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Crucifixion

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"Christ-like pose" redirects here. Not to be confused withJesus Christ Pose.
This article is about crucifixion as a method of capital punishment. For other uses, seeCrucifixion (disambiguation).
A15th centurydepiction ofJesuscrucified betweenthe two thieves

Crucifixionis a method ofcapital punishmentin which the condemned is tied or nailed to a large wooden cross, beam or stake and left to hang until eventual death.[1][2]It was used as a punishment by thePersians,Carthaginians,andRomans,[1]among others. Crucifixion has been used in some countries as recently as the 21st century.[3]

Thecrucifixion of Jesusis central toChristianity[1]and thecross(sometimesdepicted with Jesus nailed to it) is Christianity's preeminentreligious symbol.His death is the most prominent example of crucifixion in history, which in turn has led many cultures in the modern world to associate the execution method closely with Jesus and with Christian spirituality. Other figures in Christianity (such as the apostleSaint Peter) are traditionally believed to have undergone crucifixion as well. Today, limited numbers of Christians voluntarily undergo non-lethal crucifixions as a devotional practice.

Terminology

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Further information:Cross § Name

Ancient Greekhas two verbs for crucify:anastauroo(ἀνασταυρόω), fromstauros(which in modern Greek only means "cross"but which in antiquity was used for any kind of wooden pole, pointed or blunt, bare or with attachments) andapotumpanizo(ἀποτυμπανίζω) "crucify on a plank",[4]together withanaskolopizo(ἀνασκολοπίζω"impale"). In earlier pre-Roman Greek textsanastaurousually means "impale".[5][6][7]

The Greek used in the ChristianNew Testamentuses four verbs, three of them based uponstauros(σταυρός), usually translated "cross". The most common term isstauroo(σταυρόω), "to crucify", occurring 46 times;sustauroo(συσταυρόω), "to crucify with" or "alongside" occurs five times, whileanastauroo(ἀνασταυρόω), "to crucify again" occurs only once at theEpistle to the Hebrews6:6.Prospegnumi(προσπήγνυμι), "to fix or fasten to, impale, crucify" occurs only once, at theActs of the Apostles2:23.

The English termcrossderives from theLatinwordcrux,[8]which classically referred to a tree or any construction of wood used to hang criminals as a form of execution. The term later came to refer specifically to a cross.[9]The related termcrucifixderives from the Latincrucifixusorcruci fixus,past participle passive ofcrucifigereorcruci figere,meaning "to crucify" or "to fasten to a cross".[10][11][12][13]

Detail

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Gabriel von Max's 1866 paintingMartyressdepicts a crucified young woman and a young man laying flowers at her feet

Cross shape

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Two illustrations from editions of a book byJustus Lipsius(1547–1606): on left, acrux simplex(1629 edition, p. 19); on right, crucifixion of Jesus (1593 edition, p. 47).
See also:Instrument of Jesus' crucifixionandCrucifix

In theRoman Empire,thegibbet(instrument of execution) for crucifixions took on many shapes.Seneca the Younger(c. 4 BCE–65 CE) states: "I see crosses there, not just of one kind but made in many different ways: some have their victims with head down to the ground; some impale their private parts; others stretch out their arms on the gibbet."[14]According toJosephus,during EmperorTitus'sSiege of Jerusalem (70 CE),Roman soldiers nailed innumerableJewishcaptives to crosses in various ways.[2]

At times the gibbet was only one vertical stake, called in Latincrux simplex.[15]This was the simplest available construction for torturing and killing the condemned. Frequently, however, there was a cross-piece attached either at the top to give the shape of a T (crux commissa) or just below the top, as in the form most familiar in Christian symbolism (crux immissa).[16]The most ancient image of a Roman crucifixion depicts an individual on aT-shapedcross. It is a graffito found in a taberna (hostel for wayfarers) in Puteoli, dating to the time ofTrajanorHadrian(late 1st century to early 2nd century CE).[17]

Second-century writers who speak of the execution cross describe the crucified person's arms as outstretched, not attached to a single stake:Lucianspeaks ofPrometheusas crucified "above the ravine with his hands outstretched". He also says that the shape of the letter Τ (the Greek lettertau) was that of the wooden instrument used for crucifying.[18]Artemidorus,another writer of the same period, says that a cross is made of posts (plural) and nails and that the arms of the crucified are outstretched.[19]Speaking of the generic execution cross,Irenaeus(c. 130–202), a Christian writer, describes it as composed of an upright and a transverse beam, sometimes with a small projection in the upright.[20]

New Testament writings about the crucifixion of Jesus do not specify the shape of that cross, but subsequent early writings liken it to the letter T. According toWilliam Barclay,because tau is shaped exactly like thecrux commissaand represented the number 300, "wherever thefatherscame across the number 300 in the Old Testament they took it to be a mystical prefiguring of the cross of Christ ".[21]The earliest example, written around the late first century CE, is theEpistle of Barnabas,[22]with another example beingClement of Alexandria(c. 150– c. 215).[23]

Justin Martyr(c. 100– c. 165) sees the cross of Christ represented in the crossedspitsused to roast thePassover lamb.[24]

Nail placement

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In popular depictions of the crucifixion of Jesus (possibly because in translations ofJohn 20:25the wounds are described as being "in his hands" ), Jesus is shown with nails in his hands. But in Greek the word "χείρ", usually translated as "hand", could refer to the entire portion of the arm below the elbow,[25]and to denote thehandas distinct from thearmsome other word could be added, as "ἄκρην οὔτασε χεῖρα" (he wounded the end of the χείρ, i.e., "he wounded him in the hand".[26]

A possibility that does not require tying is that the nails were inserted just above the wrist, through thesoft tissue,between the two bones of the forearm (theradiusand theulna).[27]

A foot-rest (suppedaneum) attached to the cross, perhaps for the purpose of taking the person's weight off the wrists, is sometimes included in representations of the crucifixion of Jesus but is not discussed in ancient sources. Some scholars interpret theAlexamenos graffito(c. 200), the earliest surviving depiction of the crucifixion, as including such a foot-rest.[28]Ancient sources also mention thesedile,a small seat attached to the front of the cross, about halfway down,[29]which could have served a similar purpose.

1st centurycalcaneum(heel bone) with a nail

In 1968, archaeologists discovered atGiv'at ha-Mivtarin northeastJerusalemthe remains of oneJehohanan,who was crucified in the 1st century CE. The remains included a heel bone with a nail driven through it from the side. The tip of the nail was bent, perhaps because of striking a knot in the upright beam, which prevented it being extracted from the foot. A first inaccurate account of the length of the nail led some to believe that it had been driven through both heels, suggesting that the man had been placed in a sort of sidesaddle position, but the true length of the nail,11.5 centimetres (4+1⁄2inches), suggests instead that in this case of crucifixion the heels were nailed to opposite sides of the upright.[30][31][32]As of 2011, the skeleton fromGiv'at ha-Mivtarwas the only confirmed example of ancient crucifixion in the archaeological record.[33]A second set of skeletal remains with holes transverse through thecalcaneumheel bones, found in 2007, could be a second archaeological record of crucifixion.[34]The find inCambridgeshire(United Kingdom) in November 2017 of the remains of the heel bone of a (probably enslaved) man with an iron nail through it, is believed by the archeologists to confirm the use of this method in ancient Rome.[35]

Cause of death

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The length of time required to reach death could range from hours to days depending on method, the victim's health, and the environment.[36][37]

A theory attributed toPierre Barbetheld that, when the whole body weight was supported by the stretched arms, the typical cause of death wasasphyxiation.[38]He wrote that the condemned would have severe difficulty inhaling, due to hyper-expansion of the chest muscles and lungs. The condemned would therefore have to draw himself up by the arms, leading toexhaustion,or have his feet supported by tying or by a wood block. When no longer able to lift himself, the condemned would die within a few minutes. This theory has been supported by multiple scholars.[39]Other scholars, includingFrederick Zugibe,posit other causes of death. Zugibe suspended test subjects with their arms at 60° to 70° from the vertical. The test subjects had no difficulty breathing during experiments, but did suffer rapidly increasing pain,[40][41]which is consistent with the Roman use of crucifixion to achieve a prolonged, agonizing death. However, Zugibe's positioning of the test subjects necessarily did not precisely replicate the conditions of historical crucifixion.[42]In 2023, an analysis of medical literature concluded that asphyxiation is discredited as the primary cause of death from crucifixion.[43]

There is scholarly support for several[42]possible non-asphyxiation causes of death:heart failureorarrhythmia,[44][45]hypovolemic shock,[41]acidosis,[46]dehydration,[36]andpulmonary embolism.[47]Death could result from any combination of those factors, or from other causes, includingsepsisfollowing infection due to the wounds caused by the nails or by thescourgingthat often preceded crucifixion, or from stabbing by the guards.[36][39][44]

Survival

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Since death does not follow immediately on crucifixion, survival after a short period of crucifixion is possible, as in the case of those who choose each yearas a devotional practiceto be non-lethally crucified.

There is an ancient record of one person who survived a crucifixion that was intended to be lethal, but was interrupted. Josephus recounts:

I saw many captives crucified, and remembered three of them as my former acquaintances. I was very sorry at this in my mind, and went with tears in my eyes to Titus, and told him of them; so he immediately commanded them to be taken down, and to have the greatest care taken of them, in order to their recovery; yet two of them died under the physician's hands, while the third recovered.[48]

Josephus gives no details of the method or duration of the crucifixion of his three friends.

History and religious texts

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Pre-Roman states

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Crucifixion (or impalement), in one form or another, was used byPersians,Carthaginians,and among the Greeks, theMacedonians.

The Greeks were generally opposed to performing crucifixions.[49]However, in hisHistories,ix.120–122, Greek writerHerodotusdescribes the execution of a Persian general at the hands of Athenians in about 479 BC: "They nailed him to a plank and hung him up... thisArtaycteswho suffered death by crucifixion. "[50]TheCommentary on Herodotusby How and Wells remarks: "They crucified him with hands and feet stretched out and nailed to cross-pieces; cf. vii.33. This act, supposedly unusual on the part of Greeks, may be explained by the enormity of the outrage or by Athenian deference to local feeling."[51]

A black-and-white painting showing five men, two in armour, crucified in front of a city
A nineteenth-century depiction of the crucifixion of rebel leaders by theCarthaginiansin 238 BC

Some Christiantheologians,beginning withPaulofTarsuswriting inGalatians 3:13,have interpreted an allusion to crucifixion inDeuteronomy21:22–23.This reference is to being hanged from a tree, and may be associated withlynchingor traditional hanging. However, Rabbinic law limited capital punishment to just 4 methods of execution: stoning, burning, strangulation, and decapitation, while the passage in Deuteronomy was interpreted as an obligation to hang the corpse on a tree as a form of deterrence.[52]The fragmentary Aramaic Testament of Levi (DSS 4Q541) interprets in column 6: "God... (partially legible)-will set... right errors.... (partially legible)-He will judge... revealed sins. Investigate and seek and know how Jonah wept. Thus, you shall not destroy the weak by wasting away or by... (partially legible)-crucifixion... Let not the nail touch him. "[53]

The Jewish kingAlexander Jannaeus,king of Judea from 103 to 76 BCE, crucified 800 rebels, said to bePharisees,in the middle of Jerusalem.[54][55]

Alexander the Greatis reputed to have crucified 2,000 survivors fromhis siegeof thePhoeniciancity ofTyre,[56]as well as the doctor who unsuccessfully treated Alexander's lifelong friendHephaestion.Some historians have also conjectured that Alexander crucifiedCallisthenes,his official historian and biographer, for objecting to Alexander's adoption of the Persian ceremony ofroyal adoration.

InCarthage,crucifixion was an established mode of execution, which could even be imposed on generals for suffering a major defeat.[57][58][59]

The oldest crucifixion may be a post-mortem one mentioned by Herodotus.Polycrates,the tyrant ofSamos,was put to death in 522 BCE by the Persians, and his dead body was then crucified.[60]

Ancient Rome

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History

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The Greek and Latin words corresponding to "crucifixion" applied to many different forms of painful execution, including being impaled on a stake, or affixed to a tree, upright pole (acrux simplex), or to a combination of an upright (in Latin,stipes) and a crossbeam (in Latin,patibulum). Seneca the Younger wrote: "I see crosses there, not just of one kind but made in many different ways: some have their victims with head down to the ground; some impale their private parts; others stretch out their arms on the gibbet".[61]

Crucifixion was generally performed within Ancient Rome as a means to dissuade others from perpetrating similar crimes, with victims sometimes left on display after death as a warning. Crucifixion was intended to provide a death that was particularly slow, painful (hence the termexcruciating,literally "out of crucifying" ), gruesome, humiliating, and public, using whatever means were most expedient for that goal. Crucifixion methods varied considerably with location and period.

One hypothesis suggested that theAncient Romancustom of crucifixion may have developed out of a primitive custom ofarbori suspendere—hanging on anarbor infelix( "inauspicious tree" ) dedicated to the gods of the nether world. This hypothesis is rejected by William A. Oldfather, who shows that this form of execution (thesupplicium more maiorum,punishment in accordance with the custom of our ancestors) consisted of suspending someone from a tree, not dedicated to any particular gods, and flogging him to death.[62]Tertullianmentions a 1st-century AD case in which trees were used for crucifixion,[63]but Seneca the Younger earlier used the phraseinfelix lignum(unfortunate wood) for the transom ( "patibulum" ) or the whole cross.[64]PlautusandPlutarchare the two main sources for accounts of criminals carrying their own patibula to the uprightstipes.[65]

Notorious mass crucifixions followed theThird Servile Warin 73–71 BCE (the slave rebellion led bySpartacus), and otherRoman civil warsin the 2nd and 1st centuries BCE.Crassusordered the crucifixion of 6,000 of Spartacus' followers who had been hunted down and captured after the slave defeat in battle.[66]Josephus says that in the siege that led to thedestruction of Jerusalemin AD 70, the Roman soldiers crucified Jewish captives before the walls of Jerusalem and out of anger and hatred amused themselves by nailing them in different positions.[67]

In some cases, the condemned was forced to carry the crossbeam to the place of execution.[68]A whole cross would weigh well over 135 kg (300 lb), but the crossbeam would not be as burdensome, weighing around 45 kg (100 lb).[69]The Roman historianTacitusrecords that the city of Rome had a specific place for carrying out executions, situated outside theEsquiline Gate,[70]and had a specific area reserved for the execution ofslavesby crucifixion.[71]Upright posts would presumably be fixed permanently in that place, and the crossbeam, with the condemned person perhaps already nailed to it, would then be attached to the post.

The person executed may have been attached to the cross by rope, though nails and other sharp materials are mentioned in a passage by Josephus, where he states that at the Siege of Jerusalem (70 CE), "the soldiers out of rage and hatred,nailedthose they caught, one after one way, and another after another, to the crosses, by way of jest ".[72]Objects used in the crucifixion of criminals, such as nails, were sought asamuletswith perceived medicinal qualities.[73]

While a crucifixion was an execution, it was also a humiliation, by making the condemned as vulnerable as possible. Although artists have traditionally depicted the figure on a cross with a loin cloth or a covering of the genitals, the person being crucified was usually stripped naked. Writings by Seneca the Younger state some victims suffered a stick forced upwards through their groin.[14][74]Despite its frequent use by the Romans, the horrors of crucifixion did not escape criticism by some eminent Roman orators.Cicero,for example, described crucifixion as "a most cruel and disgusting punishment",[75]and suggested that "the very mention of the cross should be far removed not only from a Roman citizen's body, but from his mind, his eyes, his ears".[76]Elsewhere he says, "It is a crime to bind a Roman citizen; to scourge him is a wickedness; to put him to death is almost parricide. What shall I say of crucifying him? So guilty an action cannot by any possibility be adequately expressed by any name bad enough for it."[77]

Frequently, the legs of the person executed were broken or shattered with an ironclub,an act calledcrurifragium,which was also frequently applied without crucifixion to slaves.[78]This act hastened the death of the person but was also meant todeterthose who observed the crucifixion from committing offenses.[78]

Constantine the Great,the first Christianemperor,abolished crucifixion in the Roman Empire in 337 out of veneration forJesus Christ,its most famous victim.[79][80][81]

Society and law

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TheAlexamenos graffito,a satirical representation of the Christian worship, depicting a man worshiping a crucified donkey (Rome, c AD 85 to 3rd century). It is inscribed ΑΛΕΞΑΜΕΝΟΣ (ΑΛΕΞΑΜΕΝΟϹ) ΣΕΒΕΤΕ (ϹΕΒΕΤΕ) ΘΕΟΝ, which translates as "Alexamenos worships his god". Visible at the museum on the Palatine Hill, Rome, Italy (left). A modern-day tracing (right).

Crucifixion was intended to be a gruesome spectacle: the most painful and humiliating death imaginable.[82][83]It was used to punishslaves,pirates,and enemies of the state. It was originally reserved for slaves (hence still called "supplicium servile" by Seneca), and later extended to citizens of the lower classes (humiliores).[29]The victims of crucifixion were stripped naked[29][84]and put on public display[85][86]while they were slowlytorturedto death so that they would serve as aspectacle and an example.[82][83]

According to Roman law, if a slave killed his or her owner, all of the owner's slaves would be crucified as punishment.[87]Both men and women were crucified.[88][89][86]Tacitus writes in hisAnnalsthat whenLucius Pedanius Secunduswas murdered by a slave, some in the Senate tried to prevent the mass crucifixion of four hundred of his slaves[87]because there were so many women and children, but in the end tradition prevailed and they were all executed.[90]Although not conclusive evidence for female crucifixion by itself, the most ancient image of a Roman crucifixion may depict a crucified woman, whether real or imaginary.[a]Crucifixion was such a gruesome andhumiliatingway to die that the subject was somewhat of a taboo in Roman culture, and few crucifixions were specifically documented. One of the only specific female crucifixions that are documented is that of Ida, afreedwoman(former slave) who was crucified by order of Tiberius.[91][92]

Process

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Crucifixion was typically carried out by specialized teams, consisting of a commandingcenturionand his soldiers.[93]First, the condemned would be stripped naked[93]and scourged.[29]This would cause the person to lose a large amount of blood, and approach a state ofshock.The convict then usually had to carry the horizontal beam (patibuluminLatin) to the place of execution, but not necessarily the whole cross.[29]

During the death march, the prisoner, probably[94]stillnudeafter the scourging,[93]would be led through the most crowded streets[85]bearing atitulus– a sign board proclaiming the prisoner's name and crime.[29][86][93]Upon arrival at the place of execution, selected to be especially public,[86][85][95]the convict would be stripped of any remaining clothing, then nailed to the cross naked.[68][29][86][95]If the crucifixion took place in an established place of execution, the vertical beam (stipes) might be permanently embedded in the ground.[29][93]In this case, the condemned person's wrists would first be nailed to thepatibulum,and then he or she would be hoisted off the ground with ropes to hang from the elevatedpatibulumwhile it was fastened to thestipes.[29][93]Next the feet or ankles would be nailed to the upright stake.[29][93]The 'nails' were tapered iron spikes approximately 13 to 18 cm (5 to 7 in) long, with a square shaft10 millimetres (3⁄8in) across.[30]Thetituluswould also be fastened to the cross to notify onlookers of the person's name and crime as they hung on the cross, further maximizing the public impact.[86][93]

There may have been considerable variation in the position in which prisoners were nailed to their crosses and how their bodies were supported while they died.[83]Seneca the Younger recounts: "I see crosses there, not just of one kind but made in many different ways: some have their victims with head down to the ground; some impale their private parts; others stretch out their arms on the gibbet."[14]One source claims that for Jews (apparently not for others), a man would be crucified with his back to the cross as is traditionally depicted, while a woman would be nailed facing her cross, probably with her back to onlookers, or at least with thestipesproviding some semblance ofmodestyif viewed from the front.[32]Such concessions were "unique" and not made outside a Jewish context.[32]Several sources mention some sort of seat fastened to thestipesto help support the person's body,[96][97][98]thereby prolonging the person's suffering[85]and humiliation[83]by preventing theasphyxiationcaused by hanging without support. Justin Martyr calls the seat acornu,or "horn,"[96]leading some scholars to believe it may have had a pointed shape designed to torment the crucified person.[99]This would be consistent with Seneca's observation of victims with their private parts impaled.

In Roman-style crucifixion, the condemned could take up to a few days to die, but death was sometimes hastened by human action. "The attending Roman guards could leave the site only after the victim had died, and were known to precipitate death by means of deliberate fracturing of the tibia and/or fibula, spear stab wounds into the heart, sharp blows to the front of the chest, or a smoking fire built at the foot of the cross to asphyxiate the victim."[36]The Romans sometimes broke the prisoner's legs to hasten death and usually forbade burial.[86]On the other hand, the person was often deliberately kept alive as long as possible to prolong their suffering and humiliation, so as to provide the maximum deterrent effect.[83]Corpses of the crucified were typically left on the crosses to decompose and be eaten by animals.[83][100]

In Islam

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Further information:Hirabah

Islam spread in a region where many societies, including the Persian and Roman empires, had used crucifixion to punish traitors, rebels, robbers and criminal slaves.[101]The Qur'an refers to crucifixion in six passages, of which the most significant for later legal developments is verse 5:33:[102][101]

The punishment of those who wage war against Allah and His Apostle, and strive with might and main for mischief through the land is: execution, or crucifixion, or the cutting off of hands and feet from opposite sides, or exile from the land: that is their disgrace in this world, and a heavy punishment is theirs in the Hereafter.[103]

The corpus ofhadithprovides contradictory statements about the first use of crucifixion under Islamic rule, attributing it variously toMuhammadhimself (for murder and robbery of a shepherd) or to the second caliphUmar(applied to two slaves who murdered their mistress).[101]Classical Islamic jurisprudence applies the verse 5:33 chiefly to highway robbers, as ahadd(scripturally prescribed) punishment.[101]The preference for crucifixion over the other punishments mentioned in the verse or for their combination (whichSadakat Kadrihas called "Islam's equivalent of the hanging, drawing and quartering that medieval Europeans inflicted on traitors" )[104]is subject to "complex and contested rules" in classical jurisprudence.[101]Most scholars required crucifixion for highway robbery combined with murder, while others allowed execution by other methods for this scenario.[101]The main methods of crucifixion are:[101]

Most classical jurists limit the period of crucifixion to three days.[101]Crucifixion involves affi xing or impaling the body to a beam or a tree trunk.[101]Various minority opinions also prescribed crucifixion as punishment for a number of other crimes.[101]Cases of crucifixion under most of the legally prescribed categories have been recorded in the history of Islam, and prolonged exposure of crucified bodies was especially common for political and religious opponents.[101][108]

Japan

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EarlyMeiji periodcrucifixion (c. 1865–1868),Yokohama,Japan.A 25-year-old servant, Sokichi, was executed by crucifixion for murdering his employer's son during the course of a robbery. He was affixed by tying to a stake with two cross-pieces.[109][110]

Crucifixion was introduced intoJapanduring theSengoku period(1467–1573), after a 350-year period with no capital punishment.[111]It is believed to have been suggested to the Japanese by the introduction ofChristianityinto the region,[111]although similar types of punishment had been used as early as theKamakura period.Known in Japanese asharitsuke(Trách),crucifixion was used in Japan before and during theTokugawa Shogunate.Several related crucifixion techniques were used. Petra Schmidt, in "Capital Punishment in Japan", writes:[112]

Execution by crucifixion included, first of all,hikimawashi(i.e, being paraded about town on horseback); then the unfortunate was tied to a cross made from one vertical and two horizontal poles. The cross was raised, the convict speared several times from two sides, and eventually killed with a final thrust through the throat. The corpse was left on the cross for three days. If one condemned to crucifixion died in prison, his body was pickled and the punishment executed on the dead body. UnderToyotomi Hideyoshi,one of the great 16th-century unifiers, crucifixion upside down (i.e,sakasaharitsuke) was frequently used. Water crucifixion (mizuharitsuke) awaited mostly Christians: a cross was raised at low tide; when the high tide came, the convict was submerged under water up to the head, prolonging death for many days

The 1622Great Genna Martyrdomincluded crucifixions

In 1597,26 Christian Martyrswere nailed to crosses atNagasaki,Japan. Among those executed were SaintsPaulo Miki,Philip of JesusandPedro Bautista,a SpanishFranciscan.The executions marked the beginning of a long history ofpersecution of Christianity in Japan,which continued until its decriminalization in 1871.

Crucifixion was used as a punishment for prisoners of war duringWorld War II.Ringer Edwards,an Australian prisoner of war, was crucified for killing cattle, along with two others. He survived 63 hours before being let down.

Burma

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InBurma,crucifixion was a central element in several execution rituals. Felix Carey, a missionary in Burma from 1806 to 1812,[113]wrote the following:[114]

Four or five persons, after being nailed through their hands and feet to a scaffold, had first their tongues cut out, then their mouths slit open from ear to ear, then their ears cut off, and finally their bellies ripped open.

Six people were crucified in the following manner: their hands and feet nailed to a scaffold; then their eyes were extracted with a blunt hook; and in this condition they were left to expire; two died in the course of four days; the rest were liberated, but died of mortification on the sixth or seventh day.

Four persons were crucified, viz. not nailed but tied with their hands and feet stretched out at full length, in an erect posture. In this posture they were to remain till death; every thing they wished to eat was ordered them with a view to prolong their lives and misery. In cases like this, the legs and feet of the criminals begin to swell and mortify at the expiration of three or four days; some are said to live in this state for a fortnight, and expire at last from fatigue and mortification. Those which I saw, were liberated at the end of three or four days.

Europe

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Poster showing a German soldier nailing a man to a tree, as American soldiers come to his rescue. Published in Manila by Bureau of Printing (1917).

DuringWorld War I,there were persistent rumors that German soldiershad crucified a Canadian soldieron a tree or barn door withbayonetsor combat knives. The event was initially reported in 1915 by Private George Barrie of the1st Canadian Division.Two investigations, one a post-war official investigation, and the other an independent investigation by theCanadian Broadcasting Corporation,concluded that there was no evidence to support the story.[115]However, British documentary makerIain Overtonin 2001 published an article claiming that the story was true, identifying the soldier asHarry Band.[115][116]Overton's article was the basis for a 2002 episode of theChannel 4documentary showSecret History.[117]

It has been reported that crucifixion was used in several cases against theGermancivil population ofEast Prussiawhen it was occupied bySovietforces at the end of World War II.[118]

Archaeological evidence

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Further information:Jehohanan

Although the Roman historiansJosephusandAppianrefer to the crucifixion of thousands in during theRoman-Jewish warsinJudaeaby the Romans, there are few actual archaeological remains. A prominent example is the crucified body found in a Jewish tomb dating back to the first century CE which was discovered atGivat HaMivtar,Jerusalem in 1968.[119]The remains were found accidentally in anossuarywith the crucified man's name on it, "Jehohanan, the son of Hagakol."[120][121]Nicu Haas, from the Hebrew University Medical School, examined the ossuary and discovered that it contained a heel bone with a nail driven through its side, indicating that the man had been crucified. The position of the nail relative to the bone suggests the feet had been nailed to the cross from their side, not from their front; various opinions have been proposed as to whether they were both nailed together to the front of the cross or one on the left side, one on the right side. The point of the nail had olive wood fragments on it indicating that he was crucified on a cross made of olive wood or on an olive tree.

Additionally, a piece ofacaciawood was located between the bones and the head of the nail, presumably to keep the condemned from freeing his foot by sliding it over the nail. His legs were found broken, possibly to hasten his death. It is thought that because in earlier Roman times iron was valuable, the nails were removed from the dead body to conserve costs. According to Haas, this could help to explain why only one nail has been found, as the tip of the nail in question was bent in such a way that it could not be removed. Haas had also identified a scratch on the inner surface of the right radius bone of the forearm, close to the wrist. He deduced from the form of the scratch, as well as from the intact wrist bones, that a nail had been driven into the forearm at that position.[citation needed]

Many of Haas' findings have, however, been challenged. For instance, it was subsequently determined that the scratches in the wrist area were non-traumatic – and, therefore, not evidence of crucifixion – while reexamination of the heel bone revealed that the two heels were not nailed together, but rather separately to either side of the upright post of the cross.[122]

In 2007, a possible case of a crucified body, with a round hole in a heel bone, possibly caused by a nail, was discovered in thePo ValleynearRovigo,in northern Italy.[123] In 2017 part of a crucified body, with a nail in the heel, was additionally discovered atFenstantonin the United Kingdom.[124]Further studies suggested that the remains may be those of a slave, because at that time crucifixion was banned in Roman law for citizens, although not necessarily for slaves.[125]

Modern use

[edit]
Prisoner kneeling on chains, thumbs supporting arms, photographic print onstereo card,Mukden,China (c. 1906)
[edit]

Crucifixion is still used as a rare method of execution in Saudi Arabia. The punishment of crucifixion (șalb) imposed in Islamic law is variously interpreted as exposure of the body after execution, crucifixion followed by stabbing in the chest, or crucifixion for three days, survivors of which are allowed to live.[126]

Several people have been subjected to crucifixion inSaudi Arabiain the 2000s, although on occasion they were first beheaded and then crucified. In March 2013, a robber was set to be executed by being crucified for three days.[127]However, the method was changed to death by firing squad.[128]The Saudi Press Agency reported that the body of another individual was crucified after his execution in April 2019 as part of a crackdown on charges of terrorism.[129][130]

Ali Mohammed Baqir al-Nimrwas arrested in 2012 when he was 17 years old for taking part in ananti-government protestin Saudi Arabia during theArab Spring.[131]In May 2014, Ali al-Nimr was sentenced to be publicly beheaded and crucified.[132]

Theoretically, crucifixion is still one of theHaddpunishments inIran.[133][134]If a crucified person were to survive three days of crucifixion, that person would be allowed to live.[135]Execution by hanging is described as follows: "In execution by hanging, the prisoner will be hung on a hanging truss which should look like a cross, while his (her) back is toward the cross, and (s)he faces the direction ofMecca[in Saudi Arabia], and his (her) legs are vertical and distant from the ground. "[136]

Sudan'spenal code,based upon the government's interpretation ofshari'a,[137][138][139]includes execution followed by crucifixion as a penalty. When, in 2002, 88 people were sentenced to death for crimes relating to murder, armed robbery, and participating in ethnic clashes,Amnesty Internationalwrote that they could be executed by either hanging or crucifixion.[140]

Jihadism

[edit]

On 5 February 2015, the United NationsCommittee on the Rights of the Child(CRC) reported that theIslamic State of Iraq and the Levant(ISIL) had committed "several cases of mass executions of boys, as well as reports of beheadings, crucifixions of children and burying children alive".[141]

On 30 April 2014, a total of seven public executions were carried out inRaqqa,northernSyria.[142]The pictures, originally posted toTwitterby a student atOxford University,were retweeted by a Twitter account owned by a known member of ISIL causing major media outlets to incorrectly attribute the origin of the post to the militant group.[143]In most of these cases of crucifixion the victims are shot first then their bodies are displayed[144]but there have also been reports of crucifixion preceding shootings or decapitations[145]as well as a case where a man was said to have been "crucified alive for eight hours" with no indication of whether he died.[144]

Other incidents

[edit]

The human rights group Karen Women Organization documented a case ofTatmadawforces crucifying severalKarenvillagers in 2000 in theDooplaya DistrictinBurma'sKayin State.[146][147]

On 22 January 2014,Dmytro Bulatov,a Ukrainian anti-government activist and member ofAutoMaidan,claimed to have been kidnapped by unknown persons "speaking in Russian accents" and tortured for a week. His captors kept him in the dark, beat him, cut off a piece of his ear, and nailed him to a cross. His captors ultimately left him in a forest outsideKyivafter forcing him to confess to being anAmericanspy and accepting money from the US Embassy inUkraineto organizeprotestsagainst then-PresidentViktor Yanukovych.[148][149][150]Bulatov said he believed Russian secret services were responsible.[151]

In 1997, theMinistry of Justicein theUnited Arab Emiratesissued a statement that a court had sentenced two murderers to be crucified, to be followed by their executions the next day.[152][153]A Ministry of Justice official later stated that the crucifixion sentence should be considered cancelled.[154]The crucifixions were not carried out, and the convicts were instead executed byfiring squad.[155]

In culture and arts

[edit]
Main article:Crucifixion in the arts

As a devotional practice

[edit]
Further information:Crucifixion in the Philippines

In July 1805, a man named Mattio Lovatattempted to crucify himselfat a public street inVenice,Italy. The attempt was unsuccessful, and he was sent to an asylum, where he died a year later.[156]

In some cases, a crucifixion is simulated within apassion play,as in the ceremonial re-enactment that has been performed yearly in the town ofIztapalapa,on the outskirts ofMexico City,since 1833,[157]and in the famousOberammergau Passion Play.Also, since at least the mid-19th century, a group offlagellantsinNew Mexico,calledHermanos de Luz( "Brothers of Light" ), have annually conducted reenactments of Christ's crucifixion duringHoly Week,in which a penitent is tied—but not nailed—to a cross.[158]

Devotional crucifixion inSan Fernando, Pampanga,Philippines, Easter 2006

TheCatholic Churchfrowns upon self-crucifixion as a form of devotion: "Penitential practices leading to self-crucifixion with nails are not to be encouraged."[159]Despite this, the practice persists in thePhilippines,where some Catholics arevoluntarily, non-lethally crucifiedfor a limited time onGood Fridayto imitate the sufferings of Christ. Pre-sterilised nails are driven through the palm of the hand between the bones, while there is a footrest to which the feet are nailed. Rolando del Campo, a carpenter inPampanga,vowed to be crucified every Good Friday for 15 years if God would carry his wife through a difficult childbirth,[160]while inSan Pedro Cutud,Ruben Enajehas been crucified 34 times.[161]TheFilipino Catholic Churchhas repeatedly voiced disapproval of crucifixions and self-flagellation,while the government has noted that it cannot deter devotees. TheDepartment of Healthrecommends that participants in the rites should havetetanusshots and that the nails used should be sterilized.[162]

Notable crucifixions

[edit]
  • The rebel slaves of theThird Servile War:Between 73 and 71 BCE, a band of slaves, eventually numbering about 120,000, under the (at least partial) leadership ofSpartacuswere in open revolt against theRoman republic.The rebellion was eventually crushed and, while Spartacus himself most likely died in the final battle of the revolt, approximately 6,000 of his followers were crucified along the 200-kmAppian Waybetween Capua and Rome[163]as a warning to any other would-be rebels.
  • Jehohanan:Jewish man who was crucified around the same time as Jesus; it is widely accepted that his ankles were nailed to the side of thestipesof the cross.
  • Jesus:His death by crucifixionunderPontius Pilate(c. 30 or 33 CE), recounted in the four 1st-century canonicalGospels,is referred to repeatedly as something well known in the earlier letters ofSaint Paul,for instance, five times in his First Letter to the Corinthians, written in 57 CE (1:13, 1:18, 1:23, 2:2, 2:8). Pilate, the Roman governor ofJudaea provinceat the time, is explicitly linked with the condemnation of Jesus by the Gospels, andsubsequentlybyTacitus.[164]The civil charge was a claim to beKing of the Jews.
  • Saint Peter:Christian apostle, who according to tradition was crucified upside-down at his own request (hence theCross of Saint Peter),[165]because he did not feel worthy enough to die the same way as Jesus.
  • Saint Andrew:Christian apostle andSaint Peter's brother, who is traditionally said to have been crucified on anX-shapedcross (hence theSaint Andrew's Cross).
  • Simeon of Jerusalem:secondBishop of Jerusalem,crucified in either 106 or 107 CE.[166]
  • Mani:the founder ofManicheanism,he was depicted by followers as having died by crucifixion in 274 CE.[167]
  • Eulalia of Barcelonawas venerated as a saint. According to her hagiography, she was stripped naked, tortured, and ultimately crucified on anX-shapedcross.[168]
  • Wilgefortiswas venerated as a saint and represented as a crucified woman, however her legend comes from a misinterpretation of a full-clothed crucifix known as theVolto Santo of Lucca.
  • The26 Martyrs of Japan:Japanese martyrs who were crucified and impaled with spears.

See also

[edit]

Notes

[edit]
  1. ^It is a graffito found in a taberna (hostel for wayfarers) in Puteoli, dating to the time ofTrajanorHadrian(late 1st century to early 2nd century AD). An inscription over the person's left shoulder reads "Ἀλκίμιλα"(Alkimila), a female name. It is not clear, however, whether the inscription was written by the same person who drew the picture, or added by another person later. It is also not known whether the graffito is intended to depict an actual event, as distinguished from, perhaps, the writer's desire for someone to be crucified, or as a jest. As such, the graffito does not itself provide conclusive evidence of female crucifixion.[17]

References

[edit]
  1. ^abcGranger Cook, John (2018). "Cross/Crucifixion". In Hunter, David G.; van Geest, Paul J. J.; Lietaert Peerbolte, Bert Jan (eds.).Brill Encyclopedia of Early Christianity Online.LeidenandBoston:Brill Publishers.doi:10.1163/2589-7993_EECO_SIM_00000808.ISSN2589-7993.
  2. ^ab[1]Josephus.The Jewish War.5.11.1.,Perseus ProjectBJ5.11.1,.
  3. ^Roger Bourke,Prisoners of the Japanese: Literary imagination and the prisoner-of-war experience(St Lucia: University of Queensland Press, 2006), Chapter 2 "A Town Like Aliceand the prisoner of war as Christ-figure ", pp. 30–65.
  4. ^LSJ apotumpanizoἀποτυμπα^ν-ίζω (later ἀποτύμπα^ν-τυπ- UPZ119 (2nd century BC), POxy.1798.1.7), A. crucify on a plank, D.8.61,9.61: – Pass., Lys.13.56, D.19.137, Arist. Rh. 1383a5, Beros. ap. J.Ap.1.20. 2. generally, destroy, Plu.2.1049d.
  5. ^LSJ anastauro ἀνασταυρ-όω, = foreg., Hdt.3.125, 6.30, al.; identical with ἀνασκολοπίζω, 9.78: – Pass., Th. 1.110, Pl.Grg.473c. II. in Rom. times, affix to a cross, crucify, Plb. 1.11.5, al., Plu.Fab.6, al. 2. crucify afresh, Ep.Hebr.6.6.
  6. ^Plutarch Fabius Maximus 6.3 "Hannibal now perceived the mistake in his position, and its peril, and crucified the native guides who were responsible for it."
  7. ^Polybius 1.11.5 [5]Historiae.Polybius. Theodorus Büttner-Wobst after L. Dindorf. Leipzig. Teubner. 1893.
  8. ^"Online Etymology Dictionary," cross "".Etymonline.Retrieved2009-12-19.
  9. ^Charlton T. Lewis, Charles Short,A Latin Dictionary:crux, ŭcis, f. (m., Enn. ap. Non. p. 195, 13; Gracch. ap. Fest. s. v. masculino, p. 150, 24, and 151, 12 Müll.) [perh. kindred with circus]. I. Lit. A. In gen., a tree, frame, or other wooden instruments of execution, on which criminals were impaled or hanged, Sen. Prov. 3, 10; Cic. Rab. Perd. 3, 10 sqq. – B. In partic., a cross, Ter. And. 3, 5, 15; Cic. Verr. 2, 1, 3, § 7; 2, 1, 4, § 9; id. Pis. 18, 42; id. Fin. 5, 30, 92; Quint. 4, 2, 17; Tac. A. 15, 44; Hor. S. 1, 3, 82; 2, 7, 47; id. Ep. 1, 16, 48 et saep.: "dignus fuit qui malo cruce periret, Gracch. ap. Fest. l. l.: pendula", the pole of a carriage, Stat. S. 4, 3, 28.
  10. ^"Collins English Dictionary," crucify "".Collins. 31 December 2011.Retrieved12 December2012.
  11. ^"Compact Oxford English Dictionary," crucify "".Oxford University Press. Archived fromthe originalon May 21, 2013.Retrieved12 December2012.
  12. ^"Webster New World College Dictionary," crucify "".yourdictionary /.Retrieved12 December2012.
  13. ^"Online Etymology Dictionary," crucify "".Etymonline.Retrieved2009-12-19.
  14. ^abcSeneca, Dialogue "To Marcia on Consolation", inMoral Essays,6.20.3, trans. John W. Basore, The Loeb Classical Library (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1946) 2:69
  15. ^Barclay, William (1998).The Apostles' Creed.Westminster John Knox Press. p. 78.ISBN978-0-664-25826-9.
  16. ^"The... oldest depiction of a crucifixion... was uncovered by archaeologists more than a century ago on thePalatine Hillin Rome. It is a second-centurygraffitiscratched into a wall that was part of the imperial palace complex. It includes a caption – not by a Christian, but by someone taunting and deriding Christians and the crucifixions they underwent. It shows crudestick-figuresof a boy reverencing his 'God', who has the head of ajackassand is upon a cross with arms spread wide and with hands nailed to the crossbeam. Here we have a Roman sketch of a Roman crucifixion, and it is in the traditional cross shape. "Clayton F. Bower Jr."Cross or Torture Stake?"Archived2008-03-29 at theWayback Machine
  17. ^abCook, John Granger (2012). "Crucifixion as Spectacle in Roman Campania".Novum Testamentum.54(1): 60, 92–98.doi:10.1163/156853611X589651.JSTOR23253630.
  18. ^"It was his body that tyrants took for a model, his shape that they imitated, when they set up the erections on which men are crucified" (Lucian,Trial in the Court of Vowels,p. 30
  19. ^Cook, John Granger (10 December 2018).Crucifixion in the Mediterranean World.Mohr Siebeck. p. 289; cf. pp. 7–8.ISBN978-3-16-156001-9.
  20. ^"The very form of the cross, too, has five extremities, two in length, two in breadth, and one in the middle, on which [last] the person rests who is fixed by the nails" ( Irenaeus,Adversus HaeresesII,4[permanent dead link]).
  21. ^Barclay, William(1998).The Apostles' Creed.Westminster John Knox Press.p. 79.ISBN978-0-664-25826-9.
  22. ^Epistle of Barnabas, chapter 9
  23. ^"Clement of Alexandria,The Stromata,book VI, chapter 11 ".
  24. ^"Justin Martyr,Dialogue with Trypho,XL, 3 ".That lamb which was commanded to be wholly roasted was a symbol of the suffering of the cross which Christ would undergo. For the lamb, which is roasted, is roasted and dressed up in the form of the cross. For one spit is transfixed right through from the lower parts up to the head, and one across the back, to which are attached the legs of the lamb.
  25. ^In theHomeric Greekof theIliadXX, 478–480, a spear-point is said to have pierced the χεῖρ "where the sinews of the elbow join" (ἵνα τε ξενέχουσι τένοντες / ἀγκῶνος, τῇ τόν γε φίλης διὰ χειρὸς ἔπειρεν / αἰχμῇ χακλκείῃ).
  26. ^χείρ.Liddell, Henry George;Scott, Robert;A Greek–English Lexiconat thePerseus Project
  27. ^Wynne-Jones, Jonathan (16 March 2008)."Why the BBC thinks Christ did not die this way".Daily Telegraph.London. Archived fromthe originalon 19 March 2008.Retrieved2008-03-16.
  28. ^Viladesau, Richard (2006).The beauty of the cross: the passion of Christ in theology and the arts, from the catacombs to the eve of the Renaissance.Oxford University Press. p. 21.ISBN978-0-19-518811-0.OCLC58791208.
  29. ^abcdefghijKohler, Kaufmann; Hirsch, Emil G."Crucifixion".Jewish Encyclopedia.Retrieved2018-03-06.
  30. ^ab"Some Notes on Crucifixion"(PDF).Archived fromthe original(PDF)on 2011-07-18.Retrieved2009-12-19.
  31. ^David W. Chapman, Ancient Jewish and Christian perceptions of crucifixion(Mohr Siebeck, 2008), pp. 86–89
  32. ^abc"Joe Zias, Crucifixion in Antiquity — The Anthropological Evidence".Joezias. Archived fromthe originalon 2004-03-11.Retrieved2009-12-19.
  33. ^"The Bioarchaeology of Crucifixion".PoweredbyOsteons.org.Retrieved2011-11-04.
  34. ^"A multidisciplinary study of calcaneal trauma in Roman Italy:a possible case of crucifixion?".Retrieved2021-06-01.
  35. ^"Crucifixion in the Fens: life & death in Roman Fenstanton"(PDF).Archived(PDF)from the original on 2022-10-09.Retrieved2021-12-10.
  36. ^abcdRetief FP, Cilliers L (December 2003). "The history and pathology of crucifixion".South African Medical Journal.93(12): 938–941.PMID14750495.
  37. ^William Stroud; Sir James Young Simpson (1871).Treatise on the Physical Cause of the Death of Christ and Its Relation to the Principles and Practice of Christianity.Hamilton, Adams & Company.Retrieved12 March2013.
  38. ^"Columbia University page of Pierre Barbet on Crucifixion".columbia.edu.Archived fromthe originalon 2009-12-11.Retrieved2009-12-22.
  39. ^abHabermas, Gary; Kopel, Jonathan; Shaw, Benjamin C.F. (July 30, 2021)."Medical views on the death by crucifixion of Jesus Christ".Baylor University Medical Center Proceedings.34(6): 748–52.doi:10.1080/08998280.2021.1951096.PMC8545147.PMID34733010.
  40. ^Zugibe, Frederick T(1988).The cross and the shroud: a medical inquiry into the crucifixion.New York: Paragon House.ISBN978-0-913729-75-5.[page needed]
  41. ^abZugibe, Frederick T. (2005).The Crucifixion Of Jesus: A Forensic Inquiry.New York: M. Evans and Company.ISBN978-1-59077-070-2.[page needed]
  42. ^abMaslen, Matthew; Piers D Mitchell (April 2006)."Medical theories on the cause of death in crucifixion".Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine.99(4): 185–188.doi:10.1177/014107680609900416.PMC1420788.PMID16574970.
  43. ^McGovern, Thomas W.; Kaminskas, David A.; Fernandes, Eustace S. (February 2023)."Did Jesus Die by Suffocation? An Appraisal of the Evidence".Linacre Quarterly.90(1): 64–79.doi:10.1177/00243639221116217.PMC10009142.PMID36923675.
  44. ^abEdwards, WD; Gabel WJ; Hosmer FE (1986)."On the physical cause of death of Jesus Christ"(PDF).Journal of the American Medical Association.255(11): 1455–1463.doi:10.1001/jama.255.11.1455.Archived(PDF)from the original on 2022-10-09.
  45. ^Davis, CT (1962). "The Crucifixion of Jesus. The Passion of Christ From a Medical Point of View".Arizona Medicine.22:182.
  46. ^Wijffels, F (2000). "Death on the cross: did the Turin Shroud once envelop a crucified body?".Br Soc Turin Shroud Newsl.52(3).
  47. ^Brenner, B (2005)."Did Jesus Christ die of pulmonary embolism?".J Thromb Haemost.3(9): 1–2.doi:10.1111/j.1538-7836.2005.01525.x.PMID16102134.S2CID38121158.
  48. ^The Life Of Flavius Josephus,75.
  49. ^Stavros, Scolops (σταῦρός, σκόλοψ). The cross;Archived2011-06-28 at theWayback Machineencyclopedia Hellinica
  50. ^Translation by Aubrey de Selincourt. The original, "σανίδα προσπασσαλεύσαντες, ἀνεκρέμασαν... Τούτου δὲ τοῦ Ἀρταύκτεω τοῦ ἀνακρεμασθέντος...", is translated by Henry Cary (Bohn's Classical Library:Herodotus Literally Translated.London, G. Bell and Sons 1917, pp. 591–592) as: "They nailed him to a plank and hoisted him aloft... this Artayctes who was hoisted aloft".
  51. ^W.W. How and J. Wells,A Commentary on Herodotus(Clarendon Press, Oxford 1912), vol. 2, p. 336
  52. ^See Mishnah, Sanhedrin 7:1, translated in Jacob Neusner, The Mishnah: A New Translation 591 (1988), supra note 8, at 595–596 (indicating that court ordered execution by stoning, burning, decapitation, or strangulation only)
  53. ^"Levi,Aramaic Testament of Levi4Q541 column 6 ".
  54. ^Shi, Wenhua (2008).Paul's Message of the Cross As Body Language.Mohr Siebeck. p. 46.ISBN978-3-16-149706-3.
  55. ^VanderKam, James C. (2012).The Dead Sea Scrolls and the Bible.Eerdmans. p.110.ISBN978-0-8028-6679-0.
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  58. ^Liddell, Henry George (1855).A History of Rome.Oxford University Press. p.302.
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  60. ^Herodotus,Histories,3.125( "Having killed him in some way not fit to be told, Oroetes then crucified him" )
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  64. ^After quoting a poem byMaecenasthat speaks of preferring life to death even when life is burdened with all the disadvantages of old age or even with acute torture ( "vel acuta si sedeam cruce" ), Seneca disagrees with the sentiment, saying death would be better for a crucified person hanging from the patibulum: "I should deem him most despicable had he wished to live to the point of crucifixion... Is it worth so much to weigh down upon one's own wound, and hang stretched out from a patibulum?... Is anyone found who, after being fastened to that accursed wood, already weakened, already deformed, swelling with ugly weals on shoulders and chest, with many reasons for dying even before getting to the cross, would wish to prolong a life-breath that is about to experience so many torments?" ( "Contemptissimum putarem, si vivere vellet usque ad crucem... Est tanti vulnus suum premere et patibulo pendere districtum... Invenitur, qui velit adactus ad illud infelix lignum, iam debilis, iam pravus et in foedum scapularum ac pectoris tuber elisus, cui multae moriendi causae etiam citra crucem fuerant, trahere animam tot tormenta tracturam?" –Letter 101, 12–14)
  65. ^Titus Maccius PlautusMiles gloriosusMason Hammond, Arthur M. Mack – 1997 p. 109, "The patibulum (in the next line) was a crossbar which the convicted criminal carried on his shoulders, with his arms fastened to it, to the place for... Hoisted up on an upright post, the patibulum became the crossbar of the cross"
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