Crucifixion (Latin: crucifixio; "fixed to a cross" and this last word from crux and cruciatus; "pain, torment, torture") was an ancient method of execution in which the condemned is tied or nailed to a wooden pole, often made in two parts: a vertical wood called stipes and crossbeam one called patibulum. That method was used by Persians, Assyrians, Phoenicians, Greeks and Romans.
Roman crucifixion had three main characteristics:
1. Painful. This capital punishment was usually used to expose the criminal to a particularly slow, horrible and public death, in order to deter people from committing similar crimes. Seneca the Younger used the phrase 'infelix lignum' (unfortunate wood) to refer to the cross.
2. For the worst offenders. It was used for criminal foreigners and slaves, who were not protected as Roman citizens, and offenders of the worst kind, especially rebels.
3. Shameful . The crucified victim was forced to undress completely before being nailed to the cross, no matter if it was male or female. Therefore crucifixion was considered the most shameful and humiliating way to die. The goal of Roman crucifixion was not only to kill the criminal, but also to humiliate the body of the condemned. Control over one's own body was vital in ancient cultures. Capital punishment removed the "self control" which denoted the loss of honor.
What can someone say about a doctrine that takes as its most sacred symbol an instrument of execution?
