Caballeros aguila y caballeros tigre

[Frances Karttunen]

Ross Hassig wrote a book, now out of print, entitled Aztec Warfare.  It is
Vol. 1888 of the Civilization of the American Indian Series.  Hassig also
wrote Mexico and the Spanish Conquest, published in 1995.  More information
about both of these is available in the amazon.com listings.

On p. 229 of Aztecs (Cambridge University Press, 1991) Inga Clendinnen
vividly decribes how the eagle and jaguar warriors became imbued with the
characteristics of the animals they represented, and she goes on to talk
about their costumes in considerable detail. In fact, Clendinnen has much to
say about Aztec warfare throughout her book. Her index entry under
"warriors" goes on and on, but she is not a source for Nahuatl-language
terminology.

Towns subject to the Aztec Triple Alliance were required to provide costumes
as part of their tribute, and they are beautifully illustrated in facsimiles
of the Codex Mendoza, which is essentially an illustrated tax list.