rose and became an immense city. Its early growth was rapid,
tied to advances in irrigation agriculture, and by the second
century it covered about eight square miles with a population
estimated between 60,000 and 80,000. Subsequent growth
slowed and reached a maximum population of about 125,000,
making it the fi ft h-largest city in the world for its time. Its
great surge in urban growth around the turn of the millen-
nium seems to signify the infl uence of strong-minded rul-
ers. Moreover, it is about this time that virtually the entire
population elsewhere in the Basin of Mexico disappeared,
as people were evidently resettled in Teotihuacán. No other
Mesoamerican city had such a large and dense urban con-
centration before the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlán in the late
14 0 0 s.
Territory under immediate Teotihuacán control by the
fourth century b.c.e. covered at least 9,600 square miles, a
radius of about 55 miles, though it may have reached consid-
erably farther. Beyond the primary radius Teotihuacán prob-
ably concentrated on controlling key settlements and routes
between them as opposed to controlling blocks of territory.
Its immense prestige certainly exceeded its political sphere,
but little is yet known about specifi c outposts. Teotihuacán
moved to control the Valley of Morelos to the southeast, where
cotton could be grown, a key resource for a textile industry
and maintained a presence at Tula to the northwest, Cholula
to the southeast, Cantona to the northeast on the route to the
Gu lf lowla nds, a nd A lta Vista in Zacatecas. Th e Zapotec state,
centered at Monte Albán in Oaxaca, maintained diplomatic
relations with Teotihuacán, and there was even a barrio at
Teotihuacán that is now referred to as the Oaxaca Barrio be-
cause it is believed to have exclusively housed craft smen from
Oaxaca.
Connections are also known to have run to southern
Veracruz, Mirador in Chiapas, sites in highland and Pacifi c
coastal Guatemala, and Belize. Connections are especially
strong at Tikal in northern Guatemala and refl ect the adop-
tion of a limited number of Teotihuacán-related symbols by
local elites for their own purposes. Th e infl uence of Teoti-
huacán at Tikal is secure by 360 c.e. thanks to a ruler referred
to as Curl Nose in hieroglyphic inscriptions found at the
site. Curl Nose was apparently a collaborationist ruler who
accepted military and political advisers from Teotihuacán,
which gave Tikal an edge over rival Mayan centers and al-
lowed for further expansion.
Th e exact form of rule is unclear and might have shift ed
over time. Supreme political authority may not always have
been strongly concentrated in a single person or lineage. A
major apartment compound at Teotihuacán has been inter-
preted as residences of the heads of state, though it is unlike
better-known royal palaces, such as those in Tenochtitlán
when the Spaniards arrived. It seems to fi t a pattern wherein
the head of state controls fewer resources and can command
construction projects less for his own glorifi cation than for
the glorifi cation of the state, leading some scholars to suggest
that rulership took the form of an oligarchic republic (one
ruled by a small group), which is not necessarily democratic
or egalitarian. Scholars have also suggested a corporate or
collective model of leadership, which may explain why there
is an apparent lack of self-glorifying rulers and consequently
why dynastic history is thus far unknown. Yet most of the
major constructions happened early and quickly, which in-
dicates at least a few very powerful, able, and imaginative
rulers.
Far afi eld the military certainly played a role in secur-
ing interests as Teotihuacán gained preeminence. Scholars
disagree on the exact nature, role, and extent of the mili-
tary, but it is unlikely that Teotihuacán’s infl uence over trade
would have been possible had it not been able to overcome
armed resistance from rival centers. Refl ecting a lack of con-
sensus, it has been suggested both that the emphasis on war
was largely symbolic and that it was very real. It has been ar-
gued convincingly that the army of Teotihuacán was highly
eff ective, effi cient, and organized. Military symbolism was
adapted in the lowland Maya regions, and even though con-
quest of the Maya seems unlikely, the city’s military prestige
traveled well.
In its last century the population of Teotihuacán de-
clined signifi cantly. Many factors might have contributed to
the decline, including a failure to adapt to new styles of gov-
ernment, commerce, or religion developing elsewhere; a lack
of income from conquests; crises from outside threats or rul-
ers; and possibly environmental problems. Th e state itself was
largely destroyed by fi re, especially in the central part of the
city. It is unknown who was responsible for the destruction,
but its focused and selective results suggest to some scholars
t hat it was an inside job. One t heor y proposes t hat a combina-
tion of dissident insiders and members of surrounding soci-
eties who had gained power could have defeated a weakened
and no longer well-led city.THE MAYA
Th e Maya created the most sophisticated civilization of an-
cient America. Th eir achievements in art, architecture, writ-
ing, astronomy, and calendrical notation were unsurpassed.
Maya civilization developed along several lines that are con-
tinuously redefi ned and debated. Although development
varied from site to site over time, by 150 c.e. many criteria
of urbanism were present, including relatively higher popu-
lation density than the surrounding countryside, a stratifi ed
society, nonfarming occupational specializations, formalized
religion, markets, and a bureaucracy or civil service supported
by a social surplus. Th e levels of organization necessary for
these developments indicates the complexity of regional cen-
ters and state-level society,lthough they appear to have lacked
the highly centralized structures typical of imperial centers.
By the end of the Late Formative Period and the beginning of
the Classic Period, around 150 c.e., a number of Maya sites
had become large and complex, including Tikal and Mirador,
and dynastic histories were recorded in combination with the
advanced Maya practice of writing.420 empires and dynasties: The Americas