Expert: Irulan Serena - 4/26/2004

Question
What were the Roman Laws regarding crucifixion and how was it carried out? Are there any records or descriptions of how it was done? Do they have records of who it was done to?

Answer
Hello Megan,

What were the Roman Laws regarding crucifixion and how was it carried out

CRUCIFIXION was a traditional form of punishment in the ancient world. The Romans used it extensively for criminals and rebels. The Roman law of the time prescribed crucifixion as punishment for the most serious offenses, such as rebellion, treason and robbery.   It was a chosen punishment because death did not come quickly thus the criminal suffered significantly and this suffering was considered ‘payment' for the crimes.

Are there any records or descriptions of how it was done??

This punishment began by subjecting the sufferer to scourging  which meant striking  the backs of the criminals with a whip which ended with a square tip.  The number of strikes were to exceed forty. It was the custom to never go beyond 38 since in most cases the body of the criminal could not support such punishment and usually expired before the 40th strike.

In the time of the apostles, in consequence of the passing of what was called the Porcian law, no Roman citizen could be scourged for any reason. The condemned person carried his own cross to the place of execution, which was outside the city, in some conspicuous place set apart for the purpose. Before the nailing to the cross took place, a medicated cup of vinegar mixed with gall and myrrh (the sopor) was sometimes given, for the purpose of deadening the pangs of the sufferer.

Do they  have records of who it was done to??  

There are historical records of mass crucifixions took place in 71 B.C. when Spartacus led a slave rebellion against Rome. He ultimately failed, and the 6,000 captured slaves were crucified. The crosses were line up by the Apian Way to teach all who passed by that a rebellion against Roman government was paid with great cruelty.

Read any account of the Servile Rebellions, including "Spartacus," and you will see crucifixions by the thousands. (See the excellent book "Crime and Punishment in Ancient Rome" by Richard A. Bauman.)

The Christian-Catholic religions claim  that Jesus Christ  was crucified by the Romans for sedition, a secular act and was  processed in this manner, with the crucifixion as punishment for claiming to be king of the Jews, however, there are no historical records to support this claim.

The Jews knew of crucifixions even before Roman rule, for around 87 B.C. the Jewish king Alexander Janneus had 800 rebellious Pharisees crucified. Josephus, who witnessed the crucifixion of his fellow Jews during the siege of Jerusalem (A.D. 66-70), called it "the most wretched of deaths." It continued to be the punishment for high crimes until the time of Emperor Constantine, when it was finally abolished.


Cordially,

Iru