西哥山谷以北的某个地方，一些专家把它的版图边疆划到了美国西南部。根据这些法律以及其他历史可以看出，墨西卡人于1248年左右扩展到了查普特佩克地区，在他们抵达之时，墨西哥谷地有许多城邦，其中最强大的是南部的库尔瓦坎和西部的阿斯卡帕萨科。阿斯卡帕萨科的坦潘尼斯很快将墨西卡人驱逐出查普尔特佩克，1299年，库尔瓦坎统治者科考克斯利允许他们定居在提萨潘的空旷地区，在那里他们最终被纳入了库尔瓦坎文化。