WATCH AD-FREE: https://www.patreon.com/fallofcivilizations_podcast Beneath the busy streets of Mexico City, a buried god lies waiting to be discovered... This episode, we look back at the age of the Aztecs. Learn how this society grew from nothing to create one of the world's largest cities in the middle of a lake. Discover Aztec riddles, poetry and songs, as well as the bloody ritual of the flower wars. And hear the remarkable story of how this thriving empire collapsed all at once, in a matter of days. ** Fall of Civilizations the book is now available to pre-order: linktr.ee/fallofcivilizations ** PART 2: https://youtu.be/cDdKZrvg1pE Full references and reading List: https://www.patreon.com/posts/32391451 Credits: Sound engineering by Thomas Ntinas Digital reconstructions of Tenochtitlan by Santiago Ferreyra and ADVEstudio: https://www.advestudio.com/ Paintings provided by Rick Ortega and Augusto Ferrer-Dalmau Voice Actors: Jake Barrett-Mills Rhy Brignell Shem Jacobs Annie Kelly Lou Millington Music by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) Source: incompetech.com/ Title theme: Home At Last by John Bartmann. https://johnbartmann.com/ Chapters 0:00 - Intro 5:23 - Quetzalcoatlus 7:08 - Chicxulub Asteroid 11:38 - The Valley of Mexico 16:21 - Human Settlement in the Americas 18:17 - Teotihuacan, Tula & the Toltecs 20:52 - Sources on the Mexica/Aztecs 25:48 - Origin of the Mexica 30:07 -Tenochtilan 33:20 - Aztec Farming & Diet 37:31 - Cultural Developments 41:32 - Tenochtitlan as a Hub of Trade 43:44 - Aztec Riddles! 45:04 - Worship of Huitzilopochtli & Ritual Human Sacrifice 55:39 - Itzcoatl 56:00 - Chimalpopoca 57:03 - Tezozomoc 59:12 - Nezahualcoyotl 1:03:45 - Fall of the Tepanecs 1:11:25 - Tlacaelel 1:15:06 - Militarism & Growth of the Empire 1:18:19 - Communication & Administration 1:19:51 - The Flower Wars 1:26:00 - A Harbinger of Decline 1:27:50 - Worlds Apart 1:41:15 - The Meeting of the Two Worlds