Aztec Laws

The Aztecs had a sophisticated and strict system of law and order.

The emperor and his closest advisers and nobles probably made the laws. There were laws against murder, theft, crimes against the state (treason) etc., as you would expect. There were also laws against being drunk in public, practicing witchcraft, and cheating on a husband or wife.

Punishments varied, but the death penalty was common. Death sentences were usually carried out by strangulation or by cutting out the criminal’s heart in sacrifice to the gods. Other punishments included being held in a cage, having your head shaved in public, or being put into slavery. Interestingly, nobles, priests, and higher-level citizens were usually punished more severely than common folk.

There were several levels of courts in the Aztec court system. Serious or important cases were heard by higher courts, as were cases involving nobles and other high level citizens. Lesser cases or trials of the lower classes were usually heard in lower courts.

Judges heard and decided the court cases. They were appointed for life by the chief justice, and the emperor appointed the chief justice. Cases were heard in public, and the accused were allowed to defend themselves.

As the supreme leader of the empire, the emperor had the final say in any case.

Aztec Government - an overview

The basis of the Aztec government began long before the Aztec Empire began. The first piece of the government was the family and extended family. From the family was the calpulli. The calpulli was basically a neighborhood based government unit that ran a school and collected taxes from the citizens under its control.

The city councils were the next level up in the Aztec government hierarchy. The city councils were formed from the leaders of the calpullis and held a great amount of power in the cities. The “executive council” was a group of four city council members and from them one would be the tlatcani, or leader of the city, and these councils would not only control the city proper but the surrounding areas.

By the early-mid 1400s the Triple Alliance was formed by the three leading city-states; Tenochtitlán, Texcoco, and Tlacopan. These cities dominated the entire central Mexico and of the three Tenochtitlan ruled the Triple Alliance.

The city leaders in Tenochtitlan ran the Empire. The leader of this city council was the Huey Tlatcani or the Great Speaker. The Huey Tlatcani was an emperor who was worshiped as a god and who ruled over the empires main administration, military and religion. Although this ruler was chosen from the Tenochtitlan “executive council” he was almost always selected on a heredity basis. In other words, each emperor was related to the emperor that came before him.

Aztec Sun God

Gods and Myths were very important to the Aztec society and culture. The myths that the Aztecs believed in shaped how their society was structured and how they went about everyday life. By studying the myths and the gods, people can learn a lot about the Aztec people.

According to Aztec myths, there were five ages, and in each of these ages there was a different sun. The first four ages ended in disaster. During the first age, Tezcatlipoca was the sun god. Quetzacoatl was jealous of Tezcatlipoca and knocked him out of the sky. Tezcatlipoca became a jaguar and destroyed the world out of revenge.

Quetzacoatl became the next god, but Tezcatlipoca was still mad from being knocked from his position of sun god, and he knocked Quetzacoatl from the sky. The world was destroyed by a huge wind after Quetzacoatl fell from the sky.

The gods chose Tlaloc to be the next sun god. Tlaloc was the god of rain. It angered Quetzacoatl that Tlaloc had been chosen, and he made fire rain down from the sky. This destroyed the earth for the third time and ended the age.

Tlaloc's sister, Chalchiuhtlicue, became the next god. She was chosen by Quetzalcoatl. Chalchiuhtlicue was the goddess of lakes and streams. The gods continued to fight over who would be the god, and this once again lead to the destruction of the world. The world was destroyed by floods this time.

After all of these ages and periods of destruction, no other gods wanted to be the sun because of all the fighting. In order to keep the cycle from continuing, a council of gods decided that the next sun god would have to offer their life so that the people of earth would be saved from all the destruction. Tecciztecatl, a wealthy god, and Nanauatl, the god of humbleness, were chosen. The gods made a fire, and the god who jumped in would be the sun god. Tecciztecatl tried to jump in, but he was too afraid of the fire. Nanauatl jumped into the fire. After watching Nanauatl jump in, Tecciztecatl was embarrassed that he did not jump in first, and he jumped in after Nanauatl!

The gods wouldn't allow there to be two suns at one time, so they threw a rabbit at the face of Tecciztecatl. This caused him to dim, and he became the moon. Tecciztecatl would be in the sky, but he would never be as bright as the sun would be. Nanauatl became the new sun god, and he was renamed Tonatuih.

The Aztecs were very religious, and their myths and gods were very important to them. The myths that they believed in were not simple stories; they had many parts and could be told differently depending on what part of the Aztec empire someone was from. The myth of the sun god is a good example of the complex legends of the gods. There wasn't one sun god, but many over the history of the world.