THE STRUCTURE OF CLASS AND CASTE 117
cathedral, the governor’s palacio, and other pub-
lic buildings. From this central square originated
long, wide, and straight streets that intersected to
produce uniform, rectangular blocks. This passion
for regularity refl ected both the infl uence of Re-
naissance neoclassical works on architecture and
the regulatory zeal of the crown. In sharp contrast
to the carefully planned nucleus of the colonial city
was the disorderly layout of the surrounding native
barrios, slum districts inhabited by a large native
and mestizo population that provided the Spanish
city with cheap labor and combustible material for
the riots that shook the cities in times of famine or
other troubles.
Into the capitals fl owed most of the wealth pro-
duced by the mines, plantations, and cattle ranches
of the surrounding area. In these cities, in houses
whose size and proximity to the center refl ected the
relative wealth and social position of their owners,
lived the rich mine owners and landowners of the
colonies. They displayed their wealth by the mag-
nifi cence of their homes, furnishings, dress, and car-
riages, and by the multitude of their servants and
slaves. By the end of the sixteenth century, Mexico
City had already acquired fame for the beauty of its
women, horses, and streets; the riches of its shops;
and the reckless spending, gaming, and generosity
of its aristocracy. The poet Bernardo de Balbuena,
in a long poem devoted to “La Grandeza Mexicana”
(“The Grandeur of Mexico City”), wrote of
That lavish giving of every ilk,
Without a care how great the cost
Of pearls, of gold, of silver, and of silk.
By the close of the seventeenth century, Mexico City
had a population estimated to number 200,000.
Lima, founded in 1534, proud capital of the
viceroyalty of Peru, and Potosí, the great Peruvian
mining center whose wealth became legendary,
were two other major colonial cities. By 1650,
when its wealth had already begun to decline, Po-
tosí, with a population of 160,000 inhabitants,
was the largest city in South America.
Before the eighteenth century, when changes
in government and manners brought a greater sta-
bility, violence was prevalent in the colonial city.This sixteenth-century portrait, painted by the indigenous artist Andres Sanchez
Gallque, depicts Don Francisco de Arobe, the black ruler of an Ecuadorian province,
who surrendered to Spanish forces in 1597. Within a decade, however, local rebellions
continued to challenge Spanish rule. [Museo América, Madrid. Primeros mulatos de Esmeraldas
by Adrián Sánchez Galque. Institut Amatller d’Art Hispànic, Barcelona #G/-60557]