Expert: Francesco Marchesani - 2/28/2004

Question
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Can you describe the actual physical mechanisms of crucifixion used by these other societies? I believe that most sources say that the Romans primarily accomplished this by either tieing and or nailing people to the crosses, do you know if these other people handled this differently? I wondered because many of the sources I have seen relate that the Romans really "refined crucifixion" to be done both more brutally and efficiently. Do you happen to know whether or not these other societies applied some other sort of punishment or "preparation", like scourging in tandem with crucifixion?  Thanks for any help you might be able to extend!!!
Question -
How did Roman crucifixion differ from that which was cariied out in other societies?
Answer -
Crucifixion was a well-known and commonly practiced mean of executing criminals in the ancient world. Herodotus, the Greek historian tells us that the Persians used crucifixion as a form of extreme punishment. Other sources reveal the practice among the Assyrians, the Scythians, and the Thracians as well as among more distant European groups such as the Celts, the Germans, and the Britons. On one occasion, Alexander the Great had 2000 survivors of the siege of Tyre crucified along the shores of the Mediterranean.

In the Roman world, crucifixion was reserved for rebellious slaves, mutinous troops, vile criminals, and insurrectionists against the state. Roman citizens, especially the upper class, were normally exempt from such an ignominious death no matter what their crime (St. Paul, being a Roman citizen, was beheaded). The reason for this was that crucifixion was viewed not just as a mean of death, but also as a mean of portraying shame.

It was for this reason that crucifixion was done in very busy, public settings. Part of the intent, obviously, was to deter others from committing such crimes.  
As a deterrent many victims were crucified where the criminal event took place as was the case with thieves or along the cities busiest thoroughfares. The situation can perhaps best be summed up by Quintilian who wrote that, "whenever we crucify the guilty, the most, crowded roads are chosen, where most people can see and be moved by this fear. For penalties relate not so much to retribution as to their exemplary effect." The Romans had more than retribution in mind. They were also expressing disgust and utter contempt.

Although the Jews never practiced crucifixion as a means of capital punishment (except during a brief interval during the Hellenistic-Hasmonean Period), they did have a similar custom for expressing a high degree of contempt for undesirable persons. After a criminal had been put to death by some other means (i.e., the sword, stoning, etc.), the dead body would be strung up on a tree as a symbol of shame and dishonor. This public exposure gave the people an opportunity to express their venomous hatred for such a despicable criminal as they hurled their insults and mockery at the strung-up victim.

Answer
Hello,
all the societies that employed crucifixion before the Romans, saw it mainly as a mean of humiliation and public contempt. Thus, most people were just tied to the cross, and kept there for some time (or made die of starvation); the arms were not necessarly tied spread apart, in some cases we have descriptions of men tied to the vertical pole with their arms behind their backs. Some examples of actual nailing exist, but they are not widespread. Before being crucifixed, a person was usually beaten, or scourged, this to add more pain and discomfort, but not with the explicit reason of killing him. For the Romans, instead, crucifixion was a death punishment more often than not. Use of the scourge was a mean to weak the person, which, in conjunction to the respiratory difficulties given by the open arms position, made death relatively fast (a few days). As we see in the Gospels, often they broke the condemned's legs to make him breath more difficulty: without being able to stand up on his leg, all the weight was applied on his arms, thus further aggravating his respiratory problems.