His oldest half brother, Tizoc, was elected to the reed mat by the royal clan. He must not have mustered the needed margin of support to maintain power, however, for he went down in the histories as a coward despite waging nearly constant warfare. He died after only about five years of rule—some said four, some said six—and people talked openly about the probability that he had been poisoned by an enemy faction. His brother Ahuitzotl now followed. He ruled successfully enough, but by the time he died in 1502, it was certainly expected that the pendulum of power would swing back to the other
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