About Mexico - Past and Present/Chapter 4
CHAPTER IV.
LAWS AND LAWGIVERS.
WHAT we know of the social organization and government of the Aztec and kindred tribes has come down to us mostly through Spanish sources, as, excepting some pictures carved on temple-walls and on monuments, most of their early records were swept away at the time of the conquest. But these foreign writers knew so little of the peculiarities of the people they professed to describe that their accounts are often contradictory. Thus a great empire is spoken of by one writer as ruled by the despot Montezuma. Kings elect him to his high office. He is surrounded by a great retinue of hereditary nobility, and princes from a score of provinces are obliged to attend him as hostages for the good behavior of their people, while a harem of a thousand dark-eyed beauties graces his splendid halls. On the other hand, Cortez informs Charles V. that some of these tribes have a republican form of government. Such, for instance, were the Cholulans, a powerful mercantile tribe about sixty miles from Mexico, and the Tlascalans, a race of bold mountaineers whom Cortez met and conquered on his way to that city. Of Tlascala he says: "It resembles the States of Venice, Genoa and Pisa, since the supreme authority is not reposed in one person. In war all unite and have a voice in its management and direction." Besides these republics, there were many independent tribes. At the very door of the capital was Tezcuco, whose territory rivaled that of the Aztecs in extent, while its history, as related by Tezcucan writers to their adopted countrymen of Spain, shows a line of monarchs some of whom were claimed to be the intellectual peers of Socrates, David and Solomon. While the Tezcucans took precedence of the Aztecs with regard to culture, the Zapotecs of the South defied them as warriors. We learn from Cortez that no Aztec ever dared to set foot on their territory.
There is nothing stranger in the history of the Aztecs than the quiet behavior of the people when their so-called emperor was taken captive. During a morning call at his palace he is arrested by Cortez, and after a brief explanation is carried in his litter through the streets by his weeping nobles to the quarters of an armed band of foreigners and left there a prisoner, to guide the affairs of his realm by their permission and under their direction. Nothing explains the inconsistencies of this relation or dispels the mystery which surrounds this Indian potentate until we study the social customs which still prevail among the aborigines of America and examine the deserted homes and temples of the very tribes in question. Such a study clears up many of the mistakes of early historians. We find everywhere evidences of a state of society so widely different from that existing in Europe as to be unintelligible there. Cortez speaks of his host as Senor Montezuma—"señor" being a title applied to an ordinary Spanish gentleman—while in the same letter he describes the princes and the lords who formed the court of this Indian ruler. Other writers are more consistent, and, boldly jumping to the conclusion that this was a great empire with a sovereign like their own, the victories they describe are, of course, greatly magnified. That this was the impression of Mexico gained by the rude Spanish soldiery we know from the fact that when they first saw the beautiful cities of the valley in their glorious setting of mountain and lake they feared to grapple with a people whose civilization in some respects outshone their own, and but for the dauntless courage and ambition of Cortez they would have turned back on the very threshold without their coveted prize. Two descendants of Tezcucan chiefs, who afterward described their country for the benefit of European readers, give their history the same coloring, claiming the rank of emperors for their ancestors. Further research has shown that all these were fanciful theories, and that not only in Cholula and Tlascala, but throughout Mexico, the republican form of government prevailed.
When the Aztecs came into the valley, they were a group of seven distinct but related families, all speaking one language and worshiping the same gods. The strange, hard syllables of their seven surnames were perpetuated among them until some time near the close of the seventeenth century—almost a hundred years after the Spanish conquest. These families held their lands in common, as all American Indians do, and it is probable that long before they forsook their huts in the swamp for substantial stone houses they lived together on the communal plan. In Stephens's Travels in Yucatan we have a glimpse of Indian village-life as it existed then. The author says: "The food is prepared at one hut, and every family sends for its portion; which explains a singular spectacle we had seen on our arrival—a procession of women and children, each carrying an earthen bowl containing a quantity of smoking-hot broth, all coming down the same road and dispersing among the different huts. This custom has existed for an unknown length of time."
Like their neighbors, these Aztecs held as their own an undefined territory over which they might extend their city as they chose. As we have seen, the ground on which Mexico stood was nearly all reclaimed from the salt marshes of Lake Tezcuco. It had about it a fringe of floating gardens which in part supplied the city markets, although with the increase of population a still larger supply was drawn from the fields and the orchards of tribes they had forced to pay tribute.
The city had four calpulli, or wards, each of which was governed by its own chief and had its own temple and public buildings. These wards were further subdivided as the tribe increased in numbers. Not only was each ward sovereign in its own territory, but each of its subdivisions was an independent organization so far as its local interests were concerned.
The business of the tribe was transacted in the central council-house—teepan, or house of the community. This building fronted the great open square in the heart of the city and had a tower for defence and lookout. It is reasonable to suppose that it was this large building which was described by Spanish historians as Montezuma's palace. As the dwelling of the rich and powerful clan to which the chief-of-men belonged, the tribal council was probably held within its chambers, that being the custom through all the subdivisions of the tribe.
While the settlement on the lake was still new one of these original Aztec clans, or kins, seceded in some family quarrel and proceeded to set up for itself on the mainland. In 1473 these divided clans had a fierce struggle on the battlefield; the Aztecs were finally left masters. In punishment for their offence against the tribe, the Tlatilucos, as the seceders were called, were degraded by the tribal council to the rank of women; no male Indian could fall lower than that. Their young men were denied the rank of warriors and became mere burden-bearers for their victorious brethren. In the peace which followed, the vanquished men were set to work on the great teocallis which the Aztecs were then building. After years of alienation the Tlatilucos were conditionally restored tu their former rank and allowed their birthright as warriors, but the two parties never ceased to be bitter enemies. The old hatred was only smothered, and broke out afresh in the time of the Spanish invasion, when an opportunity was taken to pay off old scores, with interest, and those who had been seceders were in league with the enemies of the Aztecs.
Among the tribes which had settled in the valley before the Aztecs built their island-city were the Alcohuans, afterward called Tezcucans, after their city, Tezcuco. They were a more humane and cultivated people than the Aztecs, upon whom, from the first, they seem to have looked down as an inferior race. As they advanced in wealth and civilization they extended their conquests toward the north.
About one hundred years before the Europeans made their appearance in the valley, the Tezcucans—who were on the losing side in a conflict with their neighbors, the Tepanacs, who appear at that time to have been masters of the table-land—entered into a league with the Aztecs and Tlacopans. In gratitude for the valuable assistance rendered by the former tribe at a time when their nation was nearly crushed, the Tezcucans gave their once-despised neighbors the tribute they levied on the conquered Tepanacs, and henceforth the Aztecs were masters of the valley. The three allied tribes agreed to stand by each other under all circumstances. In any war in which all united the spoil was divided according to terms agreed upon among themselves, Tezcuco and Mexico, as the largest tribes, taking the lion's share. Each of the confederate powers was absolute in its own territory, and might carry on war and levy tribute for itself. These tribes lived in friendship for about one hundred years, when, as might have been expected, they fell out over their plunder. By this time the Aztecs had succeeded in bringing an immense territory under tribute, carrying their banners in triumph from the Atlantic to the Pacific and as far south as Guatemala and Yucatan. The whole government of their nation was organized on a strictly war-basis, with a general at its head.
The commander-in-chief of the Aztecs was elected for life or during good behavior. The office was not in any sense hereditary, although Montezuma, the chief in power at the time of the Spanish conquest, was the nephew of his predecessor, "the bold and bloody Ahuitzotl." The old warriors of the tribe, the head-chiefs of the confederate tribes and the leading priests were the electors of this officer. These electors constituted a tribal council, which was the fountain of all power, religious and civil. They not only elected the chief and deposed him if he displeased the tribe, but after his inauguration they decided all questions in peace or in war. The chief seems to have been an executive of their decrees, which, like those of old Venice, were despotic, and often cruel. The man chosen by this council bore the title of "chief-of-men" (tlaca-tecuhtli).
Among the Aztecs the chief had an associate in office whose business it was to look after the revenues of the tribe. This man had the strange title of "snakewoman" (cohua-cohuatl), meaning, probably, a mate. From their first appearance in history these warlike people had subsisted on the plunder taken from other tribes, so that whoever had the care of the revenues from this source had the life of the nation in his hands. This associate chief went through the same ceremonies at the time of his inauguration, and wore the same dress, as the "chief-of-men," and in time of emergency he was expected to head the army.
Tlascala had four chiefs, who acted in concert; the Zapotecs had a high priest or divine ruler, and the Tezcucans also had but one.
It is a fact established by one of the oldest sculptures in Mexico that the custom of double headship was common there from the earliest times. A nameless artist has given us on the walls of Palenque a picture representing the two chiefs in their official regalia—the very dress which Montezuma wore, as described by Spanish writers.
Among the qualifications which were required in the chief-of-men were gravity and dignity of manner, fluency of speech and bravery in war. The prolonged ordeal through which each candidate for ordinary chieftainship was called to pass was a test of his character and of his fitness for office which none but those possessed of every Indian virtue could endure, and any one selected from among those thus distinguished could scarcely fail to be worthy of public trust. The candidate was obliged to pass through four days and nights of torment. He ate but little, and that of the poorest food; he was surrounded every hour by a crowd who subjected him to every possible indignity; he was jeered at, taunted and scourged until he was bleeding and exhausted. This over, he spent a year in close retirement and abstinence. After another four days and nights of the most rigorous and cruel tests of his patience and his fortitude, he was brought out in triumph to enjoy once more the society of friends and allowed to dress and feast at will. The head-chief wore his hair tied up on the top of his head with a narrow band of leather dyed red.
As badges of their office the "chief-of-men" and his associate wore certain ornaments which it was death for any one else to assume. One of the green stones so much admired in those days was hung from the bridge of the nose; a golden lip-ring was another appendage. Wristbands of exquisite feather-work, armbands and anklets of gold elaborately chased, added to the brilliancy of his attire. Montezuma is described as wearing a large square mantle of richly-embroidered cotton cloth tied about his neck by two of its knotted corners, a broad sash with fringed ends draped about his loins, sandals with golden soles and thongs of embossed leather. His garments were sprinkled with precious stones and pearls, with a long and handsome tuft of green feathers fastened on the top of his head and hanging down his back. At the time of his introduction to Europeans he was about forty years of age, tall, thin, with long, straight black hair and but little beard. He had a paler color than most of his race, and a serious, if not a melancholy, expression. If half that we read of Montezuma's epicurean tastes and inactive habits is true, it is reasonable to suppose that he was a confirmed dyspeptic, which may in part account for his gloomy views of life at this time.
The Mexicans seem to have had no written laws. It is said that in early times their laws were so few that everybody knew them by heart. In later days a record was kept of suits in law, and the decisions given in these cases served as precedents. Thus was established a common law founded on long usage. The despotic decrees of the council were often given after consulting the priests, who were the oracles of the tribe. When the gods had decided, there was no appeal. A number of such cases occurred in the troublous times when the Aztecs were at war with the Spaniards. It is said that all the wisdom of the great Hungry Fox could not avail in a controversy with these priests. The chief loathed the worship of Humming-Bird and sought to bring his people back to the altars of the Toltecs. But in vain. The oracles declared that all the troubles in which the tribe were then plunged were due to the neglect of human sacrifices, and it was decided that henceforth the cruel war-god should have his fill of them.
The punishment of crime was most severe. Every petty theft was punished by the temporary enslavement of the culprit to the person he had wronged, or by death. Stealing a tobacco-pouch or twenty ears of corn or pilfering in the market-place was thus atoned for. In the latter case the thief was clubbed to death on the spot. Any one who was guilty of stealing gold offended Xipe, the patron god of those who worked in the precious metals; he was therefore doomed to be skinned alive before the altar of this deity. The effect of these severe laws against robbery was everywhere seen in treasures being left unguarded. A man who died drunk was dressed for 
burial in the robes worn by the goddess of strong drink, his patron saint. Drunkenness in young people, since it unfitted them for public duty, was punishable with death, though the same fault was winked at in an older person. Slanderers fared somewhat better, and escaped with singed hair. Any member of the calpulli who failed to till the little portion of the public land assigned to him became an outcast, and was condemned to menial service. If he failed to till the lands of any minor for whom he was guardian, his breach of trust was punished with death.
True slavery, in our sense of that word, was unknown among these people. As outcasts they forfeited their tribal privileges, but could be readopted by their brethren after some meritorious act.
It was a capital offence to wear any part of a chiefs regalia or for a man or a woman to put on the dress belonging to the other sex or to change the boundaries of lands. These old communal lands were most jealously guarded. The people had strong local attachments, and it is said that thousands in Mexico are still living on the plots of ground tilled by their ancestors hundreds of years ago. Many of these were not Aztecs, though most of them had been at some time tributary to them.
We learn from picture-records that four cities on the coast of Mexico paid each, yearly, four thousand handfuls of the feathers needed in the exquisite mosaic-work for which these tribes were so famous, two hundred bags of cocoa, forty tiger-skins, one hundred and sixty kinds of certain colors needed in the temple-worship or for personal decoration. Other places paid tribute in cochineal, dyestuffs, gold, precious stones, besides the victims for sacrifice—the most valuable of all revenues.