548 



CRUCIFIXION. 



general use ; such as that most familiar to us, con- 

 sisting of two beams at right angles, and St Andrew's 

 cross. It is necessary to observe, tliat the numerous 

 and diversified crosses and crucifixes exhibited in 

 sculpture and painting are entirely fictitious. Thr-c 

 were gradually introduced, as the cross itself became 

 an object of superstitious veneration, and when tlic 

 devout conceived that their salvation was promoted 

 by constantly introducing some allusion to it. Thus 

 it became a universal emblem of piety among them ; 

 and crossing the legs of an effigy on a tomb-stone de- 

 noted that a Christian was interred below. On con- 

 demnation, the criminal, by aggravated barbarity, 

 was scourged before suffering death ; and perhaps this 

 part of his punishment was scarcely inferior to the 

 other. The scourge was formed of cords armed with 

 bits of lead or bone ; or it consisted of simple rods of 

 iron and wood, which latter were called scorpions, 

 when covered with spines. While he suffered, he 

 was bound to a column ; and that where Christ un- 

 derwent scourging, was still extant during the days 

 of St Jerome, in Die fifth century. This being the 

 common custom, and preceding not only crucifixion, 

 but other kinds of capital punishment, it is an error 

 to suppose tliat Pilate scourged Christ from motives 

 of greater severity towards him. 



The criminal was compelled to carry his own cross 

 to the place of execution, which was generally at 

 some distance from the habitations of men. This is 

 still the custom in several countries with respect to 

 their capital punishments; and it is probable that 

 inflicting these within the walls of cities was less fre- 

 quent of old than it is now. A certain gate had its 

 specific name from being the exit of criminals on 

 the way to punishment. It was not the whole cross, 

 according to some, which was borne by the offender, 

 but only the transverse beam, or patibulum, because 

 they suppose the upright part to have remained sta- 

 tionary in the ground, whereas the other was mov- 

 able. The criminal, having reached the fatal spot, 

 was stripped nearly naked, and affixed to the cross by 

 an iron spike, driven through each hand and each 

 foot, or through the wrists and ankles. Authors are, 

 nevertheless, greatly divided concerning the number 

 and position of the nails in ancient punishments ; and 

 it has been conjectured, that in the most simple cru- 

 cifixion, whereby both hands were nailed above the 

 criminal, and both feet below, all on one perpendi- 

 cular post or tree, only two were used. The sounder 

 opinion, and that which coincides with modern prac- 

 tice, bestows the nail on each member. That the 

 weight of the body might be the better supported, 

 the arms and legs were encircled by cords, an 

 instance of which occurs in a crucifixion at Algiers, 

 which is thus described by a spectator : " The 

 criminal was nailed to a ladder by iron spikes through 

 his wrists and ankles, in a posture resembling St 

 Andrew's cross, and, as if apprehensive that the 

 spikes would not hold from failure of his flesh, the 

 executioners had bound his wrists and ankles with 

 small cords to the ladder. Two days I saw him alive 

 in this torture ; and how much longer he lived I 

 cannot tell." If, instead of being nailed to the cross, 

 the criminal was bound to it by cords, it was designed 

 as a more cruel punishment. The criminal, being 

 fixed on the cross, was left to expire in anguish, and 

 his body remained a prey to the birds of the air. His 

 death, however, was not immediate, nor should it be 

 so in general, considering that the vital organs may 

 escape laceration. We learn from the distinct nar- 

 rative of the evangelists, that conversations could be 

 carried on among those who suffered, or between 

 them and the by-standers ; and Justin, the historian, 

 relates that Bomilcar, a Carthaginian leader, having 

 been crucified, on an accusation of treason against 



the state, he bore the cruelty of his countrymen 

 willi di-tijiuislird fortitude, harangued them from 

 the cross as from a tribunal, and reproached them 

 with their ingratitude, before he expired. There arc 

 repeated instances of persons crucified having per- 

 ished more from hunger than from the severity of 

 Uie punishment. The A Igerine before spoken of sur- 

 vived at least two days ; St Andrew lived two or 

 three ; and the martyrs Timotheus anil Maura did 

 not die during nine days. 



By the Mohammedan laws, certain delinquents are 

 to be punished with crucifixion, and killed on the 

 cross by thrusting a spear through their bodies ; and 

 'iere we find an example of what is narrated in scrip- 

 ture, of a soldier piercing the side of Jesus Christ 

 with a lance, though he was dead. Amonc the Jc\v>. 

 we may conclude, from the treatment of the two 

 ihieves crucified along with Clirist, that it was cus- 

 tomary to break the legs of criminals ; but whether 

 as a coup de grace, like the former, and resembling 

 some modern European punishments, is not evident,. 

 It is denied by Lipsius to have been part of the pun- 

 ishment of crucifixion, or attached to it in particular ; 

 yet there are passages in Seneca and Pliny from 

 which we might rather infer tliat the reverse was the 

 case, at least with the Romans. Certainly it cannot 

 be considered an effectual means of hastening death. 

 We know, however, that there was a peculiar pun- 

 ishment of this description, and perhaps a capital one, 

 called crurifrangium by the ancients, inflicted on 

 Roman slaves and Christian martyrs, as also on 

 women or girls. Augustus ordered the legs of one 

 to be broken who had given up a letter for a 

 bribe ; and Ammianus says, " Both the Apollinarcs, 

 father and son, were killed, according to the sen- 

 tence, by breaking their legs." Under the reign of 

 Diocletian, twenty-three Christians suffered martyr- 

 dom in the same manner. The legs of the criminal 

 were laid on an anvil, and, by main force, fractured 

 with a heavy hammer, somewhat similar to the 

 modern barbarous custom of breaking offenders' 

 bones on the wheel by an iron bar. From the nar- 

 rative of the evangelists, we may conclude, that 

 breaking the legs of the thieves was to promote their 

 death, that they might be taken down the same day 

 from the cross. That spectators might learn the 

 cause of punishment, a label, or inscription, indicating 

 the crime, frequently surmounted the head of the 

 criminal. The offence charged against Jesus Christ 

 was having called himself king of the Jews. Ac- 

 cordingly, the inscription on his cross was, " This is 

 Jesus, the king of the Jews." By our own customs, 

 a label is sometimes hung from the neck of an of- 

 fender condemned to lesser punishments, describing 

 his guilt, which is meant to aggravate the ignominy. 

 But, among the Romans, this was perhaps also the 

 warrant for putting the sentence in execution. That 

 the object of crucifixion might be fulfilled in ex- 

 posing the body of the criminal to decay, sentinels 

 were commonly posted beside the cross, to prevent 

 it from being taken down and buried. Privation of 

 sepulture was dreaded as the greatest evil by the 

 ancients, who believed that the soul could never 

 rest or enjoy felicity so long as their mortal remains 

 continued on the earth. Thus it was a great aggra- 

 vation of the punishment. 



Besides these, the ordinary modes of inflicting the 

 punishment of crucifixion, assuredly sufficiently cruel 

 in themselves, mankind have sought the gratification 

 of vengeance hi deviating from them. Such was the 

 conduct of the Roman soldiers, under Titus, at the 

 siege of Jerusalem, where the miserable Jews were 

 crucified in various postures by their sanguinary ene- 

 mies. Seneca speaks of crucifixion with the head 

 downwards : and of this we have a noted example iu 



