Ahuitzotl
Ahuitzotl ruled the Aztec empire from 1486 to 1502 and expanded it to its greatest extent. He was a younger brother of his two predecessors, and was chosen by the council of nobles at a young age, having already commanded armies. His reign began with the dedication of the rebuilt Templo Mayor in Tenochtitlan in 1487. The Aztec sources record a mass sacrifice at the ceremony, with prisoners taken in earlier campaigns killed over four days on the temple steps. The figure given in some accounts is over eighty thousand, which is certainly an exaggeration — the logistics are impossible — but the scale was extraordinary by any reckoning, and the intent was to display power to the invited rulers of subject and rival states. He campaigned almost continuously, extending tribute-paying territory into Oaxaca, along the Pacific coast to Soconusco near the modern Guatemalan border, and into the Huastec region on the Gulf. The empire reached roughly its maximum size under him. He suppressed a revolt of the Huastecs and resettled populations, and reformed the army, promoting commoners who distinguished themselves in battle. He rebuilt much of Tenochtitlan, and in 1499 ordered an aqueduct constructed from the springs at Coyoacán to increase the city's fresh water supply, against the advice of the ruler of Coyoacán, whom he had killed for objecting. The works flooded the city severely, and Ahuitzotl was reportedly injured striking his head while escaping the water. He died in 1502, possibly of that injury, and was succeeded by his nephew Moctezuma II.
- Nationality: Mexican
- Roles: ruler
