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00:00The 8th of November, 1519.
00:15In a magnificent city, surrounded by water, an all-powerful Aztec ruler prepares to meet a man like no one he's ever seen before.
00:30Imagine, in your mind, blue sky, beautiful weather, sunlight glittering on the lake.
00:40And these basically visitors from Mars advance across the causeway.
00:46These are the Spaniards.
00:49They wear unfamiliar clothes and carry strange weapons.
00:54The first meeting between Cortez and Moctezuma is one of the great moments in human history.
01:03This is the moment when the two halves of humanity come together.
01:10Old world meets new.
01:16Changing forever the course of history.
01:19One, a formidable ruler who has been dominating his world for 20 years.
01:27The other, one of the most ruthless, effective, brilliant, brutal opportunists in world history.
01:35This fateful meeting will expose fault lines at the heart of the Aztec Empire.
01:47A harsh regime fueling resentment.
01:51And a fatal weakness in the face of an invisible killer.
02:14Ancient Egypt.
02:18The Roman Empire.
02:19The Aztecs of Mexico.
02:27And the Samurai of Japan.
02:33Four great civilizations.
02:36Each a pinnacle of human ingenuity and achievement.
02:40Each lasted for centuries.
02:43Their people thought they would endure forever.
02:50Until suddenly...
02:53Everything changed.
02:59These civilizations faced challenges that are all too familiar today.
03:04Climate catastrophe.
03:09Climate catastrophe.
03:14Pandemic.
03:15War.
03:16War, challenges for which ancient societies had few solutions.
03:35But what if there was a place that had the answers to what went wrong?
03:40A place full of secrets and stories.
03:44A repository of memory stretching back through time.
03:52The British Museum, home to more than 8 million artefacts, is a record of how and why the greatest
04:01civilisations rose to power and then spectacularly fell.
04:09Its treasures are the human traces that survived disaster.
04:15But might they also hold lessons for our own future?
04:21Every civilisation throughout history has had an expiry date.
04:27With great societies, the seeds of their destruction are sown within the society.
04:34They're already there.
04:36No civilisation ever thinks it's going to fall.
04:41But the question is, what can we learn from the past?
04:45In the shadow of volcanoes.
04:53In the shadow of volcanoes, on an island in the middle of a vast lake, the city of Tenochtitlan
05:16Tenochtitlan is home to around 200,000 people.
05:24It is the dazzling jewel at the heart of the mighty Aztec Empire.
05:33Stretching from coast to coast across what is modern-day Mexico, its territory covers over
05:4077,000 square miles.
05:47Tenochtitlan is far more advanced than most European cities of this age.
05:53Five times the size of Henry VIII's London.
05:57Tenochtitlan is not like an old medieval European city.
06:03It was planned in the form of a grid, rather like Manhattan is today.
06:11The city is green and lush.
06:14Fertile water gardens produce multiple crops each year.
06:20This civilisation created the technology in order to use this water and also to construct
06:29fields on the water and these people is possible to sow corn, to sow beans, to sow tomatoes on
06:38these fields.
06:42You have all kinds of foods, chilies, peppers.
06:48You can buy fish pre-wrapped in a maize leaf so you can kind of take away your dinner if you'd
06:55like.
06:56They have huge kind of seething markets where tens of thousands of people go shopping every
07:03day.
07:04This city is teeming with life.
07:07There are priests and soldiers, weavers, traders.
07:11The city is overwhelming in its colours and its smells and the sort of, the atmosphere
07:17of excitement and bustle.
07:19Much of what we know of this civilisation and the clues to its catastrophic collapse lie
07:38in a remarkable set of books that survived from that time, written by the Aztecs themselves.
07:45We have hundreds and hundreds of pages in the Aztec language, they're called the codices.
07:52Today, we can look at the beautiful images and the alphabetic writing and learn a great
08:14deal about their political history, their religious beliefs.
08:21The Aztecs have a very long tradition of writing.
08:28This is my mother tongue.
08:31And this is the language that my parents transmitted to me in the 20th century.
08:43I feel very proud to find a very strong legacy in the history of the Aztec society.
08:50You're hearing things that were said, performances that were given, prayers that were uttered.
08:59It's really quite extraordinary.
09:01The picture that emerges from these manuscripts is of a community bound together by a level
09:10of equality, very unlike Europe at the time.
09:15Aztec society is incredibly progressive.
09:20You have institutional education for boys and girls.
09:26They instill the children with an understanding of being part of that Aztec machine.
09:33Men and women have very specific and very different roles, but both are regarded as equally essential
09:39to the successful perpetuation of their culture.
09:45The Empire and its five million inhabitants are under the control of a single, all-powerful ruler.
10:06The Empire and its five million inhabitants are only two thousand people.
10:09The Empire.
10:11The Haifa and its five million inhabitants have created a unique zakat to the Uyghese.
10:12The Empire.
10:13Moctezuma was a man in his early forties.
10:16He had been emperor for seventeen years and a very successful one.
10:19His name Moctezuma means frowns like a lord.
10:22So presumably, he was high-handed and had a temper.
10:25Moctezuma became ruler after the death of his uncle.
10:33He did not inherit the throne. He was chosen.
10:38The Aztecs are so interested in who's going to do a good job
10:41that that takes over from who is the closest relative.
10:48Moctezuma looks like a good bet as ruler.
10:50He is a brilliant, effective warrior.
10:53There's good evidence that he himself went out into the field
10:59and led armies and was a successful general.
11:05However, in private, Moctezuma appears to be an emperor
11:09who likes to sit in Tenochtitlan and read books
11:12and learn about his empire.
11:16He is intelligent and he has a thirst for knowledge.
11:20Moctezuma believes in his own ability
11:24to understand and control the world around him.
11:30His people revere him as a demigod.
11:34But soon he will face a challenge
11:37for which he is completely unprepared.
11:40The End
11:541,500 miles away, on the island of Cuba, a Spanish adventurer is plotting a bold expedition.
12:19His name is Hernán Cortés.
12:24The single most important thing about Hernán Cortés is that he is a nobody.
12:30He was born in 1485 in Extremadura, a kind of scrubby frontier bit of Spain.
12:37He could have stayed in Spain, but he's clearly very ambitious.
12:47It has been nearly 30 years since the arrival of Christopher Columbus in the Americas.
12:53Since then, Spanish explorers, mercenaries and merchants have been travelling to the Caribbean in their thousands, looking for land, gold and glory.
13:07They are known as conquistadors.
13:13Everyone who's going to the new world is going to seek their fortune.
13:23It's the American dream.
13:25It's the idea of anyone can go and make something of themselves.
13:30They're a bit like venture capitalists investing in tech.
13:37They're looking for the next frontier, the next big thing.
13:41ért해서...
13:45Cortés, growing up in Spain, saw ships laden with treasure arriving from the New World.
13:53He followed the lure and joined the ranks of the conquistadors.
13:58Cortez wants money, and gold, and probably also fame and recognition.
14:09Cortez is a narcissist.
14:13He's possibly a sociopath.
14:16He's a clever guy, but he's an awful person.
14:20Cortez will sacrifice friendships and betray his colleagues in order to get what he wants.
14:30Arguably, Cortez is kind of a monster.
14:38Cortez has set his sights on the mainland to the west.
14:43A previous expedition has explored its coast and brought back tales of a mysterious kingdom beyond.
14:51Said to be laden with gold.
14:54He starts drumming up support and gathering men, promising them great wealth if they come with him.
15:04Cortez is often described as a very Machiavellian kind of character, very manipulative.
15:12He's highly ambitious.
15:15Leading 11 ships and some 500 men, Cortez's thirst for gold is about to take him into the unknown, and into the heart of the most powerful warrior culture in the Americas.
15:32Do Cortez and any of his men have any sense of Tenochtitlan, of the Aztec Empire, of the extraordinary power of this civilization?
15:41I think the answer is clearly no.
15:42Let's go.
15:43Let's go.
15:44Let's go.
15:45Let's go.
15:46Let's go.
15:47Throughout his rule, Moctezuma has ruthlessly expanded his empire, backed by an army of
16:04some 200,000 warriors. Inspired by the ferocious power of the apex predators that hunt in the
16:16wilds of the Aztec world. Everything in nature, whether it be animals or mountains or plants
16:27or trees, is seen as part of their worldview. They feel that there are strong spiritual
16:33bonds there. Aztec warriors even dress as the animals whose primal violence they seek to
16:41harness. Eagle and jaguar warriors were the two highest orders in the Aztec army. They
16:50symbolise bravery, proximity to power and to creation. The Aztecs aren't just a fearsome
17:01military culture. Their religious beliefs also lead them to practice a terrifying ritual.
17:08It's hard to get away from sacrifice when it comes to the Aztecs.
17:18The popular image of Aztec culture is basically they love a sacrifice. They love nothing more
17:25than plunging a knife, ripping out your car and holding it up to a baying mob. Everybody's
17:33covered in blood. But it's not how the Aztecs behave. They almost certainly saw these as
17:40very serious kind of religious rituals.
17:47This knife clearly is an incredible symbolic object. Knives like this are often used as part of ritual offerings.
17:54The blade is crafted from razor sharp flint, the handle carved in wood. The
18:21handle carved in wood. Then decorated in mother-of-pearl, turquoise and malachite. To depict one of the most
18:32formidable of all Aztec fighters. The eagle warrior. The black patches at the tips of the eagle's wings, those
18:42are singeing from the sun. Because supposedly they were the animals that stood the closest to the sun at its creation.
18:49The Aztecs see it as their duty to uphold the balance of the cosmos. To achieve this, they must feed the sun and the earth with blood.
19:04The most common ritual sacrifice takes place on top of the temple pyramid. Four priests would stretch
19:19the arms and legs of the person backwards over a pointed stone. They stretch the arms of the victim backwards.
19:28And then a fifth priest removes the heart from the ribcage which is extended.
19:35And the heart is given to the gods.
19:39Human sacrifice also allows Moctezuma to rule his empire with absolute authority.
19:59This isn't just about saying, look how many people will die. It's about saying, look how powerful our gods are.
20:06It's about Moctezuma being at the heart of that power and being the figure around which the cosmos is swirling.
20:13He is the man who has to hold all those forces in balance. And that is a big statement about power.
20:21The Aztecs wanted to frighten people. Human sacrifice became a weapon in their war against others.
20:28For now, Moctezuma is terrifying his enemies into submission. But he is about to face an entirely new kind of opponent.
20:40his enemies into his enemies into war against others.
20:58Two months after setting out from Cuba, the Conquistador Hernan Cortes reaches the coastline of the Aztec Empire.
21:06empire. When the Spaniards first arrived on the coast of the Gulf of Mexico, their expedition
21:15is being watched. It's the first time that the Aztec people are observing strange people.
21:26Their skin was more or less white. They were using swords riding horses. These animals
21:38were not known in central Mexico. They have ships that are large. They have different clothing
21:48and weaponry. They are hairier, smellier, and the Spaniards seem and are grubby.
22:02Moctezuma's spies are watching, and he soon hears reports of the strange new arrivals.
22:14He could crush the Spaniards, but he chooses to let them live.
22:22Moctezuma is curious, and he wants to see them. If an alien spaceship landed and aliens looked
22:31human, got out and walked around, your first instinct wouldn't be, we must immediately kill
22:36them. You'd want to talk to them and find out where they've come from. He cannot possibly
22:43think that they pose a threat to his life or to the survival of his empire.
22:50Moctezuma sends a message to the newcomers intended to show his strength, but it's a message that
22:57that will be misread with tragic consequences. He dispatches a gift of gold.
23:09The Aztecs had a special name for gold, which was the excrement of the gods, something so precious and so beautiful that only gods could do.
23:38A few items made of gold from the Aztec world still exist.
23:55Few items made of gold from the Aztec world still exist.
23:59We often hear the Aztecs prefer turquoise, but this is really not true.
24:11Once they discover the beauty, they go crazy with gold.
24:17We see the Aztecs being in a way like nouveau riche that has acquired wealth suddenly and is showing it off.
24:29It's the equivalent to a Rolex watch.
24:32For the Aztecs, gold is not just valuable, it is sacred.
24:43A sign of the presence of gods on earth and through intricate craftsmanship, a way to harness supernatural forces.
24:53This ring is depicting a jaguar, the most powerful feline in the Americas.
25:06This could have been worn by a noble or a priest or a distinguished warrior.
25:13So it's a symbol really of power and it's a symbol of strength.
25:27Moctezuma's gift of gold is extremely valuable to the Aztecs, but it is not meant as a welcome.
25:35I would read that as a display of power or else a grand display.
25:43Look how rich I am. I can give you all of these things.
25:45So you should go away.
25:47The Spanish, of course, see it as a submission.
25:50Oh, he's he's agreed that you'll give us all these gifts.
25:53And so we're going to be in charge.
25:57Moctezuma believes he's shown his strength.
26:00What he fails to realize is that he has just made Cortez more determined than ever.
26:09It is a catastrophic mistake.
26:30Moctezuma believes he's shown his strength.
26:35Four months later, Cortez and his men are forging a path inland,
26:42up through the lowland jungle.
26:46They are beginning to understand that to get their gold,
26:49they will have to take on a vast warrior empire.
26:52But then Cortez discovers a weakness that he can exploit.
27:03There are plenty of people who've been suppressed by the Aztecs,
27:06who might want to take advantage of the arrival of a new power player in the territory.
27:13There is a simmering resentment against Moctezuma.
27:16The source of this resentment is encoded in a remarkable object from the Aztec world.
27:39This is a human existence that has been transformed into a work of art.
27:46This is a human skull.
28:01Beneath a layer of precious stones is a human skull.
28:09We call it the decorated skull.
28:13But it's not a decorated skull.
28:15It's a power object.
28:20Its mosaic covering is of dazzling turquoise, black lignite and red oyster shell.
28:29Precious materials Moctezuma demands from the wider Aztec empire.
28:36Part of a harsh system of taxation imposed on his subjects.
28:40The city of Tenochtitlan is a parasite on other territories.
28:47So tribute can encompass everything from raw materials and currency, so things like gold and cacao and cotton,
28:55The richly decorated skull attached to a deerskin belt was designed to be worn by an Aztec warrior strapped to his back to strike all into those that followed.
29:09The idea that this skull mask could be attached to the body, the idea that this skull mask could be attached to the body, looking behind you as you move forward as a priest or a warrior, that in some senses here is this object that talks about the overcoming of death.
29:37I can imagine the warrior going into battle wearing this thing, somehow feeling invincible,
29:49protected, being reinforced in their own inner potency.
29:54The decorated skull, built from cruel tribute, is a symbol of Aztec domination.
30:06But it also holds a warning for Emperor Moctezuma.
30:09The danger for him is that there will be some people who think, God, you know, the Aztecs are very overbearing.
30:16This guy Moctezuma, you know, he's a real menace, like I can't wait to see the back of him.
30:21And that, of course, means that there are people who, if a new group entered the arena, would be very keen to ally with them against Moctezuma.
30:30It's a curse often to be in a position of power.
30:37You are in a position that is incredibly precarious.
30:41In the case of the Aztec Empire, it was even worse because this was an empire that was recently built upon conquest of multiple different groups and ethnicities.
30:48It was bloated, overtaxed, unequal, and fragile.
31:03Cortez and his men press on.
31:07And now they discover that Moctezuma's empire doesn't just harbour people who resent his rule.
31:15There are also those prepared to resist.
31:18There are city-states within Mexico which don't send tribute to Tenochtitlana and actually defy it.
31:29Most famously, its big rival is a place called Tlaxcala.
31:37Tlaxcala is a pocket of independent territory that lies directly on Cortez's route to the Aztec capital.
31:45When the Spanish first arrive, Tlaxcala and warriors try to drive them back.
31:54But Cortez has a secret weapon.
31:57Someone who can help him negotiate with the people of Tlaxcala.
32:01When the Spaniards first arrive on the coast, Cortez is very lucky that the Spaniards are given 20 girls to be part of the Spanish entourage.
32:13Among them is a young woman who will help change the course of history.
32:21In Spanish, she is known as Malinche.
32:24The Aztecs call her Malinchen.
32:29Malinchen is said to have been born in the household of a nobleman, very near the Gulf of Mexico.
32:37Between 8 and 12 years old, she was captured and sold into slavery.
32:48We do not know how many people had owned her.
32:52Hernán Cortez gave Malinchen to the highest-ranking Spaniard in his group, who was very impressed by Malinchen because she was beautiful and also she was very confident.
33:07Malinchen soon proves extremely useful to Cortez.
33:15Born just outside the Aztec Empire, she speaks their language as well.
33:24Almost overnight, she moves from being a sexual servant to being a translator directly.
33:32Actually aging a woman.
33:40Images of Malinchen herself can be seen in the Aztec record books.
33:55She often appears either as large or larger than Hernán Cortez which points to her importance.
34:00Malinchen is helping Cortez but she has her own agenda.
34:02She holds a deep grudge against the Aztecs.
34:07It was they who tore her from her family and sold her into slavery.
34:15Malintzin is really advancing her own interests.
34:19We can well imagine that it might have seemed like an opportunity for her to escape slavery.
34:32The Clascalan's own records capture the moment when, with Malintzin as his translator, Cortes tries to persuade them to help him.
34:48The Spanish have to work really hard before the Clascalans eventually decide, OK, it looks like we might have a chance of defeating the Aztecs, so let's join forces.
35:02The Clascalans
35:11Six months after setting foot on the mainland, Cortes and his men, backed by 6,000 of their new local army,
35:31cross the mountain passes surrounding Tenochtitlan.
35:38They finally get their first glimpse of the spectacular Aztec capital.
35:44They start to proceed across the causeway.
35:50Cortes and his captains leading this column of Spaniards.
35:56They have all their finery, they want to impress their hosts.
35:59Moctezuma believes in the strength and power of his empire, so he welcomes the Spanish, but he also reminds them who has the upper hand.
36:17There really is an enormous power imbalance, and Moctezuma emphasises that power imbalance by making Cortes wait for ages and ages and ages.
36:29And he has to wait for absolutely hours before eventually he meets Moctezuma himself.
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37:07This moment is, I think, the most richly symbolic,
37:11the most momentous meeting of two human beings in world history.
37:19Because it stands for something much bigger,
37:22which is the European discovery of the New World
37:25and, of course, the New World's discovery of Europeans.
37:32And all of that is embodied in these two
37:36extraordinary people.
37:47First comes an exchange of gifts.
37:54Cortes presents a necklace of pearls and glass beads.
38:01It's no match for the craftsmanship Moctezuma can call upon.
38:05One written account records the gift of a carved serpent covered in turquoise.
38:14Remarkably, an Aztec artifact to match that description has survived.
38:21And it holds clues to the message Moctezuma meant to convey.
38:25The double-headed serpent is this absolutely exquisite object that, from the moment you first see it, you can never forget.
38:38Because it imprints itself on your memory.
38:39The double-headed serpent is this absolutely exquisite object that, from the moment you first see it, you can never forget.
38:53Because it imprints itself on your memory.
38:55Snakes, for the Aztecs, represent fertility. They represent life and death. The shedding of the skin symbolises rebirth.
39:16This is to be seen, to be admired, to be shown to the world.
39:32It's part of the pride that the Aztecs have. It's a display of power.
39:41The person that made it must have been aware of the emergent power of this object.
39:54And been spellbound by it as it was being made.
39:58The gift is meant to impress Cortez. But it may also be a warning.
40:16The double-headed serpent is an ambiguous symbol.
40:19It can be a negative omen because you have the two of them pulling in different directions.
40:25So there's that slight hint of danger underlying it.
40:34If you're a betting man, and you look at these two blokes, you say,
40:37come on, there's only going to be one winner here.
40:39And it's not the Spaniards who's got a few hundred adventurers and ruffians at his back.
40:44It's the bloke with a massive capital city and kind of millions of people.
40:50It seems like no match at all.
40:53But Moctezuma critically underestimates the threat.
40:58He treats Cortez like a friendly visitor.
41:02A courtly prince.
41:04When in reality, he is a ruthless mercenary.
41:07He says to Cortez, welcome, this is your home.
41:12Please come into the city. Everything is yours.
41:15You know, we're so delighted that you've come.
41:19This was basically like people who say, oh, come into my house.
41:22But you never really mean it.
41:24You're saying polite things.
41:26These are the courtly conventions.
41:28The courtesies that you extend to your guests.
41:31That's what Moctezuma is doing.
41:33And I think the Spanish take that literally.
41:36Cortez is like, great, you know, let's go.
41:39The Spaniards, along with the Tlaxcarlan leaders, take up residence inside the Aztec capital.
41:54Montezuma thinks, I am much more powerful than the Tlaxcarlan's.
41:59And these guys will be overwhelmed by my city and me and my power.
42:04And probably they'll abandon the Tlaxcarlan's and come and work for me.
42:09Cortez is clearly in awe of this wonderful city.
42:17One of the other conquistadors later says, we wondered if it was not a dream because it was all so beautiful.
42:24He and his men are housed in a palace next door to Moctezuma's own palace.
42:29We have this sense that he is building a relationship, a rapport with Moctezuma.
42:34The Spaniards are engaging in a kind of prolonged diplomatic encounter.
42:39They go hunting together.
42:43They were very impressed by the market.
42:45They saw the inside of temples.
42:47They were taken by boat to the other side of the lake shore to see other little towns and villages.
42:56The more the Spanish see of this fabled land, the more desperate they are to get their hands on it.
43:04The problem for Cortez is that there's no apparent end point to this prolonged period of diplomacy.
43:11After five months of diplomatic stalemate, Cortez receives news that forces him to act.
43:36Cortez learned that some other Spaniards had arrived on the coast.
43:41He knew he had a problem because he didn't have the permission to be there.
43:47Cortez has embarked on his bold venture without getting approval from the Spanish authorities.
43:56Cortez has gone rogue.
44:00Effectively, Cortez is attempting to defeat an empire without actually having a license from the King of Spain to do what he's doing.
44:08The new arrivals are here under orders to arrest Cortez.
44:14He needs a bargaining chip.
44:18So he takes a huge risk.
44:21Cortez thought it would go better for him if he could say that he had control of the kingdom through a hostage prince.
44:28This was an age-old way of making war in Europe.
44:31You take a prince hostage and then you have control over their people.
44:35He had the nerve to send a group of men into the throne room where Montezuma was and literally take him prisoner.
44:52Malinche is doing all the translating.
45:07They say, look, you're coming with us.
45:09And he's just so stunned.
45:11It's a kind of paralysis.
45:13He's like, okay, I'll go.
45:18Such a mad gamble.
45:20Such a mad thing for Cortez to do to take Montezuma prisoner.
45:35You get this sense of Cortez being this amazing maverick who makes the right choices at the right time.
45:42What's often forgotten is the fact that he is a desperate man.
45:48He can't turn back.
45:50He's got no choice.
45:51So he may as well plow on.
45:53The gamble pays off.
45:57And Cortez bribes the new arrivals to join him in his quest for gold.
46:04Cortez is able, through his usual mix of military and diplomatic prowess,
46:11to win the new Spaniards over.
46:13In fact, it takes almost no winning over at all.
46:17He now has 800 additional soldiers.
46:21But having kidnapped Montezuma, Cortez has made the whole population of the Aztec capital his enemy.
46:28Once they have taken Montezuma prisoner, the mood in the city has definitely darkened.
46:40There's a few hundred Spaniards.
46:46They're in this palace, but around them it's not merely the city with hundreds of thousands of people,
46:53but it's the whole massive empire.
46:55A band of Aztec warriors stages an attack on the palace where Montezuma is being held prisoner.
47:08The emperor is ordered by Cortez to try and defuse the situation.
47:14Montezuma was forced on a balcony to appeal to his people.
47:20They're kind of using him as a bit of a hostage, a human shield,
47:23possibly still hoping that he can act as an intermediary with the people,
47:26although I think it's pretty clear by this point that his authority has drained away
47:32and that people are no longer listening to him.
47:35The emperor has lost all control over his people.
47:43Once hailed as a demigod, he is now powerless and all too mortal.
47:52Montezuma, he's a hostage who has outlived his usefulness.
47:56We know the Spanish kill all their other hostages,
47:59and there are sources that say the Spanish basically came into his room and killed him.
48:05The corpse of the once mighty leader of Central America's greatest civilization is left on the street to rot.
48:34Before the Aztec warriors can take their revenge, the Spanish decide to grab what they can and make their escape.
48:41They're sneaking through the streets which seem deserted.
48:46before the aztec warriors can take their revenge the spanish decide to grab what they can and make
48:55their escape they're sneaking through the streets which seem deserted how are we going to get out
49:02of here with our lives they are seen by a woman who's collecting water and she raises the alarm
49:10and then it's as though the whole city is pouring out of the buildings
49:18canoes are swarming around the spaniards the mortality rate is just piling up
49:32horses are being killed people are being killed by the hundreds
49:37in the chaos around two-thirds of the spaniards die some 600 men cortez himself is quite badly injured
49:48but he survives this night has gone down in history with the name of la noche triste the night of sorrows
49:56because for the spaniards it is a tragedy from the indigenous point of view maybe we might think of
50:04it as more like a night of triumph finally the aztecs have rid their capital city of the newcomers
50:11the whole city celebrates the spaniards are gone but they have left behind a parting gift
50:24an invisible threat that will bring the aztecs to their knees
50:30after the spaniards left for a few weeks people were very happy
50:52but then people began to die for the aztecs can you imagine the horror as this silent
51:01unexplainable killer first appears among them
51:04tantalizing evidence for this mystery disease may be embedded in the most iconic artifact from the aztec world
51:27masks were a central element of aztec life turquoise masks were usually placed on corpses time of a funeral
51:54here we see an aztec with ammonite like eyes aquiline nose and beautiful teeth
52:08but this mask contains some unexpected details
52:19we see these stones they stand out so the imperfections of the skin are being shown
52:31we see the man being afflicted he is showing us what he's suffering from
52:39the lumps on the skin might represent the disease of leprosy widespread in the americas
52:47but they are also a remarkable match for a killer plague that the spanish have introduced to the
52:56new world smallpox it seems very evident to me that those bigger bits of turquoise on the surface
53:07that is the lumps that you would find on the face of somebody afflicted by smallpox
53:13it's hard not to associate the mask with exactly that this wave of mortal disease that decimated 40
53:26percent of the population
53:27since the spaniards arrival
53:33smallpox has spread inland from the coast
53:38before engulfing the aztec capital itself
53:43this population was virgin population in the sense that they had never been exposed to these western microbes
53:52they all got sick
53:55they had no medicine that worked for it no way to understand it
54:00it was psychologically devastating
54:07smallpox is one of the most deadly diseases we've had in the history of humanity
54:12infectious enough to spread quite quickly
54:15but deadly enough that actually it kills a third of people infected
54:19it is higher than SARS which is 10 percent it's higher than COVID-19 which was you know one to two percent
54:27when you get it you start feeling unwell high fever headaches vomiting
54:34the next stage is the tongue and the mouth get covered with pus filled little sacks
54:41once your skin starts rising up almost like little peas underneath your skin incredibly painful
54:48soon come all the way up and develop into scabs
54:50once it's in your home everyone will get it
54:54and then it's the question of how many will survive
54:57disease is the greatest reaper across human history
55:05more people have fallen to pathogens than they have to any other cause
55:09epidemics are a shock
55:11but ultimately what's more important is how vulnerable is a society which is hit by an epidemic
55:18nearly 14 months after he fled the aztec capital
55:25cortez has returned to a civilization in its death throes
55:30now backed by his local allies he launches a brutal attack
55:36they're fighting a disease-ridden weakened starving population
55:44and i think that is massive in explaining how he's able to achieve what he does
55:48the aztecs insist on fighting to the death
55:53so the spanish start moving through the city practicing total war
55:59simply the only way the spanish are able to force the aztecs this proud warrior culture to surrender
56:11finally the mighty warrior empire of the aztecs
56:29has fallen
56:32the aztec empire fell apart within two years
56:46this makes it one of the fastest collapses for outworld history
56:50that was due to the sheer variety of threats at least
56:53an overbearing leader who demanded tax and tribute
57:00a disaffected people with nothing to lose
57:05and a ruthless opponent who exploited these fault lines for his own gain
57:12once you think about the huge amount of indigenous people who were not happy and were ready to fight
57:22against the aztecs you get a very different view of the situation
57:27this is an indigenous civil war an empire that has collapsed in on itself
57:34a collapse hastened by an unforeseen killer
57:39disease is still one of the greatest threats to civilization
57:43we do need to look at our collective vulnerability
57:47just think of what happened with covid
57:49pathogens always seem to be two steps ahead of us
57:52and we're trying to catch up in that race
57:54the story of the aztecs is ultimately a story about the arrival of the unexpected
58:01and i think that has to be a pretty sobering lesson for us
58:05we are deluded if we think that everything we take for granted will be here forever
58:15japan a unique culture closed off to the west for centuries
58:28is on a collision course with the modern world
58:32as foreign aggressors arrive on their shores
58:37japan's ancient warrior class the samurai must fight to save their way of life
58:45dominic sandbrock reveals more about the fall of the aztecs
58:54listen to the rest is history podcast on sounds
58:57another ancient relic next on bbc2 mammoth may have made a new best friend
59:02the new series continues in a mammoth
59:04sonar chas
59:17so
59:17so
59:18so
59:19so
59:27so
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