Roman Crucifixion Cruel and Unusual Punishment
From hanging and a firing squad, to the electric chair and guillotine, capital punishment has been present throughout civilization. The penalty of death for a crime, capital punishment has been both accepted and protested. ... But the line between rightful consequences and cruel and unusual punishment is fine. The practice of the ancient Romans in crucifixion is believed to have over-stepped that boundary. Not only undoubtedly one of the most cruel punishments in the ancient world it was also the most humiliating. Marcus Tillius Cicero described crucifixion as a cruel punishment reserved for slaves or foreigners guilty of rebellion, treason, murder, or robbery #. What we know to be crucifixion had been first practiced by many other civilizations. ... The Jews rarely instituted Crucifixion, their execution of choice being stoning to death. ... Also recorded is the crucifixion of over six thousand followers of Spartacus along the Appian Way. ... One of the rare instances of a Jewish Crucifixion was that in which eight hundred Pharisees were crucified by the high priest Alexander Janneus in front of their wives and children#. There are four known types of crucifixion. ... Another less known type of crucifixion was that for which we have the most evidence. ... Controversy to this leads to belief in the third type of crucifixion. ... The final known type of crucifixion was where the man’s hands were nailed to the underside of the beam, in which there was a large hole, then hoisted up and dropped onto the vertical beam, wrenching all of his limbs from their sockets#. By the time of the Romans, crucifixion had been perfected in such a way as to inflict the most pain. ... It can best be described as follows: The Roman legionnaire steps forward with the flagrum (or flagellum) in his hand.