Why go
Knowing the distinction between Tizatlan and Ocotelolco makes Tlaxcala's conquest-era history easier to follow. The two communities held different forms of power, so their alliance contained internal rivalries as well as shared interests. The scale of the remains alone cannot explain that political importance.
The full story
Tizatlan was one of the four independent communities that formed the confederation of Tlaxcallan in central Mexico. The term altepetl describes such a political community; its plural is altepemeh. Tizatlan was the third of the four to be founded, but by the Spanish conquest it ranked among the most powerful alongside Ocotelolco. Their strengths differed. Ocotelolco held the region's principal market and considerable economic influence. Tizatlan supplied military leadership and commanded Tlaxcallan armies. This division helps explain why the confederation should not be imagined as a single city with one uncontested center of authority. At the Spanish arrival, Xicotencatl the Elder ruled Tizatlan with the support of his son, the military leader Xicotencatl the Younger. Political changes during the conquest eventually favored Ocotelolco. The archaeological remains within modern Tlaxcala therefore represent a community whose influence depended on alliances and military command, not simply the size of surviving buildings.