CRUCIFIXION
Capital punishment carried out by fixing the prisoner to a cross. The hands and feet were tied or, more cruelly, nails were used, piercing the hands and feet. Many ancient nations practiced crucifixion or a similar torture.
Originally, a single piece of wood was used (for a palisade or fortification), or a stick sharpened at the top, frequently represented in bas-reliefs, and well known to the Assyrians, Persians, Carthaginians and Egyptians.
Sometimes, the condemned man was only left fixed there until death came (Gen. 40:19; Est. 7:10). The Israelites knew well what it was like to “hang [someone] on a tree” (Num. 25:4; Josh. 8:29; 2 Sam. 21:9); This torture was for them a sign of a special curse (Deut. 21:22-23).
Paul sees in this text the prophetic announcement of the curse that Christ was going to bear on the cross in our place (Gal. 3:13).
The Greeks and Romans modified the primitive wood in their time, adding a transverse wood (“patibulum”). It is from them that the Jews learned the crucifixion itself:
Alexander the Great crucified 2,000 Tyrians.
According to Josephus, Cyrus, in the edict allowing the return of the Jews from Babylon to Jerusalem, threatened the penalty of crucifixion to anyone who wanted to hinder the fulfillment of his order (Antiquities 12: 5, 4).
Esd. 6:11 shows that Darius of Persia threatened to kill those who did not obey his decrees.
Antiochus Epiphanes crucified faithful Jews who refused to abandon their religion (Antiquities 12:5, 4).
Alexander Janeus (Wars 1:4, 6) and the Pharisees crucified their enemies (Wars 1:5, 3).
The Romans only applied this punishment to slaves, or to free men guilty of the most execrable crimes; a formal law prohibited the crucifixion of any Roman citizen; Apart from this, this shameful punishment was used abundantly: in the year 7 AD, a Roman procurator in Judea had 2,000 rebels crucified.
During the Empire, Roman citizens were also crucified, despite the law against it. The condemned man was frequently whipped (see SCOURGING) (Mt. 27:26; Mr. 15:15; Jn. 19:1), who, with his body lacerated, was then forced to carry his cross (Jn. 19: 17; cp. the spiritual sense of Mt. 10:38).
Simply fixing the victim to the cross with ropes did not entail death. This occurred after thirst and hunger had taken their effects. Nailing hands and feet did not necessarily produce a quicker death.
When it was necessary to hasten the death of the condemned, his legs were broken, as was done with the two thieves crucified along with Jesus (John 19:31-33). Numerous Jews were crucified after Titus’s capture of Jerusalem (Josephus, Life 75).
Moved by religious reasons, Constantine abolished crucifixion throughout the Roman Empire.