of the dos pilas kings. they attempted to move beyond the normal territory of conquest. but they did so without really changing anything fundamental in maya political or economic systems. and as a consequence they failed. the bubble burst very dramatically, and then the fall of the dos pilas kingdom was even more rapid than its rise. keach: even if the dos pilas expansion had succeeded, their kingdom would have been tiny compared with the territory conquered by the aztecs, who controlled an area of some 80,000 square miles. no maya kingdom expanded beyond a few thousand square miles. but despite their inability to expand, maya rulers often served well the needs of their individual kingdoms. their role inspired a universal culture that crossed political boundaries and produced extraordinary works of art an intricate writing system, and a religious life of immense complexity. the achievements of the aztecs cannot be minimized by their own ignoble end. they were the only people in mesoamerica able to support a