If it causes people to feel pain in the same cruel way, then the imagination of the ancient Romans has no limits.
They seem to compete for the best idea of one's creative transformation into a bloody mash. For the glory of Caesar and for the pleasures of the senses.
Besides, it's a good warning.In the 5th century BC, the sixth king of Rome Servius Tullius shared criminal and criminal crimes, and limited the death penalty only to the most serious atrocities. Attack or robbery, as a rule, is punishable by high fines, although it happens that they are dependent for the theft of crops. Imams, children under 14 years of age or pregnant women are not tortured.Everything has changed since the time of Julius Caesar, who paved the way for other rulers.
After Caesar's assassination, power was passed on to Mark Antony, Octavius Caesar and Marcus Aemilus Lepidus. They do not trust each other, so they see conspiracy everywhere. In the atmosphere of terror and paranoia, "torture" develops, and the subsequent rulers compete for the best execution idea.
** Legion under the commander's whip **
The first group to fall into the dislike of the tyrants was the soldiers. In the end, Caesar's legions are overthrowing the old republic, so now it is necessary to see that their ambitions are not too hard.
In the era of the empire, it became clear that legionnaires were more than enemies, had to fear their commander. Spanking is most commonly used, but the Romans were able to create universal torture tools from simple whips.
** For a minor crime whip lashing whip was punished, to be more serious - beaten with a whip with a metal ball or hook. But one of the emperors came to the conclusion that the whip, however, was too light a punishment. **
Spanking is not enough for "butcher"
Emperor Macrin was a sadist that the slaves called him a "butcher", because the walls of his house were full of blood.
** The arrogant and bloodthirsty Emperor beat his soldiers for any crime, and was also humiliated by a punishment, usually used for slaves. **
When he finds that some of his soldiers are sleeping with a maid, he orders to cut two large cows and sew them into the animal's womb so that only the heads stand out. He wants them, when they're dying, to have a chance to talk to each other.
** His biographer notes that such punishment is not used even for adultery, either in modern times or in the days of the forefathers.But for the "crime" mentioned above, McRean has his own punishment: the couple are connected to each other and burned alive. **
He also loves when the convicted life is skinned.The cruel Emperor restored ancient torture during the days of the Etruscan tyrant, Mezentius. The victim is tied up with a corpse and left to death, exposing it to a slow decay.
He had no mercy even for his own soldiers. Before fear of rebellion, he "tore up" the troops, killing every soldier out of ten.For the complaints he heard, he killed one in a hundred people and considered it an expression of his good intentions.
He is not the only emperor who likes to kill legions. During the reign of Diocletian and Maximian, about six thousand troops of Theban troops were "removed," who were tortured for their faith.
Needs are the mother of invention
The Romans are creative people. Their technicians are known throughout the ancient world, and most of the construction equipment or siege tools are ideal for torture.
Using a conventional pulley, you can hang someone on the ground, and then suddenly fall. Sometimes the victim is knocked down with sharp stones so many times that the body turns into a bloody mash. A similar mechanism is used to tear the leg from the joint or tear the body.
A similar mechanism is used to tear the leg from the joint or tear the body. All these tools and torture, however, are not executions, but only methods for obtaining recognition from suspects and sometimes witnesses. Seneca argues that torture is cruel and useless in obtaining testimony, but he is a minority.
In one embodiment, the victim's torture was tied to the rim and lowered down another slope - the wheel on the shaft was placed over the fire, and the suspect broke and "bake" alive.
Another option with the wheel is the placement on it and under it sharp spikes. Spinning, literally ripping the victim to pieces.
People's enemies - to the cross
The Romans created many tortures, some of which were forgotten, and others became too popular. The first is sewing the father's killers in the canvas bag along with the poisonous snake.
If the survivor after the bite, it still meets his death as a result of drowning in a nearby pond. The second group belongs to the crucifixion, which was applied to slaves during the late Republic. Only the emperors began crucifying other inmates.The death on the cross was slow, painful and demonstrative, because very often many people were crucified. It is a favorite method to get rid of "enemy country". Over time, the cross was rebellious Jews in Palestine, and troubled Christians, who in the second and third centuries increasingly appeared. During the reign of Vespasian, when General Titus besieged Jerusalem in 70,After the evil master ...
Tiberius's paranoid paranoid rule in the first half of the 1st century was marked by fear and hatred. He spent the last few years in Capri, where he spent time, creating torture and executions for prisoners, captured and transported to the island even without trial. By his phone, he pointed to the crazy Guy Caesar, who entered history as Caligula.
Like his uncle, he likes to torture people in an intimate setting, so he does it, for example, in the hall where he organizes receptions. Caligula ordered her cat to hit her victim so she felt that she was dying.When an actor is asked who is stronger:
the king of the gods Jupiter or Caligula, and who is hesitant, the mad emperor ordered him to be tortured with a whip until the body was smashed to pieces.
He loves listening to prayers for mercy, praising the tone of the victim's voice. He ordered one of the senators to cut his stomach, and his eyes and his internal organs with hot clamps, so he died longer. And then he ordered to cut it in half.
Christians love fried fish
Fortunately, Caligula was killed after four years of government, and his successor Claudius failed to try to restore order in the country. Poisoned by his wife, he frees Nero's place of being stupid, spoiled and in vain.
When on July 64 in Rome a fire broke out, and the emperor noticed a suspicion of arson, he began to search for a scapegoat. The choice falls on the Christian, to whom he initiates a great cleansing. The historical writer Haban Mor writes:
"They were stabbed with swords, burned, beaten with whips, crucified, and drowned in the sea, tearing their skins, cutting their tongues, hitting rocks, cutting off their hands and foursome.
" Nero orders animal skins to wear on Christians and lowers the dog pack on them, to unleash the unarmed against the gladiators, hanging them with their fingers and toasting with small flames.
Some people encounter their deaths in a pebble crush, others use chain letters, warm themselves to red, the third is placed on a stake or cut their stomachs, leaving them to be torn apart by wild animals. At night, the stack of lights is used for lighting.
But he transcends himself when he decides to bake Christians as fish. a large vat filled with oil or resin, then underneath is lit a fire, and when the liquid starts bubbles, it throws Christians insisting on their faith.
Even not very profitable for the Christian historians Tacitus wrote that they were sentenced to death only to quench the thirst of one's blood.
Death at Copper Bull
One Roman torture with cruelty and creativity surpassed the others. It's about torture by a copper bull, which was discovered in the 6th century BC by the Athenian artist Perillus.
The victim is placed in an empty bull's belly, and his scream is distorted by a skillfully designed modulator that sounds like an animal roar.
According to a report by historian Diodorus, the inventor shows a bull to Falaris - a tyrant from Akragas in Sicily.
The Emperor was impressed, but before the presentation of the prize, Perillus was asked to show his discovery. Immediately behind him was a closed door and a bonfire under the belly of a bull.
Falaris loved the roar of a "bull", so he ordered to get out of there a living inventor, not to spoil new toys, and then throw them off a cliff.
The subject of the tyrant was unhappy: upon seeing a new method of public execution, they rebelled and overthrew it. Emperor torn from tongue, and then roasted live in the belly of a bull.
Unfortunately, the idea is rooted, and some Christian martyrs are killed in this way, including St. Eustathius of Rome and Saint Antipus of Pergamon. Dante perpetuates the terrible torture in the Divine Comedy.