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The Elite Aztec Warriors
They engaged in flower wars, cannibalism, and gladiatorial fights
The Aztec Empire was a large empire in central Mexico. Military service was mandatory and all male children received combat training. War was a source of prisoners for ritual sacrifices.
Aztec society had four classes: the nobles, the commoners, the serfs, and the slaves. The only way to move up the social ladder was to become an elite warrior — the Jaguar warrior or the Eagle warrior. A commoner had to capture four enemies during a battle to become an elite warrior.
The Jaguar warriors and the Eagle warriors
Working as full-time professional warriors, they engaged in constant warfare. These warriors enjoyed many privileges in Aztec society: they could drink alcohol, have mistresses, and wear jewelry.
A major difference between the Jaguar and the Eagle warriors was their appearance. The Eagle warriors wore quilted cotton armor with eagle feathers and put an eagle head on their helmets. The Jaguar warriors decorated their armor with jaguar skins and jaguar heads.
The best of the best: Otomins and ‘the Shorn Ones’
The best Eagle and Jaguar warriors were the Otomins and the Cuahchicqueh (‘the Shorn Ones’).
The Otomins were elite shock troops, known for their fierceness in battle. They dressed in green or in red and lived inside the king’s palace.
The most elite warrior class was the Cuahchicqueh. They swore never to retreat from a battle until victory or death. To get into this class, a warrior had to capture at least six prisoners and perform twenty acts of valor.
They wore yellow body armor and shaved their head, except for a short braid around the left ear. They painted half of their head in blue and the second half in red or yellow.
The highest-ranking commanders of the Aztec army belonged to the Cuahchicqueh.
