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6 enabled to employ the warriors of Tlascala against their ancient foes of Mexico.

The reign of Motecuhzoma was marked by a public work of great importance to the city of Mexico. A great dam or dyke was constructed across the lake of Tezcuco from a point on the northern side of the lake to one upon its southern shore. The purpose of this ten-mile barrier, which also did service as a causeway, was to guard the growing city against the inundations which frequently threatened it and had on more than one occasion submerged it. Motecuhzoma was followed on the throne by Axayacatl, a monarch of equal ability, who succeeded in annexing the city of Tlatelolco, which shared the same island with Mexico, and dispatched an expedition to the wealthy and enlightened Zapotec country, even as far south as the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, thus opening the way to the fertile district of Soconusco with its cocoa plantations, its mines of precious stones and great natural resources. Other regions equally desirable fell before the Aztec advance. Axayacatl died in 1469 (? 1477) and Tizoc in 1482 (? 1486), and Auitzotl came to the throne. He continued the Aztec career of conquest, and even penetrated to Chiapas and Guatemala, although he did not occupy these regions. He completed the great temple of Huitzilopochtli in the city of Mexico, commenced by his predecessor, and constructed an aqueduct which supplied water from Coyoacan on the southern shores of Lake Tezcuco. He was accidentally killed in an inundation by striking his head against the lintel of a flooded building from which he was trying to escape.

He was succeeded in 1502 by Motecuhzoma II, the king whose name has been rendered famous by reason of the coming of Cortés in his time. This monarch had been trained both as a soldier and a priest, but the sacerdotal part of his education had perhaps been amplified at the expense of the military.