"500 NATIONS" "Hello I'm Kevin Kostner, welcome back to 500 Nations." "South of here, there is a desert." "It's a forbidding barrier stretching hundreds of miles." "On the other side of that desert is Mexico." "Over thousands of years, skilled travelers managed to cross this barrier ...but widespread contact was impossible and so each side developed in their own unique way." "In Mexico, millions of Indian people 80 percent of the continent's population created art and architecture that was unparalleled in its sheer size and physical ambition." "They developed writing and astronomy." "Their wars were waged between massive armies even by contemporary standards." "In this hour, we follow an epic story told through the actual words of those who took part in it along with eyewitness illustrations of events that occurred almost 500 years ago." "We take you to the present-day site of Mexico City to the heart of the most powerful military empire in the continent's history:" "The Aztec." "Valey of Mexico" "Extended, lies the city, lies Mexico spreading circles of emerald light radiating splendor like a quetzal plume." "O author of life, your house is here." "Your song is heard on earth." "It spreads among the people." "Behold, Mexico." "By the Aztec calendar, it was the year 1 Reed and Motecuhzoma, emperor of the Aztec was the most powerful man in the Americas." "By many standards, the most powerful man in the world." "From his capital in Tenochtitlán Motecuhzoma ruled over 10 million subjects." "For almost 90 years, his people had built an empire with their armies and become rich from the tribute of defeated states." "But Motecuhzoma was troubled." "Prophetic nightmares disturbed his sleep and he had been reading ominous signs." "A huge tongue of fire burning in the night sky to the east a major temple mysteriously destroyed by fire a comet blazing across the daytime sky." "Signs and dreams were vital to the Aztec." "They guided decisions of state." "Motecuhzoma thought, as Nahuatl do in our villages today that when important things happen, you will dream of it." "They, too, saw things, perhaps in the night sky a shooting star." "Motecuhzoma and others at the time would have thought, "I have seen it."" "Motecuhzoma could feel disaster approaching but he did not know what threatened his empire." "He did know that nations lived in cycles, like all things in nature." "Growth and fullness were followed by fall." "The cycles of nations had been played out many times in the Valley of Mexico." "Ruins of ancient cultures were scattered across the region." "Motecuhzoma had only to look 20 miles to the east to the ruins of a long-abandoned city, so magnificent the Aztec called it the "Home of the Gods."" "In the cycle of nations, even the Home of the Gods had fallen." "Valey of Mexico 650 A.D." "Nine hundred years before Motecuhzoma workers had come from throughout Mexico to build Teotihuacan." "The city, among the grandest in the world, was a monumental work of art." "Its largest building, the Pyramid of the Sun had a base the size of the biggest pyramid in Egypt." "Teotihuacan's military might controlled Central Mexico for centuries." "When I first saw this place, Teotihuacan and the pyramids I thought, "This is truly beautiful that which our grandfathers, our fathers before have done."" "And I thought, when I looked at it again:" ""It is like having your father that died or your brother that died and meeting them again here."" "You remember them, and you see their greatness when you contemplate what they left behind." "With all its power Teotihuacan was still trapped in the cycle of nations." "In one of history's great, unsolved mysteries the city was systematically burned and abandoned at its height." "With the dissolving of the empire, Central Mexico turned to chaos with small rival kingdoms locked in a struggle for power and survival." "Elite warriors fought for kings on the field of honor like knights in medieval Europe." "It was a world of royal bloodlines, betrayal and revenge." "In Central Mexico, the small kingdoms would struggle for 200 years before the cycle would turn again and they would begin to unify under the leadership of the Toltec people from the city-state of Tollan." "Over 500 years before the rise of the Aztec the Toltec redefined leadership in Central Mexico enforcing power, not through military might but through the moral force of their teachings." "They coordinated trade between states and arbitrated disputes, all within the framework of their religion." "Their capital functioned like Wall Street the Vatican and the Supreme Court combined." "It was also here in Tollan that a priest who held the name of the god Quetzalcoatl, the "Feathered Serpent" would be exiled, eventually sailing into the Gulf of Mexico vowing to return in another time as a savior for the people." "After less than two centuries Tollan, like Teotihuacan before it, was violently destroyed." "But while the city burned the sophisticated Toltec leadership escaped many of the elite families moving to the Valley of Mexico." "For 150 years, in the shadows of the ruins of Teotihuacan the Toltec established control over the city-states of the valley." "Their influence was so great that their bloodlines became the benchmark of nobility throughout the region." "During the same time, a nomadic tribe far to the west was in the midst of an epic search for a homeland." "They were the Mexica, Motecuhzoma's ancestors." "The Rise of the Aztec" "Behold a new sun is risen, a new god is born new laws are written and new men are made." "Around 1300, after nearly two centuries of wandering the Mexica people came to the Valley of Mexico a valley long dominated by the Toltec." "The Mexica, with no Toltec blood were seen by the refined city-states as violent barbarians a threat to the stability of the valley." "The local states attacked the nomad nation, killing many and driving the survivors to a rocky area covered with cactus and infested with snakes." "The exile was meant to destroy them, but the Mexica were used to adversity." "They flourished." "Soon their resilience and skills in warfare impressed their sophisticated neighbors." "They began to sell their services as mercenaries." "And within a generation, the Mexica were accepted as part of the social and political fabric of the lush mountain valley." "In 1325, they asked the neighboring Lord of Colhuacán to send his daughter to become the wife of a Mexica ruler." "Flattered, and seeing the opportunity for unity the Lord of Colhuacán complied." "Days later, when he and the other lords of the valley went to the Mexica town to honor the new princess instead of seeing his young child emerge a priest appeared, dressed in her skin." "Horrified, the Lord of Colhuacán called for revenge." "Here!" "Come here, my vassals from Colhuacân." "Come avenge the hideous crime committed by these Mexica." "Let them die." "Destroy them, such depraved men of evil." "My vassals, we shall finish them off and leave no trace or memory of them." "Colhuacán and its allies attacked the Mexica driving those they did not kill into a lake in the center of the valley." "Almost annihilated, the Mexica again proved resilient." "As they gathered on a swampy island in the lake they saw an eagle perch on a cactus the prophetic sign they were told they would see when they reached the end of their long search for a homeland." "The place that would be called Tenochtitlán." "Now we have found the land promised to us." "We have found peace for the weary Mexican people." "Now we want for nothing." "Be comforted, children, brothers and sisters because we have obtained the promise of our god." "For 100 years the people of Tenochtitlán built up the island through great sacrifice." "They reclaimed land from the swampy lake and erected stone temples and public buildings." "Causeways of hewn stone were constructed to the north, south and west." "An aqueduct was built to bring in fresh water from a mainland spring 3 miles away." "Canals were dug throughout the island to transport goods and people." "They gained trade wealth and again hired themselves out as mercenary soldiers for the powerful city-states of the valley." "Marriages were arranged that finally brought them honored Toltec bloodlines." "Tenochtitlán was a city on the rise." "The cycle of power was turning toward the Mexica." "And when war again broke out in the valley, the Mexica and their allies prevailed." "In victory, they called themselves the Aztec after the Mexica place of origin:" "Azatlán, "Land of the Herons."" "From this point, Aztec prophecy foretold a glorious future." "The might of our powerful arms and the spirit of our hearts shall be felt." "With them, we will conquer all nations near and far rule over all villages and cities from sea to sea become lords of gold and silver, jewels and precious stones feathers and tributes." "And we shall become lords over them and their lands and over their sons and their daughters who will serve us as our subjects." "For over 80 years, the Aztec launched far-reaching campaigns of conquest expanding their domain from Gulf to Pacific." "They fought epic battles with city-states throughout the region." "Most were conquered and turned into tributaries forced to supply slave laborers for Aztec public works and pay high taxes in goods." "Aztec scribes recorded the taxes of many states." "Bolts of fine cloth disks of hammered gold, exotic plants and feathers precious stones, feathered military uniforms." "Built on the backs of the tributary states the island capital of the Aztec grew into one of the wonders of the world." "When I first opened my eyes in this world, I was born of this heritage." "I have seen the beautiful festivals we have in our villages, our dances and it would have been like that there." "They had many festivals in this place with many beautiful dancers wearing many brilliant colors." "I think it was even more beautiful then." "Much more beautiful when our grandfathers lived there and followed their ways." "The two-story houses of the elite were adorned with beautiful gardens." "Royal aviaries housed thousands of rare birds and storehouses swelled with the wealth of empire." "The city was cleaned daily by thousands of sweepers its refuse collected and shipped away on barges." "The central markets thronged with professional traders whose travels took them to far distant locations men who spoke many languages and often carried with them news of the world." "The center of Tenochtitlán was dominated by the Great Temple its twin pyramids representing deities who embodied the conflict at the heart of Aztec society." "The eternal struggle between life and death, fertility and war." "Their private rituals, which on special occasions included the sacrifice of human prisoners incorporated this duality." "Life required death to exist and death required life." "Tenochtitlán became a city of hundreds of thousands a bustling metropolis ruled by the Aztec emperor from the grand imperial palace." "But in the year 1 Reed, the Christian year 1519 Motecuhzoma could feel a shadow across his empire and he could not forget that the prophecy of Aztec greatness had a dark side a prophecy long held in their oral tradition." "I shall make war against all provinces and cities towns and settlements and make all of them my subjects, my servants but just as I will subjugate them so, too, will they be snatched from me and turned against me by strangers who will drive me out of this land." "The Invasion of Mexico" "Ever since their years as a wandering tribe the Aztec believed their destiny was to rule the world." "Now, at the height of empire Motecuhzoma listened to his dreams and saw the signs." "They foretold disaster." "Then word came of strange happenings in the east." "Boats and men landing on the Mexican coast." "Men unlike any they had encountered before." "Their bodies sheathed in metal." "Motecuhzoma sent scouts to the coast to find out more about the new arrivals." "They were very white." "Their eyes were like chalk." "Their hair, on some it was yellow, and on some it was black." "They wore long beards." "They were yellow too." "The strangers had landed on the Gulf Coast." "That was also disturbing information." "Centuries earlier, the banished priest from the cult of the Feathered Serpent Quetzalcoatl, had left Mexico from the same coast promising one day to return." "Another prophecy that threatened Motecuhzoma." "If he comes in the year 1 Reed he strikes at kings." "It was now the Aztec year 1 Reed." "Whether Motecuhzoma believed the prophecy or not was of little importance." "He knew that many subjugated people throughout the empire embraced the story of the Feathered Serpent and awaited his return." "For it was in their hearts that he would come that he would come to land to reclaim his kingdom." "Whoever these invaders were whether they represented Quetzalcoatl or a foreign power Motecuhzoma could feel the threat to his empire." "And his fears were justified." "Spanish conquistador Hernando Cortés had landed in Mexico." "It was said that first he dreamt that Quetzalcoatl would return." "After that, when he saw Hernân Cortés and the others, he thought:" ""He has come." "Quetzalcoatl has come."" "Only, he was wrong." "Another had come." "Someone with evil intentions because Cortés did not come with religious faith or to do good things." "He came to commit terrible crimes against the Mexica." "As a diplomatic gesture Motecuhzoma sent emissaries carrying the costume of Quetzalcoatl which they presented to Cortés aboard his ship." "Cortés responded with a display of force." "He ordered the Aztec delegation shackled and forced to watch as his men fired a Lombard cannon in a thunderous hail of fire and smoke blowing apart a tree onshore." "The astonished emissaries were released, and they raced back to Tenochtitlán." "Motecuhzoma received the news with alarm." "Spanish weapons and armor were formidable and it would be only a matter of time before tributary states chafing under the yoke of Aztec oppression would join the conquistador." "They would lead him to the wealth that lay at the center of the empire to the one thing Spanish conquistadors craved above all else." "We Spanish suffer from a disease of the heart which only gold can cure." "Cortés ordered his 450-man army inland." "When some of his men resisted, he sank his ships." "There would be no turning back." "The army moved relentlessly toward the Valley of Mexico." "As Motecuhzoma had anticipated Cortés formed alliances along the way with rebellious city-states." "One tributary leader spoke for the fears of many." "Motecuhzoma and the Mexica have given us much pain." "They have imposed a tribute upon us." "They have become our rulers." "If the Spaniards should abandon us in haste, if they should go so perverse are the Mexica that they will kill us." "While many nations lived in fear of the Aztec one city-state less than 50 miles east of Tenochtitlán had never fallen to the empire:" "Tlaxcala." "There, Cortés forged his key alliance." "Six thousand Tlaxcalan troops joined the Spaniards." "As reports reached the Aztec capital some of Motecuhzoma's advisers argued for a decisive military campaign." "But Motecuhzoma held his armies in check unwilling to leave the capital unprotected or risk setting off a general rebellion." "Stalling for time, he sent emissaries to protest Cortés' advance and even had a wall of trees planted across the road to disguise the route to Tenochtitlán." "Paralyzed with doubt the emperor was fast becoming only a player in a prophecy being fulfilled." "And he must have thought:" ""These men, why have they come?" "What do they want?" "Maybe we can attack and kill some of them, but not all of them."" "For that reason, some did not want to fight." "They had seen that if they shot arrows at them, they did not fall." "They made a clanging sound as they bounced off their armor." "Even if they fired at the horses, they did not die because the horses had armor." "Cortés and the Tlaxcalan army turned first to a city-state that remained loyal to the Aztec emperor, Cholula." "Eyewitness accounts were recorded." "And there arose from the Spaniards a cry summoning all the noblemen, lords, war leaders warriors and common folk." "And when they had crowded into the temple courtyard then the Spaniards and their allies blocked the entrances and every exit." "There followed a butchery of stabbing, beating killing of the unsuspecting Cholulans armed with no bows and arrows protected by no shields." "With no warning, they were treacherously, deceitfully slain." "Six thousand Cholulan citizens lay dead in the streets." "Tenochtitlán received the news of the massacre in shock." "An Aztec eyewitness later recalled:" "The city rose in tumult, alarmed, as if by an earthquake as if there were a constant reeling at the face of the earth." "Motecuhzoma's worst nightmare was about to reveal itself." "Do the former rulers know what is happening in their absence?" "Oh, that any of them might see, might wonder at what has befallen me at what I am seeing now, that they have gone for I cannot be dreaming." "The Fall of the Aztec" "Proudly stands the city of Mexico:" "Tenochtitlân." "Here, no one fears to die in war." "Keep this in mind, o princes." "Who could attack Tenochtitlân?" "Who could shake the foundations of heaven?" "On November 8th, 1519 in the Aztec year 1 Reed Hernando Cortés arrived at the gates to the imperial city of the Aztec empire Tenochtitlán." "An Aztec eyewitness later recalled:" "Mexico lay stunned, silent." "None went out-of-doors." "Mothers kept their children in." "The roads were deserted, as if it were early morning." "Motecuhzoma walked out onto the grand causeway." "Coming face to face with Cortés the emperor offered his hospitality leading the Spaniards through the city gates to his imperial palace." "The people of Tenochtitlán watched, and their words were remembered." "The iron of their lances glistened from afar." "The shimmer of their swords was as of a sinuous watercourse." "Their iron breast and back pieces, their helmets clanked." "Some came completely encased in iron as if turned to iron." "And ahead of them ran their dogs, panting with foam continually dripping from their muzzles." "The Spanish soldiers were themselves struck with awe." "We were astounded." "The majestic towers and houses, all of massive stone and rising out of the waters were like enchanted castles we had read of in books." "Indeed, some of our men even asked if what we saw was not a dream." "Even Cortés was amazed." "Considering that these people are barbarous lacking the knowledge of God and cut off from all civilized nations it is truly remarkable to see what they have achieved." "Once they reached the palace Motecuhzoma's diplomatic plans were shattered." "Cortés turned on his host, seizing the emperor hostage." "What now, my warriors?" "We have come to the end." "We have taken our medicine." "Is there anywhere a mountain we can run away to and climb?" "Motecuhzoma was forced to lead Cortés to the treasury." "Motecuhzoma's own property was then brought out." "Precious things like necklaces with pendants armbands tufted with quetzal feathers golden armbands, bracelets, golden anklets with shells turquoise diadems, turquoise nose rods no end of treasure." "They took all, seized everything for themselves as if it were theirs." "Cortés wrote to the king of Spain." "Your Highness there is so much to describe that I do not know how to begin even to recount some part of it." "Motecuhzoma has all the things to be found under the heavens fashioned in gold and silver." "The Spaniards melted the beautifully crafted gold into blocks." "For five months, holding Motecuhzoma prisoner in his own palace they lived in splendor and pillaged the city from within." "They thought, "This isn't Quetzalcoatl." "This isn't a god."" "They said, "Look at them, how they eat, just as we do." "Look at them." "They go about just as we."" "When they saw him, they knew he wasn't really Quetzalcoatl." "They said among themselves to their people:" ""Look, brothers, this isn't a god." "Our gods do good things and this one, he wants to destroy us."" "Among the Aztec people, a resistance began to organize under the direction of Motecuhzoma's brother, Cuitláhuac." "In an effort to cripple the movement the Spaniards attacked a large, unarmed religious gathering in April of 1520." "One man, who saved his life by playing dead later recounted the scene." "They charged the crowd with their iron lances and hacked us with their iron swords." "They slashed the backs of some." "They hacked at the shoulders of others, splitting their bodies open." "The blood of the young warriors ran like water." "It gathered in pools." "And the Spaniards began to hunt them out of the administrative buildings dragging and killing anyone they could find even starting to take those buildings to pieces as they searched." "The Aztec counterattacked, forcing the conquistadors to retreat behind the walls of the great palace." "The Spaniards then brought Motecuhzoma out in chains before his people to order them to stop fighting but the emperor could not bring himself to speak." "He stood by while another hostage delivered his message." "Mexicans men of Tenochtitlân your ruler, the lord of men, Motecuhzoma, implores you." "He says, "Listen, Mexicans." "We are not equal to the Spaniards." "Abandon the battle." "Still your arrows." "Hold back your shields." "Otherwise, evil will be the fate of the miserable old men and women of the people, of babes in arms, of the toddlers of the infants crawling on the ground or still in the cradle."" "But the Aztec were not a people to be subjugated." "They reformed their government and elected Motecuhzoma's brother, Cuitláhuac as the 10th emperor." "Under his direction, the Aztec continued the siege of the palace." "After 30 days, Motecuhzoma was killed." "The Aztec accused the Spaniards of strangling him and hurling his body from the top of the palace." "The Spaniards claimed he was stoned to death by his own people." "One of the most powerful men on earth had fallen trapped in a play of destiny." "Prophecy had become reality." "Days later, the Spaniards, trapped in the palace without food or water attempted to escape under cover of darkness." "Aztec witnesses recounted the events." "That night at midnight, the enemy came out, crowded together." "The Spaniards in the lead, Tlaxcalans following." "Screened by a fine drizzle a fine sprinkle of rain they were able, undetected, to cross the canals." "Just as they were crossing the canal a woman drawing water saw them." ""Mexicas!" "Come, all of you." "They are already leaving." "They are already secretly getting out."" "Then a watcher at the top of a temple also shouted and his cries pervaded the entire cities." ""Brave warriors!" "Mexicas!" "Your enemy already leaves." "Hurry with the shield boats and along the road."" "As the Spaniards moved out onto one of the main causeways over the lake canoe after canoe full of Aztec soldiers under Cuitláhuac's direction showered them with spears and arrows." "Many Spaniards, weighted down with gold stolen from the palace fell into the water and drowned carried to the bottom by the weight." "The canal was filled crammed with them." "Those who came along behind walked on corpses." "It was as if a mountain of men had been laid down." "They had pressed against one another smothered one another." "Three-quarters of the Spanish army never reached the outskirts of Tenochtitlán." "Cortés and the rest of the survivors escaped into the countryside." "For a moment, the great city was free." "And when the Spaniards thus disappeared we thought they had gone for good nevermore to return." "Once again, the temples could be swept out the dirt removed." "It could be adorned ornamented." "But the fleeing Spaniards left behind another enemy." "An Aztec survivor remembered:" "At about the time that the Spaniards had fled from the city there came a great sickness, a pestilence:" "The smallpox." "It spread over the people with great destruction of men." "It caused great misery." "The brave Mexica warriors were indeed weakened by it." "Even the new emperor died of the disease." "It was after all this had happened that the Spaniards came back." "Cortés and his men had healed their wounds and rebuilt their army." "New alliances were made." "The Spaniards and 75,000 Tlaxcalan and allied Indian soldiers set siege to Tenochtitlán." "The entire population rose to defend their city." "Aztec witnesses would remember the struggle." "Fighting continued." "Both sides took captives." "On both sides, there were deaths." "Great became the suffering of the common folk." "There was hunger." "Many died of famine." "There was no more good, pure water to drink." "Many died of it." "The people ate anything." "Lizards, barn swallows, corn leaves, salt grass." "Never had such suffering been seen." "The enemy pressed about us like a wall." "They herded us." "The brave warriors were still hopelessly resisting." "After two and a half long months the Spaniards, with their overwhelming numbers brought Tenochtitlán to its knees." "Finally, the battle just quietly ended." "Silence reigned." "Nothing happened." "All was quiet and nothing more took place." "Night fell and the next day, nothing happened either." "No one spoke aloud." "The people were crushed." "Great was the stench of the dead." "Your grandfathers died and with them died the son of the king and his brothers and kinsmen." "So it was that we became orphans, o my sons." "So we became when we were young." "All of us were thus." "We were born to die." "Tenochtitlán was leveled." "The magnificent gardens, the marvel of their world, were destroyed." "The rivers and canals that so amazed the Spaniards were filled in." "Then Cortés set fire to the aviaries." "Thousands of birds, vermilion flycatchers iridescent hummingbirds, scarlet tanagers green and blue macaws." "The beauty that was Mexico was turned to ashes." "Some say the Mexica came to an end." ""It's gone, finished."" "We're still here." "We, the people who ignorant outsiders insult by calling us Indians we are here." "This culture was not finished off." "The culture is gone as an empire as a social, political, religious structure but what remains is what the people have." "We weren't finished off." "Proudly stands the city of Mexico:" "Tenochtitlân." "Here, no one fears to die in war." "Keep this in mind, o princes." "Who could attack Tenochtitlân?" "Who could shake the foundations of heaven?" "Our next program will begin far to the east of Mexico on a Caribbean island, where a meeting between Spanish and Indian people appeared at first glance to be merely an encounter between two potential trading partners." "But that first encounter between Christopher Columbus and the Taino people in 1492 was, in reality, a world-shattering event." "Please join us for 500 Nations:" "A Clash of Cultures." "Feel free to translate this to your language and place your name here as translator."