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.
