One noble family controlled each
city. When the ruling
noble died, his job passed to his son.
No one else got a shot at it. The noble families’ right to
rule originated with the
Hero Twins. Each noble family was supposedly a direct
descendant of one of the Hero Twins. That gave them the
justification they needed to keep their job. They were directly
related to the gods.
The ruling noble did not do his
job alone. Part of his job was to select a council of elders and
warriors to help him rule. Other
people were additionally selected to help run the government. Some
people were chosen to enforce laws. Others were chosen to act as
judges. So the Mayas ruled themselves via a system of city-states.
Like the ancient Greeks, the
Maya city-states were both independent and intertwined. The Maya
people all spoke the same language. They used the same system of
counting. They worshiped the
same gods. They told the same myths. They had the same
laws. They
wore the same style clothing. They thought of themselves as one
people.
Unlike the ancient Greeks, Maya cities were interconnected
with marvelous roads. Archaeologists
believe that once, long ago, there were hundreds of Maya cities. Each
Maya city had a palace, some temples, some pyramids, a central
marketplace, and of course, a ball
court.
The Mayas built an empire. The Maya civilization lasted for
1500 years. No one knows why this empire failed. It remains a
mystery.
