section_path: History by region/Americas/Mesoamerica
section_name: Mesoamerica
paragraph_text: Mesoamerica
  
  At the beginning of the global post-classical period, the city of Teotihuacan was at its zenith, housing over 125,000 people, at 500 A.D it was the sixth largest city in the world at the time. The city's residents built the Pyramid of the Sun the third largest pyramid of the world, oriented to follow astronomical events. Suddenly in the 6th and 7th centuries, the city suddenly declined possibly as a result of severe environmental damage caused by extreme weather events of 535–536. There is evidence that large parts of the city were burned, possibly in a domestic rebellion. The city's legacy would inspire all future civilizations in the region.
  
  At the same time was Classic Age of the Maya civilization clustered in dozens of city states on the Yucatán and modern day Guatemala. The most significant of these cities was Chichen Itza which often fiercely competed with anywhere from 60 to 80 city states to be the dominant economic influence in the region. Likewise, other Mayan cities such as Tikal and Calakmul also initiated a series of full-scale conflicts in the area over power and prestige, culminating in the Tikal-Calakmul Wars in the 6th century.
  
  The Mayans had an upper caste of priests, who were well versed in astronomy, mathematics, and writing. The Mayan developed the concept of zero, and a 365-day calendar which possibly pre-dates its creation in Old World societies. After 900, many Mayan cities suddenly declined due to ecological disaster which was likely caused by a combination of drought and an incessant cycle of warfare, It's also been noted that classical Mayan Cities lacked food storage facilities.
  
  The Toltec Empire arose from the Toltec culture, and were remembered as wise and benevolent leaders. One priest-king called Ce Acatl Topiltzin advocated against human sacrifice. After his death in 947, civil wars of religious character broke out between those who supported and opposed Topiltzin's teachings. Modern historians however are skeptical of the extent of Toltec and influence and believe that much of the information known about the Toltecs was created by the later Aztecs as an inspiration myth.
  
  In the 1300s, a small band of violent, religious radicals called the Aztecs began minor raids throughout the area. Eventually they began to claim connections with the Toltec civilization, and insisted they were the rightful successors. They began to grow in numbers and conquer large areas of land. Fundamental to their conquest, was the use of political terror in the sense that the Aztec leaders and priests would command the human sacrifice of their subjugated people as means of humility and coercion. Most of the Mesoamerican region would eventually fall under the Aztec Empire. On the Yucatán Peninsula most of the Maya peoples continued to be independent of the Aztecs but their traditional civilization declined. Aztec developments expanded cultivation, applying the use of chinampas, irrigation, and terrace agriculture; important crops included maize, sweet potatoes, and avocados.
  
  In 1430, the city of Tenochtitlan allied with other powerful Nahuatl -speaking cities, Texcoco and Tlacopan, to create the Aztec Empire, otherwise known as the Triple Alliance. Though referred to as an empire the Aztec Empire functioned as a system of tribute collection with Tenochtitlan at its center. By the turn of the 16th century, " flower wars " between the Aztecs and rival states such as Tlaxcala had continued for over fifty years.