COURT ORATIONS
The court orations were delivered by
the ruler and high-ranking functionaries—lords, nobles, magistrates, military
commanders, and the like—on such occasions as the election and accession of a
new king; when the ruler sat in session with his advisors; during legal trials;
before, during, or after a battle to animate or console the warriors; or when
the king received an embassy from another ruler. (Thelma D. Sullivan, “A
Scattering of Jades: The Words of the Aztec Elders,” in Symbol and Meaning
Beyond the Closed Community: Essays in Mesoamerican Ideas, ed. Gary H.
Gossen [Studies on Culture and Society 1; New York: Institute for Mesoamerican
Studies, 1986], 11)