Institutions and society.
Kings and other lofty figures
The Mexica state was headed by the
(huey) tlatoani, the (Great) Speaker. Myself, I like to translate it as 'king' (because that's what he was), but he's often called a 'Speaker' or 'Revered Speaker', or 'emperor', or simply 'tlatoani'.
For amateurs of American languages,
tlatoani or rather
tlahtoāni is a verb form, the third person singular habitual of ihtoā, 'say'. An excessively literal translation would be 'he habitually says things'. In other words, he's the one giving the orders.
His second-in-command was called the
cihuacoatl ([siwa:ˈko.waːt͡ɬ]), literally, 'Female Snake', named after the goddess Cihuacoatl. The cihuacoatl was a kind of co-ruler, a very powerful figure substituting for the king when he was otherwise engaged; he tended to focus more on internal affairs whereas the king focused on foreign policy.
The office of cihuacoatl was either a Mexica innovation, or a very minor position in other cities. The first cihuacoatl of the Mexica (the first we know about, in any case) was Tlacaelel, the half-brother of Moctezuma I (not the one you know about, but his illustrious grandfather). A formidable figure, the creator of many institutions, he lived to approximately 90 and served three successive kings.
Immediately below were the
tlacochcalcatl 'the man from the house of darts',
tlaccatecatl ('commander of warriors') and two other officials. Those four high-ranking officials were basically general officers. They served as general staff, and a bit more than that: candidate to the royal succession had to hold one of these four offices.
The king was advised by his regular staff, and also by the
Tlatocan ('speaking place'), the royal council to which belonged the most prominent officials including the high priests. Initally elected, council members were either co-opted or named by the king. The Tlatocan had to be consulted before all important decisions, and could veto royal decisions up to three times. (If a proposal was rejected a fourth time, the king could do as he pleased.)
(In Texcoco, by contrast, the king was assisted by four councils: the War Council, the Law Council, the Treasury Council and the Music Council)
Succession
Kingship was hereditary, but it didn't necessarily pass from father to son. In fact, often enough, the heir was a brother or nephew.
The king was, in fact, elected (for life) within the descendants of former kings. As kings practiced polygamy, there was no shortage of candidates: to take just one example, Moctezuma II's father, Axayacatl, had some fifty children by wives and concubines, and he was only 31 when he died.
Kings were elected by what I'd call the stakeholders in the empire: the highest officials, the cihuacoatl, the kings of Texcoco and Tlacopan, high-ranking priests, representatives for the military and city districts. (Supposedly the process was more democratic in earlier times, when kings were elected by the entire military.)
The future king had to be on the four-members 'general staff' so in effect, the king designated his heir by granting him the title of tlacochcalcatl or tlaccatecatl.
So the election was for show, pretty much, although the cihuacoatl Tlacaelel and Nezahualcoyotl, king of Texcoco and half-legendary figure were instrumental in choosing the Mexica king during their lifetime.
We have an idea of what was expected of the king: to act in a noble and humble fashion, to protect the poor and the weak, to be a competent poet, and, of course, to be strong militarily and expand the alliance. More pragmatically, he had to be old enough to have distinguished himself in battle, but not so old that his reign would risk being cut short.
Before and after the election, he spent much time in prayer, fasted, and offered his blood in sacrifice to the gods. Insigns of royalty included a turquoise diadem and a jade labret piercing. Finally, the succession wasn't quite complete until the new king had won a military campaign. (Moctezuma suppressed rebellions in the Oaxaca valley).
As we've seen, the king was held in a high standard. We don't quite know what happened to Tizoc, the one king to fall short of these standards, but he was probably assassinated. (A high priest asked the god Tezcatlipoca to make him die, citing his drunkenness, stupidity, and his refusal to take advice. It should be noted Tizoc was the only king not to make any significant conquests).
The same principle of succession within a dynasty applied to the cihuacoatl: they were chosen among the descendants of Tlacaelel.
The nobility
As was common in Mesoamerica, the Mexica enforced a sharp distinction between the nobles and the commoners. The nobles, or
pipiltin (sing
pilli < 'children').
They had quite a few privileges, such having their children educated in a calmecac (a religious college), entering the imperial palace, having two-story houses, owning property. They were entitled to a share of the tribute. They, themselves had to pay tribute to the emperor (a fact that took centuries to discover: when asked about customs by their new Spanish rulers, they had naturally insisted that they had never paid taxes).
Until Moctezuma II, there was an element of meritocracy in Mexica society, as commoners could be elevated to the nobility, or serve as imperial officials. Moctezuma II eliminated most of his predecessors' civil servants, and decreed that only nobles could serve as officials from then on.
The military
The military included, in theory, most of the male population. The ideal Mexica, much like the ideal Roman, was a farmer and a soldier. It's not very clear (to me, at least) how many actually served; it's likely the Mexica never mobilized the entire population once they became an imperial power.
Young soldiers grew a long lock of hair, which would be cut off when they caught their first prisoner. Catching a set number of prisoners allowed entry in one of the military orders. Eagles and Jaguars were honorary nobles, at least until Moctezuma II abolished the orders (or restricted them to the hereditary nobility).
In any case, the family of a mobilized soldier, while waiting for his safe return, abstained from washing, fasted and drew their own blood. Dying on the battlefield earned a soldier a choice spot in the afterlife, accompanying the morning sun, and spending the rest of the time as hummingbirds (or may reincarnated as hummingbirds after four years; accounts differ). The dead were mourned by their widows and families for eighty days, with fasting and mortification.
There's a lesson for conworlders here, I think: the faceless mook of the Evil Empire and the Proud Warrior Race Guy (to use TV Tropes, erm, tropes) probably has a tidy little farm back home, where he grows the flowers he loves so much. His loved ones are anxiously awaiting his return, and will long mourn him if he doesn't come back. Maybe he aspires to become a carefree hummingbird, feeding from the nectar of pretty flowers.
Traders
The
pochteca were long distance traders, a very lucrative profession. Pochteca were allowed to get extremely rich, on the condition that they do not flout their wealth: it would have been unseemly to have mere merchants appear wealthy: riches and glory had to be gained on the battlefield. There was a fine line between a trading expedition and a military expedition: that sort of long distance trade was extremely dangerous. Besides, pochteca practiced a kind of shadow diplomacy, they were key to the empire's 'soft power', and often served as spies. Attacking a Mexica trading expedition was grounds for war and indeed, one of the most commonly used pretexts.
Kings, naturally, sought good relations with the pochteca. Moctezuma II, unyielding, strict, and an annoying killjoy in most respects scolded them for flouting their wealth too much, but coated the reprimand with reassurances that he loved them, and that they were his brothers.
Much of their wealth was spent in incredible banquets, where successful traders spared no expense in impressing their fellows and sometimes a
pochtecatl had to sell himself to slavery after hosting too lavish a party.
In other words, they held potlatches. (Generally speaking, holding a potlatch was what a Mexica did when he met with success.)
These parties were held discreetly behind closed doors, of course, but nobles, officials, even the king weren't above attending them.
The pochteca had to pay tribute, but were otherwise exempt from military and corvée labor duty. Pocheteca inherited their position from their fathers.
Craftsmen
Craftsmen, at least those in the most prestigious trades, were called
Tolteca, 'Toltecs', the name of an earlier culture, which we could translate as 'civilized'. There were somehow apart from the rest of Mexica society; many of them came from other cities, and several 'corporations' were headquarted at the Toltec city of Cholula, others were associated with Xochimilco. The feather workers believed themselves to be the oldest inhabitants of the Valley of Mexico.
Commoners
The commoners or
macehualtin had to pay tribute and to provide corvee labor on public works; and as we've seen they also owed military services. In exchange, they would receive gifts from lords and kings on special occasion, and the king would distribute food in bad years.
Tlalmai
The
tlalmai 'earth-hands' (that is to say, farm hands) were commoners owing duty to a noble, not unlike serfs. Their origin is obscure.
Slaves
The
tlatlacotin were slaves, or indentured servants. They were, on the whole, better treated than in other pre-modern civilizations. You see, the most powerful and most unpredictable god Tezcatlipoca sometimes liked to side with the underdog for shits and giggles. So Tezcatlipoca was the protector of slaves, his 'beloved sons'. And you don't want to anger Tezcatlipoca.
Only disobedient slaves could be sold; after being resold three times they could be bought for human sacrifices.
People became slaves as a punishment, others sold themselves or their children into slavery. The children of slaves were born free.
Priests
The Mexica certainly had no shortage of priests: by the time of the Conquest, one Tenocha male out of five was a priest. In spite of this, Tenochtitlan was not a theocracy. The king and military were firmly in charge, and the priests were civil servants. (They had a role in electing the emperor, and there's of course that strange business with Tizoc).
In the remote countryside, the priesthood was somehow confused with sorcerers, healers,
nanahualtin (shapeshifters who can transform into dogs, jaguars or, for the unlucky ones, turkeys) and other occultists. In the city, there was a hierarchy of 'parish priests' (often working part-time), novices and priests. The most common title was
tlamacazqui 'giver, someone who offers'. They were often called
papahuaque 'hairy ones' on account of their long hair. The conquistadors understood this as 'papas', 'Popes'.
The top ranking priests were the
Quetzalcoatl Totec tlamacazqui, 'Feathered Serpent priest of Our Lord', the high priest of Huitzilopochtli and the
Quetzalcoatl Tlaloc tlamacazqui, 'Feathered Serpend priest of Tlaloc' the high priest of Tlaloc They lived an ascetic life, with frequent fasts, mortifications and penances. The clergy was celibate (and breaking that rule carried the death penalty) except for the 'part time priests', who marely had to fast and abstain from sex while they were serving, and perhaps the high priests. They could leave the priesthood at any time to marry.
There were priestesses, too, who took on, pretty much, the role of nuns. Usually, they took up the priesthood while waiting for marriage.
Their appearance was quite disturbing, part-horrific, part-emo, to the point that I have to swear solemnly that I am not making this up. Due to the frequent fasts and penances, they were skeletal in appearance, with long dirty hair, covered in blood (not always their own), generally dirty (penances meant they almost never could get a bath), and "painted" themselves black, with dirt or with rubber. A tongue piercing was part of their attire.
(*sigh* I'd never get away with anything so caricatural for my own conworld)
Much of the penance consisted in offering their own blood to the gods. To that effect, they made deep cuts in their ears -- so their long hair wasn't just dirty, it was soaked in blood -- but also on their hands, legs and genitalia. The 'tongue piercing' was used to draw blood: indeed in Mexica writing, the glyph for 'priest' is a man bleeding from the tongue. Another form of service to the gods was pushing sticks through that hole in the tongue. At certain ceremonies, the most experienced priests pushed 400 sticks through their tongues. The newbies could limit themselves to a mere 200.
Anyone could become a priest, it was perhaps the only profession judged on aptitude alone (For the lowest ranks, I mean. I suppose the high priests had political connections). Among their duties, they also taught in the calmecac.
That was a bit longer than expected, and I'm not done yet.
Next time, I'll talk about education (spoilers: it was pretty nasty). Other horrors to come: the Mexica weren't just cannibals, they were also
socialists and believed in common ownership of the means of production. Did their pagan lawlessness know no limits?
