The Romans are generally known for their great contributions to politics, architecture, art,
science and their undeniable military power, but that ancient civilization did not become
so prosperous without the help of control through fear.
On the flipside, we can see a sadistic taste for keeping their people in line with deadly
and bloody punishments, of which they even celebrated with spectacles.
Today we will take a trip through the streets of the ancient Roman Empire to discover the
penalties and public chastisements suffered by those who violated any law, Welcome to
Copernicus’s Galaxy.
What were crucifixions like in Ancient Rome?
Upon hearing this word, many will trace their memories back to the story of Jesus Christ,
the Christian God who died at the hands of his own people, enduring a great ordeal, full
of pain and suffering to save us all.
From here, the image of the cross became a symbol of the Christian faith, but the birth
of this punishment dates back several centuries before this event, precisely in the sixth
century BC and was not a Roman innovation, but originated in Assyria, a Mesopotamian
empire that impaled its prisoners.
Crucifixion was adopted by different peoples with their own variations, however, the first
major appearance of this method of execution in the Roman Empire was in the fourth century
BC, when the Emperor Alexander the Great, after the siege of Tyre in Phoenicia, ordered
the crucifixion of more than 2000 people to serve as an example to his enemies.
Its popularity grew until it was adopted as part of the punishments that the Romans imposed
on slaves, freedmen, rebels, pirates and enemies, without distinction of age or gender.
Even children were crucified, as long as they had committed an act against Rome or were
the children of someone who committed the crime.
The only ones who were safe from this cruel method of torture and execution were Roman
citizens.
They enjoyed a certain honor that prohibited them from being punished in such a humiliating
way.
The few exceptions allowed were for those who seriously harmed Rome or soldiers who
disobeyed orders and deserted from battle.
Unlike the execution of Jesus Christ, the Romans were not always in the habit of scourging
their condemned before each crucifixion.
This was only reserved for those who generated great hatred.
What was common was that each prisoner carried his own crossbeam to the place of execution.
Once at the location, the person's clothes were removed and he was fastened to the cross
by means of ropes and long nails that went through his body as well as the wood.
Contrary to popular belief, people were nailed through their ankles and wrists, since recent
studies demonstrated the inability of the hands and feet to support the weight of the
human body.
With the cross upright, the death of the prisoner would come within a couple of hours or even
days due to dehydration, infections, asphyxiation or cardiac arrest and the body would be left
hanging in the open as food for scavenger animals, an extremely humiliating and cruel
death.
Damnatio ad bestias, the punishment with wild beasts
Nowadays for you to die from a wild animal attack you would have to venture into the
depths of the forest, sea, desert or at least a zoo, and it would probably be an accidental
event, but in ancient Rome, there was an execution that consisted precisely in feeding dangerous
wild animals with your body.
It was also a spectacle, better said, they threw you to the lions.
Specifically in Rome it made its first appearance as a spectacle in the coliseum and amphitheaters
prior to the games or celebrations.
This way of execution was considered humiliating so it was reserved only for slaves, prisoners
of war, enemies of the state and between the first and third century A.D., for the first
Christians.
It was usually held in the early hours of the day, which was when there were more spectators
to witness such carnage.
The sentenced man was placed in the center, either tied to a post or arranged with little
protection and a wooden sword for defense, and sometimes they were even forced to play
the character of a mythological being whose destiny was predicted to be dinner.
Once the beasts were irritated to make them more dangerous, they were released into the
arena where they tore the condemned to pieces and feasted on their flesh, rarely did the
person manage to defeat the beast.
In addition to felines of different types, bears, wolves and crocodiles were used in
executions by "damnatio ad bestias".
Even the Carthaginian general, Hannibal confronted the Romans captured during the Punic Wars
with elephants.
Any animal capable of piercing, crushing or tearing apart a human being would do.
The Penalty of the sack, the worst Roman punishment
What could be the worst Roman sentence above crucifixion or being eaten by beasts?
How about being locked in a bag with live, furious animals and then thrown into the sea?
Maybe it doesn't sound so bad considering they wouldn’t be able to fit a lion in a
sack so easily, so it would probably be less dangerous animals that would be in there with
you, but we can hardly say that this death sentence would be much more bearable.
The "poena cullei" or "penalty of the sack" was reserved for the terrible crime of patricide,
those ungrateful children who dared to take the life of their parents would be seen by
Roman society as the worst scum in existence.
But there was no punishment if it were the other way around, since the Roman father had
absolute control over his family, including the life of each of its members.
The person who committed this offense would be beaten and whipped until the entire body
was marked, immediately after which he was dressed only in a wolf-skin cap and wooden
shoes before being placed in the leather sack.
Inside, at least four animals were placed that not only had the function of hurting
the condemned but also had a symbolic purpose.
First, a snake was introduced which represented the patricide, then a rooster considered a
brave animal capable of facing a lion, followed by a monkey which was seen as a caricature
of a man, and finally a dog since it was considered an unclean animal.
These small beasts would be the executioners and companions of the condemned in the deadly
journey to the sea, which could last a few minutes or hours, time in which the desperate
animals, in their attempt to flee would bite, scratch and peck the victim, sometimes killing
him before reaching the sea.
If the latter did not happen, the water would surely drown him and would eventually merge
all of the bodies leaving them unrecognizable.
Buried alive
We have all heard horror stories about people who were accidentally buried alive due to
a strange disease that temporarily turned off the vital signs to an imperceptible level
but not enough for the person to die.
These cases are not so old and as mentioned, are the result of a mistake.
Instead, to women who were part of the Roman vestal virgins, priestesses who dedicated
body and soul to the goddess of fire and home "Vesta", this would be the worst punishment
they could face.
They were considered hinds of the goddess, and daughters of Rome, so they were forbidden
to have relations with any man and if this happened, they would first whip the man who
had dared to touch them, since it was forbidden to shed the blood of a vestal virgin.
Some time later, Tarquinius Priscus, fifth emperor of Rome devised a sentence to punish
those hinds of Vesta who lost their way.
The punishment consisted of locking them in a small underground room with only a sofa,
a lamp and enough food to survive a couple of days.
It was believed that if they were innocent they would be saved by their Goddess, otherwise
they would die of hunger, alone and forgotten.
Some of them miraculously managed to escape their imprisonment, although the records show
only a handful of women were condemned this way over the centuries it was enforced, so
it was not a commonly seen punishment.
Decimatio, the punishment of cowards in the Roman legions
Life in the army is usually hard, soldiers are the first to be exposed to danger if they
have to fight for their nation and although they are trained to obey and not to flank
in any situation, every human being has an instinct that, through fear, tells us when
it is better to flee than to continue facing such danger.
But for almost all the militia, disobeying an order, which was an obvious death sentence,
was an unforgivable offense, and both the Roman Empire and its generals considered it
dishonorable and deserving of exemplary punishment.
In the event that these deserters were a considerable number or sometimes the entire legion, a decimatio
was applied, which could be translated as punishing one in ten.
As it was, all cowardly deserters were divided into groups of ten, of which one was designated
to test his luck by taking a white or black stone from an unseen sack, if you were lucky
enough to choose white, you would be saved, while, if it was black, you would be beaten
to death by your own companions, no one could refuse to carry out the punishment or else
they would also accompany the sentenced person to the next life.
All survivors after the punishment would sleep outside the safety of their camp and be fed
only barley, a cruel, humiliating and demoralizing punishment that would leave a burden of conscience
on all legions.
As we mentioned at the beginning, such sadistic punishments have been part of the history
of all empires and nations, public or behind the curtain.
They have always been present to keep the masses under control or to show power before
enemies.
No matter what their motives are or how cruel they are, we will always be here to tell you
about them, at Copernicus’s Galaxy.