Crucifixion was a gruesome method of execution practiced in the ancient world, most infamously during Roman times. Though the origins of crucifixion are unclear, it seems to have first emerged as a form of capital punishment in Persia sometime before the 6th century BC. From there, it spread to the Carthaginians, Greeks, and eventually the Romans who perfected it as a spectacularly cruel demise for slaves and prisoners of war.
The practice involved nailing or tying the victim to a large wooden cross or stake and letting them hang there until they died from shock, blood loss, exposure, hunger, and exhaustion. It was meant to maximize pain and suffering for the condemned. Death could take hours or even days. Crucifixion was reserved for the worst criminals like pirates, violent robbers, and rebellious slaves as the public display of their tortured bodies served as a grim warning to others.
The most famous crucifixion in history is that of Jesus Christ around 30 AD under the orders of Roman governor Pontius Pilate. According to the Gospels, Jesus was condemned for claiming to be the Son of God which the Jewish high priests considered blasphemy against their faith (Matthew 26:63-66, Mark 14:61-64, Luke 22:67-71).
After being scourged and mocked by Roman soldiers, Jesus was led to Calvary carrying his cross before being nailed to it alongside two criminals (Matthew 27:32-44, Mark 15:21-32, Luke 23:26-43, John 19:16-27). As he hung on the cross, Jesus spoke several times including asking God to forgive those who crucified him, entrusting his mother Mary to the Apostle John, and crying out “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46, Mark 15:34). He was offered wine vinegar to dull the pain but refused. After around 6 hours on the cross, Jesus cried out in a loud voice and died. A Roman soldier confirmed his death by piercing his side with a spear.
Jesus had predicted his own crucifixion multiple times to his disciples warning them that “the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life” (Luke 9:22). True to this prophecy, the resurrection of Christ is the foundation on which the Christian faith rests. His crucifixion represents the atoning sacrifice for the sins of mankind while his rising from the dead gives hope for eternal life. As the Apostle Paul later wrote: “We preach Christ crucified” (1 Corinthians 1:23).
In terms of historical context, crucifixion was a widespread practice in the Roman Empire. It was seen as one of the harshest penalties, an agonizing, humiliating public death for those who challenged Roman authority. Only Roman citizens were exempt from crucifixion which was viewed barbaric by Jewish and Roman cultures alike.
The Jewish historian Josephus called it “the most wretched of deaths.” Cicero, the famed Roman orator, described it as crudelissimum taeterrimumque, meaning “the most cruel and disgusting punishment.” Ancient writers like Seneca noted the horror of birds and dogs mutilating victims as they hung helpless on crosses. Even the Roman politician Marcus Aurelius Caepio declared: “The very word ‘cross’ should be far removed not only from the person of a Roman citizen but from his thoughts, his eyes, his ears.”
Yet crucifixion provided Rome with an exceptionally savage form of capital punishment that sent a powerful warning to those who might challenge the Empire’s authority. Its victims were stripped naked and nailed through the wrists and ankles to a wooden cross which was planted in the ground. They were left to hang there until they died from loss of blood flow to the brain. To prolong the agony, the Romans would often place a small wooden seat called a sedile underneath to prevent the victim’s weight from tearing open the wounds.
Death by crucifixion could take anywhere from a few hours to a few days depending on the health of the condemned and how the execution was carried out. The slow public spectacle served as entertainment for Roman citizens while deterring dissent with the implicit threat of “this could be you.” As such, crucifixion sites in ancient Rome were always situated along busy roads and highways with the upright posts stayed in place after death as decomposing corpses became food for wild animals.
Some ancient Roman writers like Suetonius describe specific details of crucifixion methods used. These include fustigatio, or whipping the victim with a short whip called a flagrum that had pieces of bone and metal attached to its ends. This tore the skin and muscle tissue exposing the bones beneath. The flagrum was named “the scourge” in biblical accounts of Jesus’ suffering (Matthew 27:26, Mark 15:15, John 19:1).
Another practice was crurifragium, or breaking the condemned’s legs with an iron club. This prevented them from pushing up with their legs to breathe. Death followed rapidly from asphyxiation. According to the Gospel of John, the soldiers broke the legs of the two criminals crucified with Jesus but when they came to Jesus they saw he was already dead so did not break his (John 19:31-33).
Historical records also mention caro lignea, or the wooden yoke. This was a horizontal beam fastened to the upright stake on which the victim’s hands were outstretched and nailed in place. A footrest called the suppedaneum allowed the person to raise their torso briefly to breath before the weight of their body forced the collapse that slowly suffocated them.
In the case of Jesus’ crucifixion, the vertical wooden beam was known as the stipes while the horizontal beam was called the patibulum. Jesus was forced to carry the 110 lb patibulum from Pilate’s palace to the crucifixion site at Calvary after being flogged. This path is known today as the Via Dolorosa, or “Way of Suffering.” At the execution grounds, he was stripped naked and his limbs nailed to the beams forming a cross-shape that he carried on his bloody lacerated back as he hung in agony (John 19:17).
Archeological evidence confirms many details about Roman crucifixion practices. In 1968, the bones of a crucified man named Jehohanan were discovered in Jerusalem dating back to the 1st century AD. A 7-inch iron nail was still lodged in his heel with wood fragments between the head and bones indicating he had been nailed to an olive wood cross. His legs were broken confirming the use of crurifragium mentioned in biblical accounts. The tip of the nail was bent indicating it had hit a knot in the wood as the soldier hammered it in.
Given the intense suffering involved, crucifixion required maximum restraint of the condemned. This was done using ropes, chains and spikes to immobilize the hands and feet. Archeologists have found spike heads used to pin people to crosses at sites like Givat HaMivtar just northeast of Jerusalem. In 1968, remains were found there of a Jewish man executed sometime between 7 AD and 70 AD with an iron spike 11.5 centimeters long still transfixing his right heel bone.
Besides the physical torture, crucifixion also inflicted intense public shame due to its association with slaves and the worst of criminals. Citizens of privilege were usually beheaded rather than crucified. The public display of naked and brutalized victims was meant as an ultimate warning against crimes like rebellion and sedition. It’s no wonder then that Jesus was crucified between two thieves at the peak of Passover when Jewish pilgrims flocked to Jerusalem (Matthew 27:38, Mark 15:27, Luke 23:32-33). The public spectacle sent an unmistakable message to any would-be rebels.
Crucifixion continued as a punishment well into the 5th century AD before dying out in the Roman Empire. Though Emperor Constantine outlawed it around 315 AD, it persisted as a method of execution for another century. The most recent known example was when King Jeconiah of Axum in Ethiopia ordered the crucifixion of 3 royal princes in the 6th century AD as recorded by John of Ephesus in his Ecclesiastical History. However, the glory of Christ’s crucifixion and resurrection turned this vicious ancient punishment into a symbol of hope and redemption that would inspire cross imagery throughout the Western world. Even today, the cross stands as the ultimate emblem of Christian faith for billions around the globe.
