forces in the development of empire. The Toltec understood military might as an attribute.  They were able to rule significant areas of central Mexico through a centralized focus that enhanced expansion and control over what was previously fragmented areas.  Bentley and Ziegler suggest that with Tula as the Toltec capital city and center of trade, the Toltec were able to demonstrate power and sustain their own growth as an empire. Tula became the center of the Toltec world.  When Tula fell into civil strife, Bentley and Ziegler argue that the Toltec empire withered.  They became a nomadic people.  The Toltec recognized the need to keep expanding and establish connection with other areas and regions of people.  Their ability to develop outreach to other areas in the region enabled them to establish and grow their own empire.

The Toltec's influence on later societies can be best seen with the replication of these traits in the Aztec culture.  Like the Toltec, the Aztecs featured a capital city as the center of their culture and empire. Tenochtitlan became the identifying aspect of the Aztecs and was seen as the origin from which expansion would develop.  Mirroring the Toltec's emphasis on Tula, the capital city became the central point in an empire's emergence and development. The Aztec use of outreach was evident in how their empire was dependent on central administration and localized implementation. Additionally, the Toltec's use of force and the ability to use it in empire building was something that the Aztecs understood, mirroring the same type of expansion techniques.  The Toltec use of a large army with centralized control can be seen as an influence with the Aztecs.  

Another way in which the Toltec influence can be seen in later societies is evident in the use of recorded history.  The legend of Tolpiltzin- Quetzalcóatl and the militaristic form of destruction seen in origin narratives of the Toltec helped to justify war and conquest.  This same type of embrace is seen in the Aztec culture. Additionally, the Toltec warning and fear in the Tolpiltzin- Quetzalcóatl narrative could be seen in the Aztec perception of the Spaniard Cortes.  The influence of the Toltec idea of both justifying their militaristic ways and also possessing a healthy fear of them is something that the Aztecs replicated. 

Bentley and Ziegler suggest that the the Tolmec continued different aspects of Mesoamerican societies that preceded them.  One example of this would be how the Olmec believed in a centralized focus for social life. The preceding Olmec civilization developed centers of ceremony.  These centers were critically important to the communal life of the Olmec.  This centralized importance is seen in the Tolmec establishment of Tula as the capital for their empire.  The Tolmec echoed the Olmec importance of centralization.

While the Tolmec had mirrored the Olmec embrace of centrality, the Tolmec also embraced the warfare element of Mayan society.  The Mayans had established their political importance through their capital city of Tikal as well as embracing soldiers and warriors in the highest brackets of society.  These habits were evident in how the Tolmec embraced the exertion of militaristic force as critical to the expansion of their empire and rooted in the capital city of Tula.  Like the Mayans, the Tolmec sought to elevate the militaristic and those who embodied the tenets of a "warrior group bent on conquest."  In addition to this, the Mayans had established a form of spiritual identity and religious worship that emphasized the importance of the divine in mortal life.  The creation of Popul Vuh as well as how individuals have to be subservient to the will of the Gods is evident in Tolmec spirituality.  Depictions of the God- King  Quetzalcóatl were offered to reflect how the individual has to be mindful of their own place in a larger configuration.  Embracing this aspect of Mayan culture, the Tolmec emphasized that individuals were to understand their own place within a configuration in which  the God- king existed.  The Mayan emphasis on hierarchy and control seemed to be appropriated by a Tolmec culture that became "more aggressive" in terms of expansion and status.