text: Most importantly, the flower war served as a function of capturing victims to perform ritual sacrifice. To the east of the growing Aztec empire was the city-state of Tlaxcala. The Tlaxcalans were a powerful people who shared their culture and language with the people of the Aztec empire proper. They were closely related to the empire, though never actually conquered by it. An agreement was made with the Tlaxcalans to have ritual battles called xochiyaoyotl. The flower war is a ritual war for Aztec people taking victim back and sacrifice them to their god Xipe Totec (Tezcatlipoca).
  Birth ritual
  Warriors were essential to Aztec life and culture. At birth, an Aztec boy would receive two symbols of being a warrior. A shield would be placed in his left hand, and an arrow would be placed in his right. After a short ceremony the newly born boy's umbilical cord, shield, and arrow would be taken to a battlefield to be buried by a renowned warrior. These parts would symbolize the rise of a warrior. Each shield and arrow would be made specifically for that boy and would resemble his family and the gods. These birth rituals show the importance of warrior culture to the Aztecs.