The Aztecs battle to save their civilisation from Spanish invaders - but is the real threat from the enemy within?
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#civilisationsriseandfall, #bbcdocumentary, #historydocuseries, #ancientcivilizations, #romeegyptaztecsamurai, #history2025
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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.
03:04What is the most familiar today?
03:09Climate catastrophe.
03:13Pandemic.
03:15The worst.
03:16The worst.
03:17The worst.
03:18The worst.
03:19The worst.
03:20The worst.
03:21The worst.
03:23The worst.
03:24The worst.
03:25The worst.
03:26had few solutions but what if there was a place that had the answers to what went wrong
03:39a place full of secrets and stories a repository of memory stretching back through time
03:48the british museum home to more than eight million artifacts is a record of how and why
04:01the greatest civilizations rose to power and then spectacularly fell
04:09its treasures are the human traces that survived disaster
04:13but might they also hold lessons for our own future
04:22every civilization throughout history has had an expiry date with great societies the seeds
04:30of their destruction are sown within the society they're already there
04:35no civilization ever thinks it's going to fall but the question is what can we learn from the past
05:05in the shadow of volcanoes on an island in the middle of a vast lake
05:14the city of tenochtitlan is home to around 200 000 people
05:19it is the dazzling jewel at the heart of the mighty aztec empire
05:33stretching from coast to coast across what is modern day mexico
05:38its territory covers over 77 000 square miles
05:42tenochtitlan is far more advanced than most european cities of this age
05:52five times the size of henry the eighth'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
06:07the city is green and lush fertile water gardens produce multiple crops each year
06:20this civilization created the technology in order to use this water and also to construct fields on
06:30the water and these people is possible to sow corn to sow beans to sow tomatoes on these fields
06:42you have all kinds of foods chilies peppers you can buy fish pre-wrapped
06:51in a maize leaf so you can kind of take away your dinner if you'd like
06:55they have huge kind of seething markets where tens of thousands of people go shopping every day
07:05this city is teeming with life there are priests and soldiers weavers traders the city is overwhelming
07:13in its colors and its smells and the sort of the atmosphere of excitement and bustle
07:25so much of what we know of this civilization and the clues to its catastrophic collapse
07:38lie in a remarkable set of books that survived from that time written by the aztecs themselves
07:46we have hundreds and hundreds of pages in the aztec language they're called the codices
07:55the aztecs
08:08today we can look at the beautiful images and the alphabetic writing and learn a great deal about
08:15their political history their religious beliefs
08:17the aztecs the aztecs have a very long tradition of writing
08:29this is my mother tongue and this is the language that my parents transmitted to me in the 20th century
08:36we feel very proud to find a very strong legacy in the history of the aztec society
08:55you're hearing things that were said performances that were given prayers that were uttered it's really
09:00quite extraordinary
09:04the picture that emerges from these manuscripts
09:07is of a community bound together by a level of equality
09:12very unlike europe at the time
09:16aztec society is incredibly progressive you have institutional education for boys and girls
09:23they 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
09:42the empire and its five million inhabitants
09:58are under the control of a single all-powerful ruler
10:03moctezuma
10:10was a man in his early 40s he had been emperor for 17 years and a very successful one
10:19his name moctezuma means frowns like a lord so presumably he was high-handed and had a temper
10:28moctezuma 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
10:42that that takes over from who is the closest relative
10:47moctezuma looks like a good bet as ruler he is a brilliant effective warrior
10:55there's good evidence that he himself went out into the field and led armies
11:01and was a successful general
11:05however in private moctezuma appears to be an emperor who
11:09likes to sit in tenochtitlan and read books and learn about his empire
11:17he is intelligent and he has a thirst for knowledge
11:20moctezuma believes in his own ability to understand and control the world around him
11:31his people revere him as a demigod
11:33he will face a challenge for which he is completely unprepared
11:47he is
12:041,500 miles away, on the island of Cuba, a Spanish adventurer is plotting a bold expedition.
12:19His name is Hernan Cortes.
12:25The single most important thing about Hernan Cortes is that he is a nobody.
12:29He 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.
12:52Since 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.
13:14Everyone who's going to the new world is going to seek their fortune.
13:21It's the American dream. It's the idea of anyone can go and make something of themselves.
13:33They're a bit like venture capitalists investing in tech.
13:37They're looking for the next frontier, the next big thing.
13:40Cortes, growing up in Spain, saw ships laden with treasure arriving from the new world.
13:51He followed the lure and joined the ranks of the conquistadors.
13:56Cortes wants money and gold and probably also fame and recognition.
14:03Cortes is a narcissist.
14:11He's possibly a sociopath.
14:14He's a clever guy, but he's an awful person.
14:22Cortes will sacrifice friendships and betray his colleagues in order to get what he wants.
14:29Arguably, Cortes is kind of a monster.
14:31Cortes has set his sights on the mainland to the west.
14:34A previous expedition has explored its coast and brought back tales of a mysterious kingdom beyond.
14:50Said to be laden with gold.
14:53He starts drumming up support and gathering men, promising them great wealth if they come with him.
15:01Cortes is often described as a very Machiavellian kind of character, very manipulative.
15:11He's highly ambitious.
15:13Leading 11 ships and some 500 men, Cortes'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.
15:31Do Cortes and any of his men have any sense of Tenochtitlan, of the Aztec Empire, of the extraordinary power of this civilization? I think the answer is clearly no.
15:41The law of Tenochtitlan was destroyed.
15:42The fact is clearly no.
15:44No.
15:45Not to mention this, or not to mention the game.
15:46Towards his rule, Moctezuma has ruthlessly expanded his empire.
15:50Throughout 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.
16:23Everything in nature, whether it be animals or mountains or plants or trees, is seen as
16:28part of their worldview.
16:31They feel that there are strong spiritual bonds there.
16:36Aztec warriors even dress as the animals whose primal violence they seek to harness.
16:44Eagle and jaguar warriors were the two highest orders in the Aztec army.
16:50They symbolise bravery, proximity to power and to creation.
16:59The Aztecs aren't just a fearsome military culture.
17:04Their religious beliefs also lead them to practise a terrifying ritual.
17:15It's hard to get away from sacrifice when it comes to the Aztecs.
17:19The popular image of Aztec culture is basically they love a sacrifice.
17:40They love nothing more than plunging a knife, ripping out your cart and holding it up to
17:45a baying mob.
17:47Everybody is covered in blood.
17:50But it's not how the Aztecs behave.
17:52They almost certainly saw these as very serious kind of religious rituals.
17:57This knife clearly is an incredible symbolic object.
18:10Knives like this are often used as part of ritual offerings.
18:17The blade is crafted from razor sharp flint.
18:21The handle carved in wood.
18:24Then decorated in mother of pearl, turquoise and malachite.
18:31To depict one of the most formidable of all Aztec fighters.
18:37The eagle warrior.
18:40The black patches at the tips of the eagle's wings, those are singeing from the sun.
18:46Because supposedly they were the animals that stood the closest to the sun at its creation.
18:52The Aztecs see it as their duty to uphold the balance of the cosmos.
18:58To achieve this, they must feed the sun and the earth with blood.
19:10The most common ritual sacrifice takes place on top of the temple pyramid.
19:18Four priests would stretch the arms and legs of the person backwards over a pointed stone.
19:26They stretch the arms of the victim backwards.
19:31And then a fifth priest removes the heart from the ribcage which is extended.
19:38And the heart is given to the gods.
19:51Human sacrifice also allows Moctezuma to rule his empire with absolute authority.
20:00This isn't just about saying, look how many people will die.
20:03It's about saying, look how powerful our gods are.
20:07It's about Moctezuma being at the heart of that power and being the figure around which
20:13the cosmos is swirling.
20:15He is the man who has to hold all those forces in balance.
20:19And that is a big statement about power.
20:23The Aztecs wanted to frighten people.
20:26Human sacrifice became a weapon in their war against others.
20:31For now, Moctezuma is terrifying his enemies into submission.
20:36But he is about to face an entirely new kind of opponent.
20:43human scale, holy fucks.
20:58Two months after setting out from Cuba, the conquest of her, Hernan Cortez reaches the coastline of the Aztec empire.
21:07Empire.
21:11When the Spaniards first arrive on the coast of the Gulf of Mexico, their expedition is
21:16being watched.
21:17It's the first time that the Aztec people are observing strange people.
21:26Their skin was more or less white.
21:30They were using swords, riding horses.
21:37These animals were not known in central Mexico.
21:44They have ships that are large.
21:47They have different clothing and weaponry.
21:51They are hairier, smellier, and the Spaniards seem and are grubby.
21:56Moctezuma'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.
22:29If an alien spaceship landed and aliens looked human, got out and walked around, your first
22:34instinct wouldn't be, we must immediately kill them.
22:37You'd want to talk to them and find out where they've come from.
22:41He cannot possibly think that they pose a threat to his life or to the survival of his empire.
22:49Moctezuma sends a message to the newcomers intended to show his strength.
22:56But it's a message that will be misread with tragic consequences.
23:07He dispatches a gift of gold.
23:25The Asics had a special name for gold, which was the excrement of the gods.
23:33Something so precious and so beautiful that only gods could do.
23:55Few items made of gold from the Aztec world still exist.
24:02We often hear the Asics prefer turquoise.
24:07But this is really not true.
24:11Once they discover the beauty, they go crazy with gold.
24:20We see the Asics being in a way like nouveau riche that has acquired wealth suddenly and is
24:28showing it off.
24:29It's the equivalent to a Rolex watch.
24:33For 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.
25:14So 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.
25:37I would read that as a display of power or else a grand display.
25:42Look how rich I am.
25:43I can give you all of these things.
25:45So you should go away.
25:47The Spanish, of course, see it as a submission.
25:49Oh, he's he's agreed that you'll give us all these gifts.
25:53And so we're going to be in charge.
25:56Moctezuma 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.
26:13Four months later, Cortez and his men are forging a path inland.
26:39Up through the lowland jungle.
26:44They are beginning to understand that to get their gold, they will have to take on a vast warrior empire.
26:55But then Cortez discovers a weakness that he can exploit.
27:02There are plenty of people who've been suppressed by the Aztecs who might want to take advantage of the arrival of a new power force.
27:08There is a simmering resentment against Moctezuma.
27:15The source of this resentment is encoded in a remarkable object from the Aztec world.
27:23This is a human existence that has been transformed into a work of art.
27:44Beneath a layer of precious stones is a human skull.
28:05We call it the decorated skull.
28:12But it's not a decorated skull.
28:14It's a power object.
28:16Its mosaic covering is of dazzling turquoise, black lignite and red oyster shell.
28:27Precious materials Moctezuma demands from the wider Aztec empire.
28:34Part of a harsh system of taxation imposed on his subjects.
28:40The city of Tenochtitlan is a parasite on other territories.
28:46So tribute can encompass everything from raw materials and currency, so things like gold and cacao and cotton, to fully created warrior outfits and even in some cases sacrificial victims.
29:02The 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.
29:21The idea that this skull mask could be attached to the body looking behind you as you move forward as a priest or a warrior.
29:31That 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, protected, being reinforced in their own inner potency.
29:56The decorated skull, built from cruel tribute, is a symbol of Aztec domination.
30:05But it also holds a warning for Emperor Moctezuma.
30:10The 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. 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. You are in a position that is incredibly precarious.
30:40In 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.
30:55Cortes and his men press on.
31:06And now they discover that Moctezuma's empire doesn't just harbour people who resent his rule.
31:14There are also those prepared to resist.
31:18There are city-states within Mexico which don't send tribute to Tenochtitlana and actually defy it.
31:28Most famously, its big rival is a place called Tlaxcala.
31:33Tlaxcala is a pocket of independent territory that lies directly on Cortes' route to the Aztec capital.
31:46When the Spanish first arrive, Tlaxcalan warriors try to drive them back.
31:53But Cortes has a secret weapon. Someone who can help him negotiate with the people of Tlaxcala.
32:02When the Spaniards first arrive on the coast, Cortes is very lucky that the Spaniards are given 20 girls to be part of the Spanish entourage.
32:14Among them is a young woman who will help change the course of history.
32:20In Spanish, she is known as Malinche. The Aztecs call her Malincin.
32:27Malincin 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.
32:47We did not know how many people had owned her.
32:52Hernan Cortes gave Malincin to the highest-ranking Spaniard in his group, who was very impressed by Malincin because she was beautiful and also she was very confident.
33:06Malincin soon proves extremely useful to Cortes. Born just outside the Aztec Empire, she speaks their language as well.
33:23Almost overnight, she moves from being a sexual servant to being a translator directly.
33:31Images of Malincin herself can be seen in the Aztec record books.
33:40She often appears either as large or larger than Hernan Cortes, which points to her importance.
33:52Malincin is helping Cortes, but she has her own agenda.
33:59She holds a deep grudge against the Aztecs. It was they who tore her from her family and sold her into slavery.
34:14Malincin is freely advancing her own interests.
34:19We can well imagine that it might have seemed like an opportunity for her to escape slavery.
34:27The Clascalan's own records capture the moment when, with Malincin as his translator, Cortes tries to persuade them to help him.
34:44The Spanish have to work really hard before the Clascalan's eventually decide, OK, it looks like we might have a chance of defeating the Aztecs, so let's join forces.
34:59Six months after setting foot on the mainland, Cortes and his men,
35:28backed by 6,000 of their new local allies, cross the mountain passes surrounding Tenochtitlan.
35:35They finally get their first glimpse of the spectacular Aztec capital.
35:43They start to proceed across the causeway. Cortes and his captains leading this column of Spaniards.
35:56They have all their finery. They want to impress their hosts.
36:05Moctezuma believes in the strength and power of his empire.
36:09So he welcomes the Spanish, but he also reminds them who has the upper hand.
36:16There really is an enormous power imbalance.
36:22And 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.
36:35Moctezuma says,
36:36Moctezuma says,
36:37Moctezuma says,
36:42Go, go, go.
36:43Moctezuma says,
36:44Go, go.
36:45Go, go.
36:46Go.
36:47Go.
36:48Go.
36:49Go, go, go.
36:51Go, go, go.
36:52Go, go, go.
36:54This moment is, I think, the most richly symbolic,
37:12the most momentous meeting of two human beings in world history.
37:19Because it stands for something much bigger,
37:21which is the European discovery of the New World
37:25and, of course, the New World's discovery of the Europeans.
37:33And all of that is embodied in these two extraordinary people.
37:47First comes an exchange of gifts.
37:51Cortes presents a necklace of pearls and glass beads.
37:58It's no match for the craftsmanship Moctezuma can call upon.
38:05One written account records the gift of a carved serpent covered in turquoise.
38:11Remarkably, an Aztec artifact to match that description has survived.
38:17And 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.
38:40The double-headed serpent is this absolutely exquisite object that, from the moment you first see it, you can never forget.
38:54It's because it imprints itself on your memory.
38:56Snakes, for the Aztecs, represent fertility.
39:00They represent life and death.
39:02The shedding of the skin symbolises rebirth.
39:08This is to be seen, to be admired, to be shown to the world.
39:11It's part of the pride that the Aztecs have.
39:15It's a display of power.
39:27It's part of the pride that the Aztecs have, is a display of power.
39:41The person that made it must have been aware of the emergent power of this object and
39:54been spellbound by it as it was being made.
40:07The 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.
40:30If you're a betting man and you look at these two blokes, you say, come on, there's only
40:37going to be one winner here, and it's not the Spaniards who's got a few hundred adventurers
40:43and ruffians at his back.
40:45It's the bloke with a massive capital city and kind of millions of people.
40:51It seems like no match at all, but Moctezuma critically underestimates the threat.
40:59He treats Cortez like a friendly visitor, a courtly prince, when in reality he is a ruthless
41:06mercenary.
41:09He says to Cortez, welcome, this is your home, please come into the city, everything
41:14is 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, but you never really mean
41:25it.
41:26You're saying polite things.
41:27These are the courtly conventions, the courtesies, that you extend to your guests.
41:32That's what Moctezuma is doing.
41:34And I think the Spanish take that literally, Cortez is like, great, you know, let's go.
41:44The Spaniards, along with the Clasgarland leaders, take up residence inside the Aztec capital.
41:55Moctezuma thinks, I am much more powerful than the Clasgarlands, and these guys will be overwhelmed
42:02by my city and me, my power, and probably they'll abandon the Clasgarlands and come and work
42:08for me.
42:13Cortez is clearly in awe of this wonderful city.
42:18One of the other conquistadors later says, we wondered if it was not a dream because it
42:22was all so beautiful.
42:25He and his men are housed in a palace next door to Moctezuma's own palace.
42:30We have this sense that he's building a relationship, a rapport with Moctezuma.
42:35The Spaniards are engaging in a kind of prolonged diplomatic encounter.
42:40They go hunting together.
42:41They were very impressed by the market.
42:46They saw the inside of temples.
42:48They were taken by boat to the other side of the lake shore to see other little towns
42:53and villages.
42:56The more the Spanish see of this fabled land, the more desperate they are to get their hands
43:02on it.
43:04The problem for Cortez is that there's no apparent end point to this prolonged period
43:10of diplomacy.
43:30After five months of diplomatic stalemate, Cortez receives news that forces him to act.
43:37Cortez learned that some other Spaniards had arrived on the coast.
43:43He knew he had a problem because he didn't have the permission to be there.
43:49Cortez has embarked on his bold venture without getting approval from the Spanish authorities.
43:58Cortez has gone rogue.
44:01Effectively, Cortez is attempting to defeat an empire without actually having a license from
44:07the King of Spain to do what he's doing.
44:11The new arrivals are here under orders to arrest Cortez.
44:16He needs a bargaining chip.
44:19So he takes a huge risk.
44:22Cortez thought it would go better for him if he could say that he had control of the kingdom
44:27through a hostage prince.
44:29This was an age-old way of making war in Europe.
44:31You take a prince hostage and then you have control over their people.
44:42He had the nerve to send a group of men into the throne room where Motezuma was and literally
44:50take him prisoner.
45:04Malinche is doing all the translating.
45:07They say, look, you're coming with us.
45:09He's just so stunned, it's a kind of paralysis, that he's like, okay, I'll go.
45:19Such a mad gamble, such a mad thing for Cortez to do to take Motzuma prisoner.
45:35We get this sense of Cortez being this amazing maverick who makes the right choices at the
45:42right time.
45:46What's often forgotten is the fact that he is a desperate man.
45:50He can't turn back.
45:51He's got no choice, so he may as well plough on.
45:56The gamble pays off.
45:59And Cortez bribed the new arrivals to join him in his quest for gold.
46:06Cortez is able through his usual mix of military and diplomatic prowess to win the new Spaniards
46:13over.
46:14In fact, it takes almost no winning over at all.
46:17He now has 800 additional soldiers.
46:21But having kidnapped Moctezuma, Cortez has made the whole population of the Aztec capital
46:27his enemy.
46:36Once they have taken Moctezuma prisoner, the mood in the city has definitely darkened.
46:40There's a few hundred Spaniards, they're in this palace, but around them, it's not merely
46:50the city with hundreds of thousands of people, but it's the whole massive empire.
46:59A band of Aztec warriors stages an attack on the palace where Moctezuma is being held prisoner.
47:09The emperor is ordered by Cortez to try and defuse the situation.
47:15Moctezuma 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, possibly still hoping that he
47:25can act as an intermediary with the people, although I think it's pretty clear by this
47:29point that his authority has drained away and that people are no longer listening to
47:34him.
47:38The emperor has lost all control over his people.
47:43Once hailed as a demigod, he is now powerless and all too mortal.
47:51Moctezuma, he's a hostage who has outlived his usefulness.
47:56We know the Spanish kill all their other hostages, and there are sources that say the Spanish basically
48:02came into his room and killed him.
48:21The corpse of the once mighty leader of Central America's greatest civilisation is left on
48:32the street to rot.
48:48Before the Aztec warriors can take their revenge, the Spanish decide to grab what they can and
48:55make their escape.
48:59They're sneaking through the streets, which seem deserted.
49:02How are we going to get out of here with our lives?
49:06They are seen by a woman who's collecting water, and she raises the alarm.
49:14And then it's as though the whole city is pouring out of the buildings.
49:25Canoes are swarming around the Spaniards.
49:29The mortality rate is just piling up.
49:33Horses are being killed.
49:35People are being killed by the hundreds.
49:39In the chaos, around two thirds of the Spaniards die.
49:44Some 600 men.
49:45Cortez himself is quite badly injured, but he survives.
49:51This night has gone down in history with the name of La Noche Triste, the night of sorrows.
49:57Because for the Spaniards, it is a tragedy.
50:01From the indigenous point of view, maybe we might think of it as more like a night of triumph.
50:07Finally, the Aztecs have rid their capital city of the newcomers.
50:14The whole city celebrates.
50:17The Spaniards are gone.
50:20But 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.
50:53But then people began to die.
50:57For the Aztecs, can you imagine the horror as this silent, unexplainable killer first appears among them?
51:17Tantalizing evidence for this mystery disease may be embedded in the most iconic artifact from the Aztec world.
51:26Masks were a central element of Aztec life.
51:33Turquoise masks were usually placed on corpses at the time of a funeral.
51:39Here we see an Aztec with ammoni-like eyes, aquiline nose, and beautiful teeth.
51:46Teeth.
51:47But this mask was the most important part of the Aztec world.
51:49The mask was the most important part of the Aztec world.
51:50The mask was the most important part of the Aztec world.
51:51The mask was usually placed on corpses at the time of a funeral.
51:57Here we see an Aztec with ammoni-like eyes, aquiline nose, and beautiful teeth.
52:06But this mask contains some unexpected details.
52:19We see these stones.
52:24They stand out so the imperfections of the skin are being shown.
52:31We see the man being afflicted.
52:34He is showing us what he's suffering from.
52:38The lumps on the skin might represent the disease of leprosy, widespread in the Americas.
52:49But they are also a remarkable match for a killer plague that the Spanish have introduced to the new world.
52:58Smallpox.
53:01It seems very evident to me that those bigger bits of turquoise on the surface,
53:08that 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% of the population.
53:31Since the Spaniards' arrival, smallpox has spread inland from the coast,
53:38before engulfing the Aztec capital itself.
53:45This population was virgin population in the sense that they had never been exposed to these Western microbes.
53:53They all got sick.
53:57They had no medicine that worked for it, no way to understand it.
54:01It was psychologically devastating.
54:02Smallpox is one of the most deadly diseases we've had in the history of humanity.
54:11Infectious 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%.
54:23It's higher than COVID-19, which was, you know, 1 to 2%.
54:26When you get it, you start feeling unwell, high fever, headaches, vomiting.
54:35The next stage is the tongue and the mouth get covered with pus-filled little sacs.
54:41Once your skin starts rising up, almost like little peas underneath your skin, incredibly painful.
54:46But soon come all the way up and develop into scabs.
54:51Once it's in your home, everyone will get it.
54:54And then it's the question of how many will survive.
55:01Disease 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, but ultimately what's more important is how vulnerable is a society which is hit by an epidemic.
55:21Nearly 14 months after he fled the Aztec capital, Cortes has returned to a civilization in its death throes.
55:31Now, 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.
55:50The Aztecs insist on fighting to the death.
55:55So the Spanish start moving through the city, practicing total war.
55:58Simply the only way the Spanish are able to force the Aztecs, this proud warrior culture, to surrender.
56:10Finally, the mighty warrior empire of the Aztecs has fallen.
56:32The Aztec empire fell apart within two years.
56:46This makes it one of the fastest collapses throughout world history.
56:50That was due to the sheer variety of threats it faced.
56:52An overbearing leader who demanded tax and tribute.
57:01A disaffected people with nothing to lose.
57:05And a ruthless opponent who exploited these fault lines for his own gain.
57:11Once you think about the huge amount of indigenous people who were not happy and were ready to fight against 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.
57:44We 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, and we're trying to catch up in that race.
57:53The 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.
58:08We are deluded if we think that everything we take for granted will be here forever.
58:23Japan, a unique culture closed off to the West for centuries, is on a collision course with the modern world.
58:34As foreign aggressors arrive on their shores, Japan'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 Restis history podcast on sounds.
58:58Another ancient relic next on BBC Two.
59:00Mammoth may have made a new best friend.
59:02The new series continues in a Mammoth.
59:04Live with a Maxxv and the love with one.
59:06Lynn Krangori learned a new approach
59:07with his family.
59:09Travel with an Eadters, and closer in the end.
59:11Likewise, this is the intéress.
59:13The nightmare that he faces in some cases,
59:15And trees are still alive.
59:17Their images are still alive.
59:19Even if in the future, theycompanisicD unexpectedly.
59:22These are my kids asごforwards.
59:24Cho Gelav, or unbeliex, relaxoh.
59:26Done makna.
59:28The slot.
59:30But never again...
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