Crucifixion is a method of execution that was popular among such ancient peoples as the Persians and the Romans. Crucifixion was considered a horrific and degrading way to die and was greatly feared. Because of its brutal nature, the punishment was often reserved for rebels, slaves, or those considered to be outside the law.
Usually, a person being crucified was nailed through the wrists or feet, or tied, to a large upright wooden cross. The cross itself varied in form, including an X shape as well as the familiar Latin cross. The Latin cross is a vertical post with a shorter horizontal crosspiece above the center. In Roman crucifixions, the victim was usually stripped naked, whipped, and forced to carry the crossbeam to the site of a prepared stake. The victim was then attached to the beam, and the beam was attached to the stake. The hands were not used in crucifixion, as they were considered too soft to hold the victim up.
People who were crucified died from a variety of causes. Being whipped prior to crucifixion could cause a person to lose a large amount of blood and go into shock. Shock is a potentially fatal condition that occurs if the blood fails to circulate properly. People who were crucified also may have died of suffocation. In order to breathe, they were forced to constantly push themselves up with their legs to relieve the pressure on their lungs. When they became too exhausted to do so, they died. Other possible causes of death included dehydration, heart failure, and infection. The purpose of crucifixion was not just to kill, but to inflict maximum pain. Such a death could take several days. Executioners occasionally broke a victim’s legs to hasten death.
The Macedonian king Alexander the Great was known to have carried out mass crucifixions as early as the 300’s B.C. He popularized the punishment during his reign. The Romans used crucifixion in the early 70’s B.C. when they broke a great rebellion led by the gladiator slave Spartacus. They crucified thousands of captured rebel slaves along the Appian Way, a Roman military highway in what is now south-central Italy.
The most famous person to be crucified was Jesus Christ, in about A.D. 30. He was put to death in this manner because he was considered a dangerous rebel. In A.D. 337, Roman Emperor Constantine the Great banned crucifixion in memory of Jesus. However, crucifixion has continued to be used in some countries of the world to the present day. Several cultures reenact nonlethal crucifixions with willing volunteers as a devotion to Jesus.
