According to some Aztec legends, the city of Teotihuacan was built by giants. Who else could have achieved the immense size and scale of building that occurred there more than two thousand years ago? The founders of Teotihuacan remain unknown in the twenty-first century, and observers still look upon the ruins with the same awe and amazement as the Aztecs. At its height in 500 C.E. Teotihuacan's population was somewhere between one hundred thousand and two hundred thousand people, making it the sixth largest city in the world at the time.

Within Teotihuacan's 8 square miles (20.7 square kilometers) were thousands of public buildings and residences, including six hundred pyramids. Among the pyramids was the enormous Pyramid of the Sun, the majestic Pyramid of the Moon, more than one hundred temples and shrines, and thousands of other ceremonial structures. There were also several huge marketplaces and more than two thousand apartment compounds and palaces.

Most of the early cities in the Americas were ceremonial centers to which people traveled for special events. While only the ruler-priests and their staffs actually lived within the ceremonial centers, Teotihuacan was a busy metropolis (city) with all classes of people living and working within its borders. The city was carefully planned and highly organized by its rulers. It served as the center of religion and government for a growing empire that included the entire Valley of Mexico and places beyond. Considered the holiest of places in the world by most Mesoamericans, Teotihuacan had a profound influence over the cultures around it and those that came later.

Although the city of Teotihuacan was vast and its ruins are massive, no significant written artifacts have been found there. Some information came from the Aztecs, who reported what they knew about Teotihuacan to missionaries working for the Spanish king in the sixteenth century; many of the names of places in the city are taken from these reports. But even the Aztecs did not have firsthand information since the city had been abandoned centuries before their arrival in the Valley of Mexico. For the Aztecs, the ruins were a sacred part of human history; they believed Teotihuacan was where the gods had created human beings, but they knew little about the actual events that took place in the huge metropolis.

In 1000 B.C.E. the growing populations of the villages and towns in the Valley of Mexico were engaging in profitable trading with the Olmecs in San Lorenzo and with the Zapotecs in the Valley of Oaxaca. They were particularly successful trading the abundant obsidian. As this trade continued, two villages in the valley grew to be small cities. Cuicuilco, in the southwest part of the valley (now part of Mexico City) grew the fastest, with a population of about ten thousand by 300 B.C.E.

Teotihuacan was smaller by comparison but grew at a healthy pace. Sometime around 100 B.C.E. Cuicuilco was badly damaged by the eruption of a nearby volcano. At that time, Teotihuacan began to grow at an extremely rapid rate. Though the city of Cuicuilco reestablished itself, it never prospered again, and Teotihuacan, for reasons largely unknown, took its place as the leading city in the valley. By about 1 C.E. a large part of the Valley of Mexico's population had moved to Teotihuacan and its leaders began rebuilding their city, basically starting from scratch with all-new city plans. The reason for this is not known. They may have rebuilt in an attempt to accommodate the expanding population, but that end could have been achieved by building outward from the existing structures. It is more likely that the rulers of Teotihuacan had a new vision of the way the city should be set out. The new city was built quickly and immediately prospered.

Why Teotihuacan was so successful is a matter of much interest to scholars. There are several possible reasons. It was close to the best obsidian sources, which provided valued goods to trade and created a strong demand for workers. Its lower parts were situated on good farmlands, which yielded enough crops to feed its population. It was also situated on a well-established trade route, making it a place Mesoamerican traders from far and wide would stop to do business. Teotihuacan was also a prominent holy place, and many believe it was the city's religious significance that drew people from all over the valley.

The leaders of the city had developed a vast economic empire by about 400 C.E., which included much of the southern two-thirds of Mexico, Guatemala, and Belize, as well as some parts of Honduras and El Salvador. Some of the new territories may have been conquered by the Teotihuacan military and then occupied. Scholars believe the manner in which new territories were ruled differed from place to place. Certainly some of Teotihuacan's conquests were gained by military force. Other new regions were probably brought into the empire in a more friendly way, through intermarriage or agreements among the leaders.

In some places, Teotihuacan leaders set up "colonies" of their own people in conquered areas. The colonists oversaw things such as mining resources and tribute payments. Many historians believe the Teotihuacan empire was mainly an economic endeavor; the territories under Teotihuacan control may have paid tribute and become trading allies with the large city but they probably continued to rule themselves. In any case, the influence of Teotihuacan deeply impacted the Mesoamerican civilizations.

From its peak as the largest and most influential city of Mesoamerica in the fifth and sixth centuries, Teotihuacan quickly fell in the seventh century--some say around 650 C.E. Around this time, a fire swept the city. The fire may have been accidental, due to an invasion by enemies, or a strike against the ruling powers from within. The economy may have declined because of bad weather or competition, and perhaps the city's people lost faith in their leaders.

After the initial fire, the people of Teotihuacan began to abandon the city in large numbers. From about 750 C.E. the people who remained participated in ceremonial burnings of the city's temples and monuments. No one tried to restore the destroyed buildings. Before long, the once-great city lay in ruins.

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