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Fig. 1.
Detail from bench in the House of the Eagle Warriors, Templo Mayor.
(Courtesy of the Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, Mexico) |
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bulk of the army was made up of commoners who were sent into battle as auxiliaries and had little hope of achieving martial fame in any case. |
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If a youth showed courage on the battlefield, he might be admitted to the company of the warriors.
40 Rank was achieved primarily by the taking of captives, and it was reflected in one's dress (see fig. 2). For valiant deeds in battle, warriorsboth nobles and commonerswere given great honors, rewards, arms, and insignia, as merited.41 |
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When a youth took a captive without any assistance, he became a leading youth (telpochyahqui) and a captor (tlamani), and was taken before the king. There his face was painted with red ochre, the king's calpixqueh (tribute collectors; sing. calpixqui) anointed his temples with yellow ochre, and the king gave him warrior's garb to be worn in peacetime.42 Accounts of this clothing differ. Sahagún43 reports that the young warrior was given an orange cape with a striped border and scorpion design and two breech clouts, one carmine-colored with long ends, and the other of many colors. The Codex Mendoza44 reports the clothing as consisting of a mantle with a flower design, called a tiyahcauhtlatquitl, or ''brave man's equipment.'' In either |
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