RELIGION

Religion played an important role in both the Aztec and Roman Empires. The Aztec people thought that the gods controlled their very lives. The Romans had to deal with a variety of religions as their empire expanded.

All aspects of Aztec life revolved around religion. There were over 1000 Aztec gods many of whom represented forces of nature. The two most important gods were Huitzilopochtli and Tlaloc. Huitzilopochtli was the God of the Sun while Tlaloc was the God of Rain. The Aztecs allowed conquered tribes to keep its own religion, language, social structure and customs. The Romans tolerated the worshipping of a number of different gods. They had to tolerate various religions because as the empire got bigger, it sucked in many different cultures. Each of the cultures had a different god. The Romans knew that if the did not allow the various religions to exist people would be unhappy and harder to control. Unlike the Aztecs the Romans, did not focus as much time and attention on one or two gods. They did not believe that their very existence depended upon a god being happy with them.

The Romans did not like a few religions such as Judaism and Christianity so they persecuted them. Some Jews and Christians were sent away. At one time during the empire, people were expected to worship emperors as if they were living gods.













Aztec priest played an important roll in the Aztec empire. They conducted many ceremonies through out the year. During these ceremonies, the priest would sacrifice humans to the gods to ensure good harvest or, to just keep the gods happy. Men and animals were sacrificed in Rome, but for sport not religious purposes.