98 UNIT 1 PREHISPANIC MESOAMERICA
Box 2.3 The Application of Aztec Law to the Crime of AdulteryThe Aztecs placed great emphasis on criminal laws because these were essential to maintaing
the social order. According to a detailed analysis by Offner (1983:260ff), adultery was considered
a serious crime, and in most cases it resulted in the penalty of death. Factors considered by the
judges in such cases included whether the guilty parties were commoners or lords, whether the
evidence was direct or indirect, whether the initiator of the proceeding was a man or woman, or
whether the adulterer was military rather than civilian.
The actual sanctions applied depended on the preceding factors. With the exception of
soldiers, all the guilty were executed, but the manner of their execution—whether by stoning,
strangulation, burning, or crushing the head with stones, etc.—depended upon the degree of
disgrace involved. The punishment for soldiers took the form of their being sent to an active war
front.the approval of the rulers of the Texcoco and Tlacopan, as well as rulers from other
city-states under the authority of the confederated empire. Then, in A.D. 1503, Mote-
cuhzoma II was selected supreme Tlatoani (huehuetlatoani) without participation by
the other rulers. He thus became the “monarch” of an Aztec empire that represented
“the beginnings of a new, higher level of political and social control and integration”
Smith (2003:157). A greatly enlarged bureaucracy numbering in the thousands was
created and was restricted almost exclusively to persons of noble status. Control over
subject city-states by the Aztec empire was tightened in order to boost tribute pay-
ments needed to support the enlarged bureaucracy and to ensure that regional mar-
kets would provide the strategic commodities demanded by rulers in the imperial
center. As part of these political “reforms,” subject city-states outside the central basin
were organized into “tributary provinces” with the express purpose of improving
tribute collection. By 1519, fifty-five provinces of this type had been organized
(Berdan et al. 1996). In addition, as a response to the threats from other imperial
powers that the Aztec imperialists were unable to defeat in warfare (especially the
Tarascans and Tlaxcalans), “client states” were established along the frontier zones
with these competitors. The client states were freed from paying tributes, instead
providing such services as “low-intensity” warfare against enemy peoples and sup-
plying Aztec garrisons located along the disputed borders with personnel.Aztec Religion. Some scholars claim that what made the Aztec political economy
effective was an ideology that tied the ancient religious traditions of Mesoamerica to
the expansionist strategies of the emerging city-states and empires (Conrad and
Demarest 1984). This ideology was created by the first leaders of the empire, such as
Itzcoatl and Tlacaelel, who in A.D. 1428 burned the ancient books in order to erase
the memory of the past and begin to reorganize Central Mexican myth, ritual, and
history. They “rationalized” the entire religious system, making it more supportive of
the new political order. While the modifications were designed primarily to
legitimize the authority and tributary rights of the new more authoritarian leaders,