Economy

The Aztec economy is divided into a political sector, which is controlled by nobles and kings, and a commercial sector which is independent. The Political sector is focused on the control of land and labor by kings and nobles. Nobles own all the land and commoners get to us farmland and other fields by payments. These payments support the lavish lifestyles of the upper class and help finance the city-states as well. Luxury items, like featherwork, sculptures, and jewelry are made by full-time commoner specialists who work for noble patrons.

Markets are extremely important to our economy. It is the center of trade, profit and the commercial sector. Your average town will probably have a weekly market, in the center of town, every 5 days, but larger cities have markets every day. In Tlatelolco, another large city close to Tenochtitlan, 60,000 people visit the market. Even though our economy is commercialized by using money, markets, and vendors, we aren't capitalists because our land and labor aren't for sale.
What can you find in a market? We some sellers are just small vendors, but each profession sells their wares; farmers sell their produce and potters sell their pottery. You can find tools, food like agriculture and wild game, gold, silver, precious stones, cloth, cotton, animal skins, and woodwork. Some people are professional merchants called pochteca, like my late father, who travel from marketplace to marketplace and manage long distance trade. These merchants have a high status in our society, being just below the noble class.
The highest officials of the pochteca are called the pochtecatlatoqe. They are elders who don't travel anymore, but instead are administrators and oversee the younger pochteca. The second group of pochteca are slave traders, called tlatlani. They are the richest of the merchants and are important in capturing slaves for sacrifice. The 3rd group are long distance traders called tencuenenque. My father was one and helped the rulers by carrying out personal trades. The last group are naualoztomeca. They are trader spies and search for rare items. Because of this they must disguise themselves so they can get information in markets and report it to higher pochteca.