The Aztecs consisted of three groups called the Mexicas, Tenochas, and the Acolhuas which formed the Triple Alliance. These three groups adjoined one another with the Mexicas dominating the alliance being situated between the other two. The Aztec government was a centralized one in which the emperor consulted a council of nobles before making major decisions. The Aztec emperors had power. Aztec emperors were chosen from eligible royal offspring by a council of noble elders. The main role of the Aztec emperor was to pray to the gods and take over other tribes in order to gain more land. If an emperor could not achieve the taking of enough land he was replaced by one who could. Once other tribes were taken over, the tribes were allowed to continue to live on their own but under Aztec law while an Aztec ruler lived amongst them. These tribes also had to pay taxes in the form of goods to the Aztec’s. When a tribe was conquered, the warriors would bring back prisoners of war to be sacrificed. The more prisoners a warrior would bring back, the higher in rank the warrior was. Towards the end of the Aztec’s reign they owned the majority of Central Mexico with 60 cities of different sizes and there were close to 200,000 sacrifices a year due to political and religious beliefs.

Aztec crime and punishment varied from city to city but was closely related to how crime is dealt with in many parts of the country. If a crime occurred, the offender would be put on trial in local courts. If the offender was of higher class, a higher court would be used. Within the courts were judges which were typically senior warriors. The offender of the crime was allowed to have a lawyer to plead his case but there were no juries. An offender was assigned punishment by the judge or judges. There were no prisons and no torture within the Aztec’s law but the death penalty was enforced quite often. A man declared as guilty of a crime could be taken to an alter and put to death by various means including stoning them or strangling them. For less serious crimes, slavery was often enforced where the offender would be the slave of the man or institution he had done wrong. Restitution was also used for less serious crimes such as theft but it was not uncommon for a minor theft to be punished by death. Disputes amongst the Aztecs were also handled within the court system. If one Aztec had a dispute with another, they would be taken to the courts where a judge would determine who was in the wrong.

Since the Aztec’s land was spread all over the Central Mexico, there were many different languages and ethic divisions. The Aztecs were not afraid to engage in contact with people outside their empire mainly because meeting people from different places was a lead on an additional land to conquer.