Daily Life of the Aztecs

by Jacques Soustelle

  Xolotl and his two successors still lived in caves and in the woods. The fourth ruler, Quinatzin, took to urban life at Texcoco and compelled his tribe to cultivate the ground: some of his people rebelled, and fled into the mountains. The fifth, Techotlalatzin, was taught the Toltec language by a woman from Colhuacán and he welcomed civilised men at Texcoco, his capital, and incorporated them into his tribe. At last came Ixtlilxochitl, who adopted all the 'Toltec' ways -- that is to say, the ways of the civilised Nahuatl-speaking people whose culture had reached its peak before the coming of the nomads -- and then his son Nezaualcoyotl, who appears as the most typical and the most refined representative of classical Mexican culture. 12 This whole transformation had taken no more than two hundred years.

  For when they reached the central plateau the barbarians had come into contact not only with the remains of the high Toltec civilisation, but also with people who had stayed there and still practised these civilised ways. 13 No doubt Tula had been abandoned and the Toltec state had fallen; but the language, the religion and the manners of the Toltecs

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  persisted at Colhuacán, Cholula, Xochimilco, Chalco and many other places. Still other little towns, such as Xaltocan, were populated by Otomí, settled peasants with rustic ways, who had nevertheless lived for a long time under Toltec influence.

  The city-states of the newcomers were built up around those of the Toltecs or of the nations much subject to Toltec influence; and the same applied to the city-states of the tribes who continued to come in from the northern steppes, of whom the most recent were the Aztecs. All these tribes adopted the political and social structures of their predecessors, their gods and their arts: they took the citystate, with its council and its dynasty, dignities and knightly orders, worship of agrarian deities, calendar and systems of writing, polygamy and ball-games. All that which Theodoric, Boethius and Cassiodorus were unable to do in Italy after the fall of the Western Empire, the Mexicans achieved after the fall of Tula; and it must be admitted that in the history of human civilisations this is a most unusual success.

  The Aztecs and their neighbours therefore knew that they were at the junction of two lines of descent, the one coming from the barbarians, who in no way shamed them and whose warlike virtues they cultivated, and the other from the Toltecs, the civilised people whose symbol was Quetzalcoatl, the inventor of the arts and of science, the protector of knowledge.

  As the heirs of the Toltecs they classed themselves with those nations who had not been barbarians, the 'people of the rubber and the salt water (Olmeca-Uixtotin) who live towards those parts where the sun is born and who are never called Chichimecs'. 14 These were particularly the tribes who lived in the province of Xicalanco (in the south of the present state of Campeche) and who, lying between the Mexican and the Mayan worlds, were in friendly relations with the Aztec empire without being subject to it.

  We have, therefore, in ancient Mexico a very clear case of cultural solidarity overlying political division, a markedly conscious unity, which took the traditional form of the Toltec myth -- a myth which, it may be added, was rich in historical

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  elements mixed with its symbolic figures. The Indian of Tenochtitlan or Texcoco, of Uexotla or Cuauhtitlán did not regard himself solely as a member of a given tribe, or a citizen of a given city, but as a civilised man who shared a higher culture. By this he contrasted himself not only with the Chichimecs who had remained in the nomadic, savage state, but also with the rustic Otomí, 15 the Popoloca, 'who speak a barbarous language', 16 and the Tenime, 'a barbarous people, very unskilful, stupid and rude'. 17 Implicit in this notion of superior culture was the possession of certain kinds of knowledge, the practice of certain arts, a prescribed manner of life and a behaviour that matched certain given rules.

  SELF-CONTROL; GOOD BREEDING; SOCIAL ORDER

  A civilised man is primarily one who can master himself, who does not display his feelings, except when this is the accepted thing to do, and then only in the accepted manner, who preserves a proper bearing in all circumstances, and a reserved and correct demeanour. What we now call good breeding had a very great importance in the eyes of the ancient Mexicans, both as a mark of each man's quality and as a necessary factor in the social order.

  In the upper classes continual attention to dignity was closely linked with taking care to appear grave, untroubled and even humble; it was most important to keep in one's proper place. The young warriors were blamed because they 'spoke vainly, boasted, talked too loud and boorishly' -ahuiltlatoa, totoquauhtlatoa, tlatlaquauhtlatoa, quauquauhtlatoa, as the Codex Florentino says so prettily. 18

  'No vainglorious, presumptious or noisy man has ever been chosen as a dignitary; no impolite, ill-bred man, vulgar in his speaking, impudent in his speech and inclined to say whatever comes into his head, has ever sat upon the petltal or upon the icpalli. And if it should happen that a dignitary makes unsuitable jokes or speaks with levity, then he is called a tecucuecuechtli, which means a buffoon. No important office of state has ever been entrusted to a vain man, overfree in his speaking, nor to a man that plays the fool.' 19

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  The upper-class ideal was an entirely Roman gravitas in private life, words and bearing, together with a particularly high degree of politeness. It was allowed that some men, such as veterans, for example, did not have to live up to this, and their extravagances of language and conduct were tolerated; but they were kept out of high office. 'Those who were called quaquachictin, men who were slightly mad but very brave in war, or otomí atlaotzonxintin (slightly mad Otomí with a shaved head), were great killers, but they were unadapted for the tasks of government.' 20 A true gentleman should show himself to be 'humble and not overweening, very wise and prudent, peaceable and calm.' 21 And that, said a father to his son, 'must be the truth in your heart, before our god (Tezcatlipoca). Let not your humility be feigned, or otherwise you will be called titoloxochton (hypocrite) or titlanixiquipile (feigner); for our lord god sees what is in the heart and he knows all secret things.' 22

  This 'humility', which might perhaps be more truthfully described as pride restrained by self-control, showed itself by moderation in pleasure -- 'Do not throw yourself upon women like a dog upon its food' 23 -- by a measured way of speaking -- 'One must speak calmly, not too fast, nor heatedly, nor loud . . . keep to a moderate pitch, neither high nor low; and let your words be mild and serene' -- by discretion -- 'If you hear and see something, particularly something wrong, pretend not to have done so and be quiet' -- by willing readiness in obeying -- 'Do not wait to be called twice: answer at once the first time' -- by good taste and restraint in dress -- 'Do not be too curious in your clothes, nor freakish . . . on the other hand, do not wear poor, torn garments' -- and finally, by a man's whole bearing.

  In the street, 'Walk quietly, neither too fast nor too slow . . . those who do not observe this rule are called ixtotomac cuecuetz, people who go looking in every direction like idiots, without nobility or gravity; do not walk with your head down or leaning on one side or looking to right and to left, or else it will be said that you are an ill-bred, undisciplined fool.'

  At meals, 'Do not eat too quickly or in a careless manner;

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  do not take great mouthfuls of maize-cake, nor stuff your mouth, nor swallow like a dog, nor tear the cakes to pieces, nor hurl yourself upon what is in the plate. Eat calmly, or you will be mocked. Before the meal, wash your hands and mouth; and do the same after you have eaten.' 24

  These 'precepts of the elders', ueuetlatolli, made up a distinct section of literature, with its own manner and style. They show what the Aztecs thought of as conduct suitable in a well-bred man of their day. The ueuetlatolli preserved in its Nahuatl form by Father Olmos 25 recites at length and in great detail all the ways in which a young Mexican of the better sort was expected to conduct himself: how he was to behave to his superiors, his equals and his inferiors; how he was to revere his elders, show compassion for
the unfortunate, refrain from light words and in all circumstances be most scrupulously polite.

  These, for example, are the directions that must be followed if one were invited to have a meal at a great man's house. 'Take care how you go in (to the lord's house), for without your noticing it you will be watched. Come respectfully, bow and make your greeting. Do not make faces when you eat; do not eat noisily and without care, like a glutton; do not swallow too quickly, but little by little . . . If you drink water, do not make a noise, sucking it in: you are not a little dog. Do not use all your fingers when you eat, but only the three fingers of your right hand . . . Do not cough and do not spit; and take care not to dirty the clothes of any of the other guests.' 26

  This courtesy, which was formerly so firmly inculcated that even now the Indiana are exquisitely polite, was not only shown in gestures, attitudes and the meaning of the words, but even in the form of the language. Nahuatl, a subtle language, rich in resources, had respectful particles and even respectful conjugations. The suffix -tzin was added to the names of persons one wished to honour, to their titles and to any word at all to which one wished to give a shade of respect or tenderness: Motecuhzomatzin, the revered Motecuhzoma; totatzin, our honoured father; ixpopoyotzin, a blind person worthy of compassion. 27

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  When an honoured or beloved person was addressed, the verbs were conjugated with special suffixes. Tiyola means 'thou seest', but timoyolotia may be translated as 'your lordship sees'; timomati means 'thou thinkest', but timomatia 'thou art so kind as to think', 'thou condescendest to think'. Miqui is 'to die': miquilia 'to die honourably'. 28

  While it was generally thought suitable to retain a dignified, simple attitude, there were circumstances when, on the contrary, etiquette insisted upon a display of emotion. The bride who was about to leave her parents' home answered the speeches of the representatives of her husband's family 'with tears'. 29 Young traders beginning their career listened respectfully to the homilies of the old pochteca, and when they replied they wept copiously by way of showing their gratitude and humility. 30

  May not this cult of moderation in deeds and words, this dislike of excess and what the Greeks termed hubris, and the extreme importance of good breeding and civility be explained as a reaction against brutishness of manners and violence of passions? For this delicate flower of chivalry bloomed in a world which had, in the sixteenth century, barely emerged from a long period of wars, coups d'état, plots interspersed with assassinations, and treason.

  The generation for which the 'precepts of the elders' were meant was too young to have known these troubled times; but the vicissitudes, the insecurity and the bloody outbreaks which were characteristic of the days of Atzcapotzalco's hegemony and the beginning of the triple alliance were not forgotten. The great men of those times seemed to have been in the grip of savage, uncontrollable passions, shocking rages and lusts whose violence did not stop short of crime.

  The first Motecuhzoma (whose name 'he who grows angry [like a] lord' is revealing) had his own brother killed, the tlacateccatl Ueue Zacatzin, 31 in an access of rage over some trivial thing. The tyrant Tezozomoc and his son Maxtlaton sent their assassins to murder anyone who offended them, including Chimalpopoca, the unfortunate king of Tenochtitlan, and the king of Texcoco. 32 And even

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  the wise king Nezaualcoyotl of Texcoco himself committed a crime that was to shame his decendants, when, distracted by his love for the young Azcaxochitzin, he had her fiancé treacherously killed on the battlefield. 33

  These fifteenth-century Mexicans, as we see them reflected in their chronicles, were passionate, scheming and unscrupulous; they would stop at nothing to satisfy their desires or their lust for power. The survivors of this troubled time seem to have grown better behaved in their old age: the philosophic poems of the king Nezaualcoyotl, the expression of a serene and disillusioned mind and of an epicureanism whose wisdom was founded upon a knowledge of the vanity of the passing show, are perfectly characteristic of the period of reaction that follows one of upheaval and disruption.

  This attitude triumphed at the end of the fifteenth century and the beginning of the sixteenth, and the ideal of the civilised man succeeded that of the adventurer ready for anything; these violent beings were repressed, and a barrier was set up against the free play of instinct. After the cruellest trials, Mexico had succeeded in creating a pattern; and in this pattern, under the reign of the second Motecuhzoma, courtesy was an essential part.

  As the dynasties -- and particularly that of Tenochtitlan -grew stronger and chaos receded, this pattern or order took the form of monarchy and came to depend primarily on the person of the sovereign. However wide his powers, modified by those of the supreme council, they were never so great as his obligations. The kings of the allied cities, the lords of the self-ruling towns and of course above all the emperor of Mexico, were heavily burdened with duties. They were not only responsible for the conduct of the civil and military administration, but also for the welfare and even the life of the nation, for 'the abundance of fruits of the earth'. 34 They first had to ensure this by serving the gods devoutly; then they had to take all the necessary measures, such as preventing disasters or diminishing their effects, building up reserves, giving out victuals and clothing and 'showing their good-will to the common people'. 35 If they did not do

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  these things the people would murmur against them, and the emperor would feel his throne tremble. 36

  The official doctrine, which was expressed at length in the speeches at the time of the emperor's election, was that the ruler was chosen by the gods, that the burden of his office was terribly heavy, and that his primary function, after the service of the gods, was the defence of the people.

  'Lord,' they said to him, 'it is you who will now carry the weight and the burden of this state. The burden of government will be upon your back. It is upon your shoulders, in your lap and between your arms that our god has set the task of governing the people; and they are fickle and prompt to anger. It is you, lord, who for certain years are going to sustain this nation and care for it as if it were a child in a cradle . . . Consider, lord, that from now on you are to walk upon a very high place along a narrow path that has great precipices to the right and the left . . . Be mild in the use of your power; show neither teeth nor claws . . . Please the people and make them happy with games and decent amusements, for in doing this you will be famous and beloved . . . Your people are protected by your shade, for you are like the pochotl or the ahuehuetl which gives a great round shadow; and the multitudes are protected by your branches.' 37

  All the contemporary documents strongly emphasise this aspect of the ruler as protector. The pattern depends upon him; and in order that this pattern may be good, humane and in conformity with the needs of the people, the emperor must control his passions -- they left him in no doubt upon this point on the day of his election.

  'Say nothing, do nothing with too much haste; listen to those who complain to you or bring you news calmly and to the end . . . do not be partial; do not punish anybody without reason . . . upon the mats and the icpalli of lords and judges there should be neither passion nor haste in words or deeds; nothing should be done in the haste of anger . . . Never speak angrily to a man, nor terrify anyone with your ferocity. Lord, you must also take care never to speak lightly, for that would make your person despised . . .

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  you must now make your heart the heart of an old man, grave and severe . . . Do not give yourself up to women . . . Do not suppose, lord, that the mat and the icpalli of kings is a place of pleasure and delight; for on the contrary, it is one of great labour, sorrow and penance.' 38

  It was the sovereign who was to be the first to obey this law of moderation and to subdue his passions, for everything depended upon him. The enlightened despot was the ideal of the time, the philosopher-emperor able to command himself in order to govern for the good of all. The more or less historica
l or legendary anecdotes related in the chronicles are significant: they often concern Nezaualcoyotl who, having given up the adventures and the violent ways of his youth towards the end of his reign, appears as a kind of Haroun al Raschid: there are stories of him disguised as a simple hunter, listening to the grievances and complaints of the common peasants and then sending for them to the palace to give them splendid gifts.

  Or again he is shown overhearing from a balcony the words of a woodman who, sweating under his load, cried, 'The man who lives in this palace has everything he needs, while as for us, we are worn out, and we die of hunger.' The king had the woodman brought in, and having first advised him to take care of what he said, 'because walls have ears', he bade him 'think of the weight and the burden of business that he had to bear so as to protect, defend and justly maintain so great a realm', and at last he sent him away loaded with presents.

  'This king was so full of compassion for the poor that he commonly went up into a mirador which overlooked the market-place to watch the poor people who sold salt, wood and vegetables -- scarcely enough to make a living. And if he saw that these poor people did not sell their wares, he would not sit down to his meal until his major-domos had gone to buy all these things themselves to make presents of them to others. He was particularly careful to give food and clothing to the old, to the sick, to those wounded in war, to widows and to orphans, and in this way he spent a great part of the tribute he received.' 39