Observations placeholder

Ixtlilxochitl – Historia Chichimeca   [quoted in The Daily Life of the Aztecs – Jacques Soustelle ]

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…….

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 more or less historical 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  Haioun al Raschid:

'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.