THE AZTECS 187 
chief was elected from each of the subdivisions which are 
doubtless to be identified with the calpolli, and an over 
chief from each of the four quarters. Above these stood 
the war chief of the entire tribe who was likewise 
elected, but within the limits of a fixed aristocracy. A 
second great chief, who seems to have been a peace officer 
with some important relation to the priesthood, was 
nominally equal to the war chief, but practically much 
less powerful. The real center of the home government 
was a council made up of all the chiefs. In time of war 
the war chief was in supreme command and could either 
delegate his rights or act in person. Just how much the 
priesthood intervened in governmental affairs cannot be 
definitely put in words, but their power was doubtless 
great. Certain lands were cultivated in common for the 
officers of church and state and much of the tribute 
from conquered provinces was devoted to their needs. 
The Tecpan or Temple Enclosure. The cere- 
monial center of Tenochtitlan has been transformed 
into the civic center of Mexico City. The Cathedral, the 
National Palace, and the Zocolo, or Plaza Major, mark 
the site where once stood the famous Tecpan or temple 
enclosure. Within the serpent walls, according to 
Sahagun, there were twenty-five temple pyramids, five. 
oratories, sundry fasting houses, four bowl-shaped 
stones, one disk-shaped stone, a great stepped altar, a 
“star column,’ seven skull racks, two ball courts, two 
enclosed areas, a well, three bathing places, two cellar- 
like rooms, a dancing place, nine priest houses, a prison 
for the gods of conquered nations, arsenals, work 
places, ete. A native plan of the Tecpan, much sim- 
plified, occurs in the Sahagun manuscript. The great 
pyramid rose in several terraces and was surmounted 
by two temples each three stories in height, one dedi- 
