CRUCIFIXION. 



373 



Crucifixion. Jews captured by Titus at the siege of Jerusalem, were 

 "•—^ <-*■»' scourged and tortured previous to crucifixion. Antho- 

 ny scourged Antigonus king of Judaea, which Dio the 

 historian affirms, had never before been done by the 

 Romans to a sovereign, and then beheaded him. That 

 aggravation of severity in the execution of a capital sen- 

 tence, universal in ancient times, and still practised by 

 barbarians, is justly reprobated by the modern criminal 

 code of civilized nations. 



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 frequent 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 stationary in the ground, whereas the 

 other was moveable. One of the Roman classics says, 

 Patibulum ferant per urbem el cruel affigantur. How- 

 ever, circumstances shew tliat this could not have been 

 the uniform custom. The criminal, if tardy, was urged 

 along by an iron goad, or stripes ; and it is likely that 

 in Rome, either the cross was hung with bells, or that 

 the executioner, ringing a hand bell, preceded it. For- 

 merly it was thought ominous to meet a criminal about 

 to suffer ; and a Roman priest or magistrate was pollu- 

 ted by the sight of a dead body, insomuch that certain 

 ceremonies of purification were required before either 

 was entitled to discharge his respective functions. Bells 

 were therefore rung as a warning for all those to remove 

 who might be exposed to contamination; and in the tri- 

 umph of a victorious general, we are told, that the cap- 

 tives were carried along dependentihus aliquot tintinna- 

 bulis quorum souitu obvii movcrenlur, ut devoli et jam 

 Junesii corporis contactu abstinerent. 



The criminal having reached the fatal spot, was strip- 

 ped 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 con- 

 jectured,- that in the most simple crucifixion, whereby 

 both hands were nailed above the criminal, and both feet 

 below, all on one perpendicular post or tree, only two 

 were used. The sounder opinion, and that which coin- 

 cides with modern practice, bestows a nail on each mem- 

 ber; and although the following passage is employed in 

 a ludicrous sense, it sufficiently indicates the truth. 



Ego dobo ci taler.tum, primus qui in crucem excurrerit 

 Std ea lege, ut affigantur bis pedes bis brachia. 



Pi.4utus MostcUaria. 



That the weight of the body might be the better sup- 

 ported, 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 ancles 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 the cross consisted of two pieces, it is not unlikely 



5 



that the hands of the criminal were nailed to the move- Crucifixion. 

 able part, or patibulum, and that being then elevated "'^"V™"' 

 along with it by the strength of men, his feet were fix- 

 ed to the bracket. These facts are extremely obscure, 

 and there is reason to believe, that crucifixion also took 

 place otherwise. From the narrative of a martyrdom, 

 it is evident that the whole cross was on the ground : 

 " He stripped himself of his own accord ; then gazing 

 upwards, and rendering thanks to heaven, he extended 

 himself on the cross, so that he might be nailed to it by 

 the executioner; and when fixed, the cross was erected." 

 In like manner, Josephus observes, that " Bassus order- 

 ed the cross to be taken down, as he was aboutito com- 

 mand that Eleazer should immediately be raised on it." 

 And the same is to be inferred from the words of Julius 

 Firmius, an author of the fourth century. 



If, instead of being nailed to the cross, the criminal 

 was bound to it by cords, it was designed as a more 

 cruel punishment. Thus in the crucifixion of St An- 

 drew, the proconsul directed the executioner to bind 

 his hands and feet, and suspend him thus, without be- 

 ing fixed by nails, that he might endure the greater 

 torment. Ausonius, in a fabulous narrative, figures a 

 punishment of this description. 



Eligitur mcento myrtvs notissima luco 



Invidiosa Deum ptsnis. Cruciuverit illic 



Spreta olim, memorem Veneris, Proserpina Adonim, 



Hujus in exeelso suspensum Stipite Amorem, 



Devinetum post tcrga manus, substrietaque plantis 



Vinculo, mcerentem, nullo moderamine p<enie 



Affigunt. 



The criminal being fixed on the cross, was left to ex- 

 pire in anguish, and his body remained a prey to the 

 birds of the air. His death, however, was not imme- 

 diate, nor should it be so in general, considering that the 

 vital organs may escape laceration. We learn from the. 

 distinct narrative of the evangelists, that conversations 

 could be carried on among those who suffered, or be- 

 tween them and the byestanders : and Justin the his- 

 torian relates, that Bomilcar, a Carthaginian leader, ha- 

 ving been crucified, on an accusation of treason against 

 the state, he bore the cruelty of his countrymen with 

 distinguished fortitude, harangued them from the cross 

 as from a tribunal, and reproached them with their in- 

 gratitude, before he expired. There are repeated in- 

 stances of persons crucified having perished more from 

 hunger than from the severity of the punishment. The 

 Algerine before spoken of, survived at least two days, 

 St Andrew lived two or three, and the martyrs Timo- 

 theus and Maura did not die during nine days. 



By the Mahometan laws, certain delinquents are to 

 be punished with crucifixion, and killed on the cross 

 by thrusting a spear through their bodies ; and here we 

 find an example of what is narrated in scripture, of a 

 soldier piercing the side of Jesus Christ with a lance 

 though he was dead. Among the Jews, we may con- 

 clude, from the treatment of the two thieves crucified 

 along with Christ, that it was customary 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 punishment of crucifixion, or at- 

 tached to it in particular; yet there are passages in Seneca 

 and Pliny which we might rather infer tliat the reverse 

 was the case, at least with the Romans. Certainly it can- 

 not be considered an effectual means of hastening death. 

 We know, however, that there was a peculiar jmnishn 



