THE AZTECS 191 



ternately drawn. The Zotzils have been explained as a 

 bat clan because their name is associated with the word 

 for bat and because a bat god appears to have been their 

 patron deity. The Mazatecas and Mixtecas, Deer 

 people and Cloud people, also have clanlike names but 

 in all cases these are designations of entire tribes, not of 

 subdivisions of tribes. 



Tenochtitlan was divided into four quarters and each 

 quarter subdivided into a number of wards. An under 

 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 culti- 

 vated 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 



