T/S: The Roman Empire vs. The Aztec Empire

Is there an equivalent history of the Aztecs as there is for the Roman Empire (Gibbon)?

now there's a thread idea

xp Probably several since it was a thing of prestige for the Spanish. THere are certainly accounts from supporting players of the era. But as with a lot of things those who wrote the history didn't have the most objective perspective.
So writers like Restall and Mann and others are having to reexamine sources. Restall is looking at Nahuatl sources which seems interesting. I saw a couple of webinars a couple of years ago where people were looking at new technology that could search written texts from the era so better collate statistics etc. & that was with a heavy focus on mesoamerican texts from this era and slightly later. Would have more universal usage, not heard about it in a while so assuming its still developing.

Spanish accounts of the time are likely to be pretty racist . Counterting initial astonishment at how advanced the societies they encountered were. Also trying to make themselves more central to action, while i've just heard Restall talking about there being about 500 Spanish and thousands of native troops who already had there own agendas. Also could change from ally to non ally dependent on their own agendas. I just read teh book On Savage Shores talking about native americans visiting the old world which was at least partially at their own will as ambassadors etc and people trying to curry favour with the Spanish

I think the Aztec or Mexica empire or the triple alliance was not likely to be held in as much prestige as Rome was in its aftermath. Population were like brown which doesn't make Europeans flock to memorialise it. At least not in the early modern age, I assume taht is improving now since there are a number of books looking at the history of how the situation came about, I think they are less interested in valorising it in a similar way. Trying to be more objective than trying to make it look so much like a beacon of civilisation, historians are having to deal with ideas like human sacrifice and widespread slavery etc as part of teh picture. But it is being written and reexamined etc.

I also think the Spanish burned a load of the texts taht had been written since they must be devil driven since they represented the wrong religion. Shame, would be good to get more of their own perspective. Can't have burnt everything if people like Restall and Andrés Reséndez are able to go back and use papers as resources. THink I do need to look more into what has survived.

It is a crazy fact to me that the descendants of Moctezuma Xocoyotzin, emperor of the Aztecs at the time of Cortes, still exist as a noble family with the hereditary title of "duke of Moctezuma de Tultengo"... in Spain, not Mexico... since the latter abolished its aristocracy. pic.twitter.com/bCk7qC3DIG

— Tristan S. Rapp (@Hieraaetus) June 4, 2023