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battle and later sacrificed. After four years in ilhuicac they were transformed into birds and butterflies and returned to earth.
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Captives taken to Tenochtitlan were distributed among the wards. Each calpolli guarded and maintained a certain number, with the ward heads taking charge and honoring each of the captives as a god.70 But not all captives were treated the same: noble captives were disposed of by the king as he desired; captive military leaders belonged to the victorious military leaders; and the rest belong to their individual captors.71 Commoners made up the bulk of the captives, but not all of them could have counted for martial purposes.72 All captives were important for displays of power and for ritual sacrifice, but only the combatants were important for status elevation.73 |
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While the above situation was typical, anomalies did occur in Aztec conquests. In some cases wars were successfully fought without captives being taken. In the campaign against the southern Pacific coast towns, for example, King Ahuitzotl told the warriors to kill everyone and take no captives, because the battle was too far from home.74 At other times the army was ordered not to kill any of the captives at the battle site but to bring them all back to Tenochtitlan.75 Aside from the religious purpose for taking captives76such as the sacrifice of captives, called xipemeh and tototectin77and their status purposes, they were needed for political reasons, such as the coronation of a new king.78 After his election the new king had to display his martial prowess by conquering cities and securing captives.79 |
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The way captives were sacrificed varied widely, depending on the class of the captive, who had captured him, and the ceremony being celebrated. There were regular events such as the festivals held at the beginning of each month, and examples abound of sacrifices on these ritual days. For instance, captives were sacrificed at the feast to Huitzilopochtli.80 During the festival of Tititl war captives were sacrificed following two days and nights of dancing.81 Captives were also sacrificed to the gods Macuilxochitl and Xochipilli.82 Tlacaxipehualiztli was a major sacrificial festival during which Xipe ToTec was honored by the sacrifice of prisoners, and even the enemy kings were invited to witness this event.83 In Tlaxcallan, during the festival of Coailhuitl (which corresponded to Tlacaxipehualiztli in Tenochti- |
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