The tlatoani was the head of the Aztec government. As the empire grew, the tlatoani needed more people to make the government function. These officials were chosen by the tlatoani and reported directly to him.
Officials were public servants, much as governors, mayors, generals, and senators are today. The Aztecs expected such officials to meet high standards. They had to be loyal, honest, and morally superior. Any public official who was dishonest was punished.
Historian Jacques Soustelle writes (in Daily Life of the Aztecs), “ [T]he laws and customs were terribly severe: woe to the drunken judge, the over accommodating judge; woe to the dishonest civil servant. The sentence of the king of Texcoco was always quoted as an example—he, hearing that one of his judges had favoured a noble against a macehu-alli, had the unrighteous justice hanged. If the power was very great, the duties were very heavy.”
Being a government official offered great rewards but made even greater demands. Usually, high officials were landowners who often
Had property in several areas. They spent much of their time traveling between estates. In the meantime, the work of the estate had to be done. Trusted stewards, or top aides, made sure an estate was productive while the owner worked as an officer of the courts, judge, tax collector, or military leader. The owner might also be an ambassador to another city-state or a schoolteacher. The demands of public service were heavy, particularly for a judge, who might have to oversee the execution of a convicted criminal or sit in a court session that lasted up to 10 or 12 hours.
Women in Government
The Aztecs of Tenochtit-lan and Tlatelolco never had women as rulers.
But in some towns in the Valley of Mexico, women could hold positions of power. In Chalco, a woman named Xiuhtoz-tzin (r. 1340-1348) had the title of queen. Tezozo-moc's grandmother was also said to have ruled as a queen. Women could also play a part in royal succession, or the passing of power from parent to child. Motecuhzoma Ilhuicamina's daughter Atotoztli (dates unknown) was the family link between that tlatoani and the next, Atotoztli's son Axayacatl.
The primary jobs of a government official were overseeing the planting and harvests, and collecting taxes and tribute. The main tax collector was the calpixqui, who might have been little more than a trained servant. The calpixque (plural form) reviewed the economy and agriculture of the district for which they were responsible.
Calpixque lived in the main town or district that they looked after. They kept track of how productive agriculture was, noting problems such as drought or insects. The calpixque also noted any trade with outside groups and any increased income or surpluses in products produced in the town. If the area needed a new public building, better roads, or slaves to care for public facilities, a calpixqui was responsible for making sure these things happened. If there was a famine, a calpixqui sent a message to the tlatoani. In turn, the tlatoani might say the town did not have to pay tribute that season or the town could draw on the tlatoani’s stores of dried maize for food.
The calpixqui hired scribes to keep up with the amount of work involved in their jobs. Scribes kept records of the current events in the town, the taxes owed and paid, and other public activities.
World History
