Regardless of the religious faith under which you live, you have surely heard about and even seen countless images about the crucifixion of Jesus. The terrifying scene in which the prophet of the Catholic religion is exposed to a slow, painful and cruel death is reproduced ad nauseam in churches, and it is precisely because of that episode that the cross has become the main symbol of the religion. Christian. But, although it may seem like an abominable and atypical fact, the reality is that Roman crucifixion is not a matter that was born and died with Jesus, but was constituted as a widely used form of execution both in Ancient Rome and in other neighboring cultures of the Mediterranean.
And we tell you something even more abysmal: the Roman crucifixion was not completely left in the past. In the 21st century, some countries make particular interpretations of Sharia or Islamic Law, which leads to the criminal code of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and North Sudan, crucifixion is still considered a valid mechanism of torture and execution. Although unusual, this barbarism has not yet been buried in the past. Today at we have decided to go to the bases of the Roman crucifixion and reveal to you everything about this horrific act that stands out among the worst execution methods in history. Can you come with us?
The origin of the Roman crucifixion
Although the crucifixion of Jesus has been the most widespread and reproduced in history, the reality is that the origin of this horrific method is found in more ancient times. Historians believe that the first crucifixions in history occurred in Assyria, based on the impalement they practiced. From there the method would spread to Persia and would then be copied by Alexander the Great. But it would be the Carthaginian Phoenicians who introduced crucifixion in Rome in the 3rd century BC, during the Punic Wars.
While Roman crucifixion is the one we all know, this method was widely practiced by Persians, Greeks and even Japanese. The latter used to crucify people before and during the Tokugawa shogunate, and were called haritsuke. The prisoner was tied to a T-shaped cross and at the end they finished the execution by sticking spears into him. The body was left for a time before being buried.
Roman punishments and crucifixion: To whom did they apply?
Now, in Rome, before the crucifixion of Jesus, hundreds of other methods of punishment would be developed. Before the republic, The usual practice in the Roman Empire was to punish criminals by tying them to a tree and whipping them to death. There are those who believe that the custom of Roman crucifixion developed from the practice of arborisuspenre (hanging the prisoner from an arbor infelix, or unfortunate tree), but it has been extensively refuted by expert historians. According to these, the Romans in effect took the crucifixion from the Carthaginians. It was applied to slaves and then to freedmen from the provinces., to rebels, pirates, criminals and hated enemies. What was a constant is that the victim always came from a low social status.
The Roman crucifixion did not distinguish between sex. Men and women alike could be subjected to this torture. If they were people with a certain social level who had fallen into the misfortune of a death sentence, they were beheaded. But those who suffered the same fate as Jesus’ crucifixion faced a much more terrible scenario. They were forced to undress completely, being subjected to public scorn and humiliation. Roman crucifixion not only sought to kill, but also mutilated, dishonored and humiliated the condemned. Those who were crucified stayed there, totally exposed and naked, and were not buried.
Famous cases of crucifixion in history
Without a doubt, the most famous of all cases was the crucifixion of Jesus, but before that, some episodes were truly terrifying. The most notable mass Roman crucifixion was due to the revolt of Spartacus, in 73 BC. In the episode he was defeated along with his men. The survivors, more than six thousand slaves, were crucified along the Appian Way, the road between Rome and Capua.
Another of the great crucifixions in history is the one recorded by Herodotus, in the Babylonian rebellion against King Darius I, who ruled between 522 and 486 BC. What counts is that, after the long siege of the city by the Persians – 19 months – broke the defenses and took Babylon by storm. Darius broke down all its gates and although the city was returned to the Babylonians, The Persian king, to demonstrate that another revolt would not be tolerated, crucified three thousand of the highest ranking Babylonians.
On the other hand, When Alexander the Great captured the Phoenician city of Tire in 322 BC, he ordered the crucifixion of two thousand men., which were displayed along the beach. But it is also believed that he had the doctor who could not save his friend Hephaestion, and Callisthenes, his biographer, personal historian and nephew of his teacher Aristotle, crucified for being against adopting the Persian ceremony of royal worship. Another fact about the scope of the Roman crucifixion is that in the city of Cartago Nova, the same crucifixion of Jesus was established as an execution applied to generals who suffered a great defeat.
How does a crucified person die?
Roman crucifixion is one of the cruelest and most abominable methods of execution that have existed throughout history. In it, The victim dies slowly and painfully, in a process that can last from a few hours to several days. The process used to involve several stages. The prisoner was usually whipped and forced to carry one of the stakes on which he would later be nailed. Although the crucifixion of Jesus shows his wounds in the palms of his hands, historians defend that the victims were nailed from the wrists, between the radius and the ulna. Before placing the condemned on the cross, they used to break their legs to accelerate the process of their death, which could occur because the heart could not stand the pain and stopped, or due to asphyxiation.
The fact is that The Roman crucifixion was intended to generate the greatest amount of suffering and pain possible in the victim, as well as to intimidate the population. about the actions that led the condemned man to this horrible death. Roman crucifixion was abolished by Emperor Constantine in the year 337, but the grim memory of it will continue to fill the darkest pages of history.
If you have been interested in this topic, don’t miss this terrifying compilation of the thousand ways to die in the Roman Empire.