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The Triple Alliance
The Aztecs are the usual name for the Mexica, the people who ruled central Mexico from the city of Tenochtitlan when the Spanish arrived. "Aztec empire" is a later term; contemporaries knew an alliance between Tenochtitlan, Texcoco and Tlacopan. The tribute system let conquered cities keep their own rulers, which made the empire cheap to run and brittle to defend — Cortés's decisive resource was tens of thousands of Tlaxcalan allies who had been waiting for the opportunity. Tenochtitlan held around 200,000 people, larger than any European city of the time.
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