Daily Life of the Aztecs

by Soustelle, Jacques

• ISBN13: 9780486424859
• ISBN10: 0486424855
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2011-12-28
• Publisher: Dover Publications

Summary

Vivid account of a profoundly religious warrior society from its most primitive days to the eve of the Spanish conquest in the early 16th century. Detailed accounts of life in a city-state, religious beliefs, public buildings and markets, home furnishings, family life, the conduct of war, language, music, much more. 39 illustrations, 2 maps.

Table of Contents

Introduction	xiii
The City	1	(35)
Origin and situation
Extent and population
General appearance: roads and traffic
Public buildings, squares and market-places
The problems of a great city
Tenochtitlan as a young capital
Society and the State at the Beginning of the Sixteenth Century	36	(59)
The ruling class
The rising class of traders
The craftsmen
The common people
The slaves
Wealth and poverty: standards of living
The sovereign, the great dignitaries, the council
The World, Man and Time	95	(25)
A shifting, threatened world
Heaven and earth
Death and rebirth
Destinies and signs
An imperial religion
A Mexican's Day	120	(43)
The house, furniture and garden
Getting up, washing and dressing, clothes
Business, work, ceremonies
Meals
Games and amusements
The rhythm of day and night
From Birth to Death	163	(40)
Baptism
Childhood and youth, education
Marriage: family life
Sickness and old age
Death and the hereafter
War	203	(13)
The meaning of war
Casus belli
Chivalry
Conduct of war
Negotiations for peace
Civilised Life	216	(29)
Barbarism and civilisation
Self-control, good breeding, social order
The arts as a setting for life
The arts of language, music and dancing
Appendix I The pronunciation of Aztec words	245	(1)
Appendix II The eighteen months and the rites	246	(2)
Notes	248	(50)
Maps	298	(4)
Bibliography	302	(3)
Index	305