The Aztecs

Who were they?
We know a lot about them. They kept extensive records. The Catholic priests who followed the Conquest learned Nahuatl and recorded their stories. This was when many of the codices – the illustrated books – were re-written, the original ones having been destroyed immediately after the conquest. I am particularly proud of my very own facsimile copy of the Codex Mendoza. The original copy is in the Bodleian Library in Oxford.
The Aztecs were very sophisticated politically and socially, although their technology was stone age. They had nothing like the Spanish swords or cannon. They had never seen horses. They practised slavery but all children of slaves were born free. Unlike in Peru the Aztec rulers were not gods. Called Tlatoani, literally ‘Great Speaker’, they were elected by a council of Lords and took their responsibilities seriously. Some of the rulers were meritocratic. Others, like Montezuma, were autocrats. Rank could be earned through war and nobles could be demoted.
Women were economically active. They could own their own lands and divorce their husbands. Drinking was banned unless you were old – there are plenty of stories of drunken old women. Sex was controlled – dancing girls for the warriors were ritualised, but in reality the Aztecs seemed able to party pretty wildly. The city streets were swept daily. Canoes moored under the lavatories lining the causeways collected the human manure that fertilized their gardens. There were gardens everywhere, in pots, on the roofs, and in the rulers’ palaces. A huge dyke separated the fresh and brackish parts of the lake and protected the city from flooding. Two aqueducts brought water into the city. A perfect city, you might say, were it not for the constant sacrifice and the terrible smell of death which the Aztecs would probably not have noticed.
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