“He Had Gathered Together a Numerous Host”

Brant Gardner

As king of the Lamanites Amalickiah had influence not just in the city of Nephi, but in all of those cities that were in the hegemony beholding to the city of Nephi. The army he could raise was far larger than that which could be expected from a single city. When the Aztec monarch raised an army from the multiple cities of the Tetzcocas, Aztecs and Chichimecs, the number of the military force reportedly numbered 700,000 men (Ross Hassig. Aztec Warfare. University of Oklahoma Press, 1988, p. 55). Amalickiah’s army might not have been that large, as this number comes from much later in history and from a densely populated area. However, it would not be surprising if this combined army were around 500,000 men.

Multidimensional Commentary on the Book of Mormon

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