The death penalty of cross or column was very popular in Roman times, but in the centuries after Christ ascended to heaven, this punishment began to disappear slowly. The authorities no longer use the method of executing the "son of God" to execute criminals, and hanging and other punishments are widely used. In the 4th century AD, the Roman emperor Constantine abolished the death penalty of crucifixion. We generally think that Jews began to adopt crucifixion under Harold's rule.
As a torture device, the cross usually consists of two or three wooden stakes-if it is a quadrilateral cross, there are even four, with different shapes. Some are T-shaped, some are X-shaped, and some are Y-shaped. T-shaped crosses are mainly used to punish troublemakers, sometimes upside down, head down and feet up. Saint Pierre was executed in this way, it is said that he asked for it himself, because he felt that he could not be punished like Christ. In Rome, Greece and the Middle East, prisoners are whipped before being sent to the cross. They should carry the cross on their backs in the execution ground, and the straight pole of the cross was inserted in the ground long before the prisoners and executioners arrived at the execution ground. The scene described by later generations in which Christ smashed the skull with his cross on his back is contrary to the facts from the point of view of punishment. The X-shaped cross is also called the Cross of Saint Andrew, because the apostle Saint Andrew, Pierre's brother and the disciples of Jean batiste died on this cross. When he approached the cross, he was stripped of all his clothes and handed over to the executioner. Then, the executioner let him lie on the cross. Tie him up with a rope instead of nails, so that the execution process can be longer. He lived for two days.
In places where the death penalty is executed, prisoners are tied to instruments of torture with ropes, but more often they are nailed. In the first case, once the prisoner's arm is extended, the cross will be erected immediately with the help of the rope and pulley embedded in the straight bar in advance.
If nails are used, the method is basically the same. First, his hand was nailed to the top of the cross, and then after the prisoner hung up, his foot was nailed. Sometimes prisoners will be nailed to the ground first, and then a cross will be erected behind them. Insert the pre-dug hole. Nails are never nailed to the palm, because the palm can't bear the weight of the body or even tear, and the arm may be liberated.
So no matter which of the two methods, the wrist is fixed. If the executioner is very experienced, he can pierce a long nail into a narrow gap between bones, which is now anatomically called the Desteau gap. The tip of the nail can enlarge this gap without damaging the surrounding bones. If the nerve in the middle is cut off, it will cause the thumb to contract and hold the palm. If the executioner is not so dexterous, he will drive the nail into the bowl between the radius and the ulna. But both methods are nailed firmly.
There are different nail methods for feet. You can tie up, each with a nail, or you can overlap your feet. On a quadrilateral cross, the legs need to be separated.
The method of nailing feet in the ancient Roman empire was very special, and the feet were juxtaposed. But bending over, because the nail can pass through the heel joint, which makes the prisoner have to twist his body and be nailed to the cross.
However, no matter which method is used-as we often see in religious paintings-there is no heel support.
Because such support is against the principle of crucifixion, with support, prisoners can breathe. Unlike many people's imagination, the prisoner on the cross didn't die of hunger and thirst, nor did he die of bleeding-nailing only shed a little blood, and the prisoner eventually suffocated. Laurent Viyenov once described this phenomenon, and many people who escaped from the concentration camp witnessed and described in detail what they saw being crucified. In ancient times, only Jews would cut off prisoners' legs at sunset on the day of execution, which could slightly alleviate some unbearable pain. Jewish law also allows prisoners to drink a drink mixed with alcohol and anesthetic to anesthetize the body and relieve pain. When Jesus refused to drink such a drink on the cross, when the soldiers dipped his mouth with vinegar to relieve his thirst caused by excessive bleeding, he also refused.
The prisoner had to stay on the cross until the birds came to peck at his body.
Christians were crucified.
More Christians suffer this punishment than rebellious slaves, rebels and sinners. More than three centuries after missionaries were crucified, many Christians were crucified to punish their infatuation with new religions. During the reign of Trajan, Simeon was crucified in Jerusalem. Saint Li Rong was crucified in Catalonia. There are many Christians crucified in the land around the Mediterranean.
Neron likes to paint people who have been crucified with turpentine all over their bodies and then set them on fire for fun. Many prisoners were tortured long before they were sentenced by Roman judges. Almost all modern writers who study the history of persecution believe that countless people died on the cross of Septim Seville: Kahakkara, Eriau Gabal, Ma Ximin, especially Diocletian, Tess and Domician. To commemorate the martyrdom of Jesus, the Christian emperor abolished this penalty after he ascended the throne. The cross became a kind of worship in Greece and Latin countries. Cross and crucifixion play an important role in the worship ceremony of Catholicism. The cross, originally a tool used to torture people, has become a symbol of salvation.