# The Pochteca Were an Aztec Merchant Guild Said to Be Richest People in North America, and Also Known for Their Fighting Prowess. Does This Imply Banditry Was Very Common in Aztec Lands? <cite>by u/Tlahuizcalpantecutli</cite> ## Metadata - Author: [[Reddit]] - Full Title: The Pochteca Were an Aztec Merchant Guild Said to Be Richest People in North America, and Also Known for Their Fighting Prowess. Does This Imply Banditry Was Very Common in Aztec Lands? - Link: https://reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/pp3mzt/the_pochteca_were_an_aztec_merchant_guild_said_to/hd57y9c Relevant: Mexicas, therefore, are the Aztecs that split from the other Aztecs in Coatepec. The Mexicas were led by Huitzilopochtli. They continued south and founded the city of Tenochtitlan or Mexico (what is now Mexico City) in Anahuac. (via http://www.mexica.net/mexica.php) Lots of good #storystem/fic here for traders ###### Outline - [[Aztecs used armed traders in lieu of a standing army]] - [[wealthy Aztec merchants militarized to avoid antagonizing elite warriors]] ## q1 Aztecs used traders as armed spies > The pochteca were not simply merchants, they were also an arm of the state, and were used by the Mexica government to carry out espionage in frontier states. Essentially, they were the vanguard of a later Mexica conquest. - [View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01fgy25k73gyc6kh1tg4t69j96) ### q2 Aztecs used armed traders in lieu of a standing army > The Mexica did not maintain standing forces in most of their conquered provinces. This left merchants vulnerable to attack by rebelling altepeme, which was often the first step during a revolt. Having armed troops accompany their merchants would have helped to dissuade this from happening, while re-enforcing Mexica control of subject peoples. - [View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01fgy27bjz5txn7f3bdvrwpctj) ### q3 wealthy Aztec merchants militarized to avoid antagonizing elite warriors > to the Aztecs (including the Mexica) there was nothing wrong with being rich. Nor was there anything wrong with trading. Some non-pochteca traders could be quite wealthy. However, the pochteca were in the odd position of being both very rich, and being exclusively traders, and also being politically influential. That was a problem. Aztec, and especially Mexica, leaders were warriors, and military experience highly valued. To these soldier-rulers, the pochteca were seen as undeserving of their social powers and wealth, as they had not earned them through battle or service to the state. Yet, their influence posed a threat to the military nobility. As a consequence, the pochteca were effectively subject to bullying and threats of death. To combat this, the pochteca adopted two, mutually supporting, strategies. The first was performative poverty and generosity. They never made public displays of their wealth. Instead, their goods were hidden in warehouses. After successful merchant ventures, elite warriors were invited to lavish banquets, where the merchant ‘gave away all his goods,’ in a show of generosity. Note, that it probably wasn’t all his goods, just enough to make the fiction seem credible. This generosity also included the donation of goods and sacrificial victims to temples. The second strategy was militarization. Pochteca adopted military language, styles, and narratives in order to portray themselves as warriors. > > Their trading expeditions became military campaigns, and in doing so, the pochteca became deserving of their wealth and status. This also explains why the pochteca were so willing to work as spies and agents for the Mexica state. It was part of their strategy of legitimizing their social status to the warrior elite. As a consequence, it is difficult to know how much of their stories of violence and conquest along the Mexica frontier is real, and how much is performative exaggeration. - [View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01fgy29vvet468kc3zhkgkjyyh)