Aztec Sacrifices, Rituals, and Religion The Aztec Empire is one of the most fascinating empires ever founded. As a society they have learned not only to live but to thrive in a place that today would be considered uninhabitable. This society lasted about 4 centuries before its demise. While the greatness of this community in itself is profound, I have chosen to take a more sinister path and talk about the traditions of sacrifice and the meaning behind it all. In this article I aim to refute the idea that Aztec society was uncivilized due to aspects of its traditional and cultural practices. Although the Aztecs were not the first nor the last to practice human sacrifice, they became the most sensationalized case in history. They used large and shrunken cocoa beans as currency. These beans were difficult to find because they were found in distant lowland areas. One place where both their religion and their politics can be found together is in their Ball Game. The ball itself represents the sun passing through the underworld. The teams represented different nations. The ball game was used as a substitute for war. It is believed that instead of war the ball game was used to settle disputes and the losers would lose their lives. Therefore, ball games were used not only for entertainment but also to acquire power and wealth. They gained wealth thanks to the enormous bets made by the nobles on the gambling odds. Nobles gamble on their kingdoms, their tributary incomes, and other enormous amounts of wealth. The Aztecs in this period were a very advanced people. They made use of trade, class systems, politics and religion. They found a way to end disputes between nations without declaring war. Some might say that these things do not define a nation, but on the contrary they do. There are seven basic elements that archaeologists have used to define a civilization. They are: social structure, stable food supply, religion, government, writing, culture, and technology. Everything the Aztecs had and. The nobles ran the government, owned the land, controlled the army, and lived very well. The Aztec empire was divided into city-states, each of which was governed by a supreme leader, judge, and administrator. The only difference between the city states and the capital is that the supreme leader of the capital was also the emperor. He reigned until his death, was believed to be the representative and spokesperson of the gods and was given the right to declare war. It also had an advisory council but retained absolute power. The Aztec legal system was a very complex system. It is made up of generational customs and royal decrees. The law was interpreted by Aztec judges. They had civil and criminal courts and even courts with special jurisdiction. Most punishments were written in a pictogram or passed down in hymns. They began creating written laws shortly before the Spanish arrived. In many ways Aztec law and policies are also comparable to those of today. However they didn't have any type of representation for the person on trial, but they had the foundation of what makes our justice system work today. Although the punishments tended to be more severe, they had the right idea about how the trials should work. Aside from the noble class and their many responsibilities there were the commoners and slaves. Slaves usually came from other captured states or from people who had committed crimes or debts