They are praised as architectural geniuses, perfect planners of communication and infrastructure, and founders of one of humanity's greatest cultures. Their gold-adorned temples were unmatched, their relay runners delivered messages as swiftly as the wind, and their sophisticated road network spanned several tens of thousands of kilometers, equipped with supply stations. It is all too easy to overlook that the Incas were conquerors who demanded obedience without mercy; a people with a strictly structured class society and an all-powerful, deified sovereign at the top. Beneath this direct descendant of the sun were family members, governors, military leaders, officials, priests, and various tribal leaders. Cusco, the "navel of the world," served the Incas from the very beginning as the center of power and the intersection of major routes. Their empire was divided into four regions.