While some Native Americans living under their control were given rights similar to Aztec citizens—including the ownership of property and participation in certain religious rituals—others became tributary subjects forced to pay heavy taxes under threat of conquest. Additionally, many people—both foreign captives taken in battle and some criminals punished under Aztec judicial code—were enslaved under various conditions by individuals of noble class as personal household retainers or laborers; slaves also carried litters on which the elite traveled and could be sacrificed on the altars of important temples like the Templo Mayor