The Roman Empire was the mightiest empire on Earth. One that had to maintain order amongst
its people; Law and Order as some may say. Ancient Romans abscond from using death as a
means to punish crimes unless they really had to. But when they did, they got absolutely methodical
and creative in executing death sentences and made medieval punishments look like a walk in the park.
Welcome to Nutty History and let’s find out what Punishment was like in Ancient Rome.
The ancient Roman Empire was the center of the earth for almost a thousand years
and every road in the world led to Rome back then. At its height during the reign of Emperor Trajan,
the Roman Empire ruled more than forty-five million people spread across Europe, Asia,
and Africa. But obviously, not all of these people were law-abiding. Some were rebels, some were
corrupt and some were outright criminals. In fact, with more than a million people residing in Rome,
the city itself was a dirty and dangerous place, a maze of side streets and slums. The crime was
a common occurrence on a daily basis, and Romans guards had to do a lot more than correct grammar
of a graffiti drawing miscreant. However, instead of an organized police force, Romans had Vigiles.
These Vigiles were seven thousand strong and were charged with dealing with everyday
crimes like theft and to capture and enslave people who might attempt to flee from justice.
The Roman guards were only called if the matter would go beyond the capabilities of Vigiles,
for example in cases of riots, rebellion, or civil unrest. Meanwhile, matters of imperial
interest and the emperor’s security were in the hands of the Praetorian Guard.
In theory, Roman laws were written in a manner to discourage people from committing crimes by
making an example out of the guilty party with the punishment. However, the reality was that
people would get punished according to their status and wealth in Roman society. No wonder,
modern judiciary resembles Ancient Roman laws so much. Like most of the ancient law systems, Romans
followed the principle of personality. That means the law was only applicable to Roman citizens.
Foreigners, well they had no rights and, unless protected by some treaty between their state and
Rome, they could be seized like ownerless pieces of property by any Roman. However,
with time, diplomacy became more and more crucial for the Roman Empire. Therefore, the increasing
commercial interests of Rome forced it to protect the foreigners by some decree of justice. This is
why the jus civil or civil law was replaced by a more flexible and applicable jus gentium or the
law of nations in 3rd century BC protecting foreigners more or less like the civilians.
The legal procedure established by Romans was the most crucial part of their judiciary as it was
the grandfather of the legal system that we use today. Roman Goddess Justitia can attest to that
as she has been standing in the majority of legal courts of justice for more than two millennia
now. The legal procedure or legis actiones was a step-by-step process of detailed bureaucracy.
First, the plaintiff approached the defendant in public and called for him to come to court.
If he refused, he could be taken there by force. The trial itself was divided into two parts.
The first was a preliminary hearing held before a magistrate who would decide whether there was
an issue to be contested and, if so, what it was. Each step in this procedure was extremely formal.
If the wrong words were used by either party, that party might lose the case.
After the issues were delineated, both parties agreed upon a judex, who was neither a lawyer
nor a magistrate but a prominent layman, to try the case. The proceedings before the judex were
more informal: advocates spoke and gave evidence, and witnesses often appeared.
The judex made a decision but had no power to execute it. If the defendant refused to pay the
fine or make restitution within a certain period, he could be brought by force to the magistrate.
Then his property could be seized, or he could be made a slave to the plaintiff to work off
the debt or property claim. Later as the cases became more and more complex, the magistrates
were given more power over resolving the case themselves instead of sending it to a Judex.
Roman punishment actually varied depending on one's position in Roman society. A slave had
no rights whatsoever and was literally treated as merchandise. Beatings and lashings were like free
real estate when it came to punishing them for any minor offense. However, when masters really wanted
to humiliate them, slaves would be forced to carry a piece of wood around their neck. This was
called the furca, letting the world know that the wood-carrying slave had been very very naughty! A
slave caught committing theft, adultery or forgery could be punished with death by crucifixion.
But it is worth noting that being merchandise, the slave also had a cost and therefore the corporal
punishment could never be too harsh in order not to permanently impair him unless the circumstances
were extremely grave. Roman citizens, on the other hand, were very rarely sentenced to death. By law,
a Roman citizen could be condemned to death only if he committed treason or patricide. Furthermore,
in all instances, a Roman citizen could not be crucified. Romans were largely punished
by monetary fines, confiscation of property, infamy, banishment, and worst slavery whenever
a fine would not be enough to get them out of their troubles. But it was the capital punishment
with which Romans would get real creative. Let’s just say they didn’t believe in a clean, quick
death. Crucifixion is obviously the most popular example of it. But Romans didn’t just stop there.
Poena Cullei or punishment of the sack applied mostly to Romans who were found guilty of
parricide. The victim was put into a leather sack together with several animals including a monkey,
a snake, a dog, and a rooster. After all of them were put into the sack,
it was sewn together and thrown into a river. Needless to say,
from there on it was a struggle of survival to the last among these forced companions. No no,
Romans didn’t have a weird choking fetish, it was the other way around. Spilling blood inside the
ancient city of Rome was considered sacrilege and thus was regarded as a taboo. This is why
strangulation was the most common method employed for death punishment. However, it won’t be a Roman
punishment if it didn’t have a flair about it. The condemned would first be paraded all around
the city before being brought to the Roman Forum or back to his cell. There, the executioner would
simply strangle the convicted felon to death with a rope if he wasn’t already dead by embarrassment.
After the great fire of Rome killed hundreds of people, Emperor Nero accused Christians
of starting it. As retribution, Romans had thousands of Christians who were persecuted
and subsequently burned alive. However, it didn’t just stop there. Christians were burned as early
as the 2nd century with a first recorded chronicle of Polycarp, a Christian Bishop.
Constantine the Great added burning to death as a punishment for multiple other offenses as well,
including sexual assault. The convicted were forced to put on a “tunica molesta,”
a papyrus-based outfit that was smeared with wax, and was tied to a high pole.
Burning pitch and lard were poured from the top which incinerated the helpless victim. Ironically,
Christians would later use the same method to burn thousands of women during witch hunts.
If you were a soldier in the Roman Army, you were the better part of a great group.
If your group was considered to be cowardly, decimation was used as a punishment to set
things straight! The entire cohort of about 480 men was divided into groups of 10,
and every tenth man was to be executed. The word “decimation” simply means “removal of the tenth,”
so yes, this was quite literally a permanent removal. The tenth man who had drawn the
shortest straw was beaten, clubbed, or stoned to death by the other 9 members of his group
while the rest of the cohort watched, awaiting the same fate for them.
“You shall have a golden crown that men shall tremble to behold.” One of the most satisfying
scenes of Game of Thrones was to watch Khal Drogo pour molten gold on Viserys’s head when he
demanded the crown he was promised. The innovative killing scene from George RR Martin wasn’t exactly
the brainchild of his imagination but a call back to history. Roman history, precisely.
Romans loved to have molten gold or molten lead poured into the mouth of people charged
with the death sentence. Surprisingly this ridiculously horrific method of execution
continued at least till the 16th century. As the last recorded death by molten gold
was suffered by a greedy Spanish governor in the colonial settlement in Ecuador in the year 1599.
Whether or not he got to keep the gold that is up for debate..
According to some historians, Roman Emperor Domitian who ruled from 81 AD to 96
Ad was apparently so perturbed by the presence of Christians in the Roman empire that he came
up with new methods of punishing them to death. One of his favored methods was to strip the victim
naked and put them inside a barrel that was closed with only their heads sticking out. The victim was
then force-fed and smeared with honey and milk to attract insects and parasites to feed upon the
victim alive. The barrel was put into the hot sun to attract a swarm of creatures that would feast
on the body of the helpless victim. This could go on for multiple weeks until the person inside the
barrel died and their body rots inside it. One of the reasons Romans enjoyed getting creative
with death sentences was that it was also a source of entertainment for them. So, there
is no surprise that they turned execution into a sport as well, and once again animals got the
short end of the stick. One of the most popular execution methods involved the convicted being
ripped apart by wild animals, a sentence referred to as “Damnatio ad Bestias. ”Many Christians
suffered this fate as they were sentenced to death for being part of this dangerous new cult.
It’s estimated that nearly half a million people were killed inside the Roman Colosseum alone, many
of those suffering this horrible fate. Damnatio ad Bestias was usually programmed between the
events of Venatio and Gladiator fights. Venatio itself was a form of punishment reserved for war
prisoners and undisciplined gladiators where they were forced to fight hungry desperate beasts to
death. Venatio was so popular that it caused the extinction of many predatory animals from Europe.
No punishment method is as related to Ancient Romans as crucifixion
thanks to the story of Jesus of Nazareth. Crucifixion combined multiple forms of tortures,
after being nailed to the cross, which is in itself a horrible ordeal to go through,
the victim would hang on the cross for multiple days, most probably with dislocated shoulders,
before eventually suffocating to death. If this took longer, the executioner used a sledgehammer
to break the femur bones of the victim, which is one of the most painful experiences a human being
can go through, so he would suffocate much faster. Yes, this wasn’t an easy way to go
by any means! So, which Ancient Roman punishment would you vote to avoid?
Tell us in the comments. And if you wanna learn more about judicial systems and crimes in ancient
times check out our videos about what punishment was like in Ancient Greece and Ancient Egypt!
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