As
it is Good Friday today, I will be blogging about the crucifixion. I chose this
execution method as the weapon of the fortnight. As a born again Christian and
a former death penalty opponent, I do not use my saviour, Jesus Christ, as an
excuse to say that capital punishment is wrong because the Romans crucified
him. I am referring to the two malefactors who were crucified next to Christ,
the two criminals paid with their lives for their crimes. I will post some
information about the crucifixion from Wikipedia.
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Crucifixion of Jesus of Nazareth, by Marco
Palmezzano (Uffizi, Florence), painting ca. 1490
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Crucifixion
is a method of deliberately slow and painful execution in which the condemned
person is tied or nailed to a large wooden cross and left to hang until dead.
It is principally known from antiquity, but remains in occasional use in some
countries.
Crucifixion
was used among the Seleucids, Carthaginians, and Romans from about the 6th
century BC to the 4th century AD. In the year 337, Emperor Constantine I
abolished it in the Roman Empire out of veneration for Jesus Christ, the most
famous victim of crucifixion. It was also used as a form of execution in Japan
for criminals, inflicted also on some Christians.
A
crucifix (an image of Christ crucified on a cross) is the main religious symbol
for Roman Catholic, and Eastern Orthodox churches, but most Protestant and
Oriental Orthodox churches prefer to use a cross without the figure (the
"corpus": Latin for "body") of Christ. Most crucifixes
portray Jesus on a Latin cross, rather than any other shape, such as a Tau
cross or a Greek cross.
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Crucifixion of St. Peter by Caravaggio
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Terminology
Ancient Greek has two verbs for crucify: ana-stauro
(ἀνασταυρόω), from stauros, "stake", and apo-tumpanizo
(ἀποτυμπανίζω) "crucify on a plank." together with anaskolopizo
(ἀνασκολοπίζω "impale"). In earlier pre-Roman Greek texts anastauro
usually means "impale."
For the instrument of crucifixion the word xylon
(ξύλον) was sometimes used, a word applied to any object made of wood. Liddell
and Scott classifies its meanings under five headings:
I. wood cut and ready for use, firewood, timber (in these senses the
word is usually in the plural);
II. piece of wood, log, beam, post or an object made of wood, such as a
spoon, the Trojan horse, a cudgel or club, an instrument of punishment (a
collar for someone's neck, stocks to confine his feet or to confine his neck,
arms and legs, a gallows to hang him, or a stake to impale
him), a table, a bench as in the theatre;
III. a tree
IV. a blockhead or a stubborn person;
V. a measure of length.
The English term cross derives from the
Latin word crux. The Latin term crux literally means "in
general, a tree, frame, or other wooden instruments of execution,
on which criminals were impaled or hanged" and "in particular, a
cross".
The English term crucifix derives from the
Latin crucifixus or cruci fixus, past participle passive of crucifigere
or cruci figere, meaning "to crucify" or "to fasten to a
cross".
Details
Crucifixion
was often performed to terrorize and dissuade its witnesses from perpetrating
particularly heinous crimes. Victims were left on display after death as
warnings to others who might attempt dissent. Crucifixion was usually intended
to provide a death that was particularly slow, painful (hence the term excruciating,
literally "out of crucifying"), gruesome, humiliating, and public,
using whatever means were most expedient for that goal. Crucifixion methods
varied considerably with location and time period.
The
Greek and Latin words corresponding to "crucifixion" applied to many
different forms of painful execution, from impaling on a stake to affixing to a
tree, to an upright pole (a crux simplex) or to a combination of an
upright (in Latin, stipes) and a crossbeam (in Latin, patibulum).
In
some cases, the condemned was forced to carry the crossbeam on his shoulders to
the place of execution. A whole cross would weigh well over 300 pounds
(135 kg), but the crossbeam would not be quite as burdensome, weighing
around 100 pounds. The Roman historian Tacitus records that the city of Rome
had a specific place for carrying out executions, situated outside the
Esquiline Gate, and had a specific area reserved for the execution of slaves by
crucifixion. Upright posts would presumably be fixed permanently in that place,
and the crossbeam, with the condemned person perhaps already nailed to it,
would then be attached to the post.
The
person executed may have been attached to the cross by rope, though nails are
mentioned in a passage by the Judean historian Josephus, where he states that
at the Siege of Jerusalem (70), "the soldiers out of rage and hatred, nailed
those they caught, one after one way, and another after another, to the
crosses, by way of jest." Objects used in the crucifixion of criminals,
such as nails, were sought as amulets with perceived medicinal qualities.
While
a crucifixion was an execution, it was also a humiliation, by making the
condemned as vulnerable as possible. Although artists have depicted the figure
on a cross with a loin cloth or a covering of the genitals, writings by Seneca
the Younger suggest that victims were crucified completely naked. When the
victim had to urinate or defecate, they had to do so in the open, in view of
passers-by, resulting in discomfort and the attraction of insects. Despite its
frequent use by the Romans, the horrors of crucifixion did not escape mention
by some of their eminent orators. Cicero for example, described crucifixion as
"a most cruel and disgusting punishment", and suggested that
"the very mention of the cross should be far removed not only from a Roman
citizen’s body, but from his mind, his eyes, his ears."
Frequently,
the legs of the person executed were broken or shattered with an iron club, an
act called crurifragium, which was also frequently applied without
crucifixion to slaves. This act hastened the death of the person but was also
meant to deter those who observed the crucifixion from committing offenses.
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Crux simplex, a simple wooden stake. Image by Justus Lipsius
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The crucifixion of Jesus. Image by Justus
Lipsius
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Cross shape
See also: Instrument of Jesus' crucifixion
The gibbet on which crucifixion was carried out
could be of many shapes. Josephus describes multiple tortures and positions of
crucifixion during the Siege of Jerusalem as Titus crucified the rebels; and Seneca the Younger recounts: "I see
crosses there, not just of one kind but made in many different ways: some have
their victims with head down to the ground; some impale their private parts;
others stretch out their arms on the gibbet."
At times the gibbet was only one vertical stake,
called in Latin crux simplex. This was the simplest available
construction for torturing and killing the condemned. Frequently, however,
there was a cross-piece attached either at the top to give the shape of a T (crux
commissa) or just below the top, as in the form most familiar in Christian
symbolism (crux immissa). Jehovah's Witnesses argue that Jesus was
crucified on a crux simplex, and that the crux immissa was an
invention of Emperor Constantine. Other forms were in the shape of the letters
X and Y.
The New Testament writings about the crucifixion of
Jesus do not speak specifically about the shape of that cross, but the early
writings that do speak of its shape, from about the year 100 on, describe it as
shaped like the letter T (the Greek letter tau) or as composed of an upright
and a transverse beam, sometimes with a small ledge in the upright.
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Crucifixion window by Henry E. Sharp, 1872,
in St. Matthew's German Evangelical Lutheran Church, Charleston, South Carolina
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Nail placement
In
popular depictions of the crucifixion of Jesus (possibly because in
translations of John 20:25 the wounds are described as being "in his
hands"), Jesus is shown with nails in his hands. But in Greek the word
"χείρ", usually translated as "hand", referred to arm and
hand together, and to denote the hand as distinct from the arm
some other word was added, as "ἄκρην οὔτασε χεῖρα" (he wounded the
end of the χείρ, i.e., he wounded her hand).
A
possibility that does not require tying is that the nails were inserted just
above the wrist, between the two bones of the forearm (the radius and the
ulna).
An
experiment that was the subject of a documentary on the National Geographic
Channel's Quest For Truth: The Crucifixion, showed that a person can be
suspended by the palm of the hand. Nailing the feet to the side of the cross
relieves strain on the wrists by placing most of the weight on the lower body.
Another
possibility, suggested by Frederick Zugibe, is that the nails may have been
driven in at an angle, entering in the palm in the crease that delineates the
bulky region at the base of the thumb, and exiting in the wrist, passing
through the carpal tunnel.
A
foot-rest (suppedaneum) attached to the cross, perhaps for the purpose
of taking the person's weight off the wrists, is sometimes included in
representations of the crucifixion of Jesus, but is not discussed in ancient
sources. Some scholars interpret the Alexamenos graffito, the earliest
surviving depiction of the Crucifixion, as including such a foot-rest. Ancient
sources also mention the sedile, a small seat attached to the front of
the cross, about halfway down, which could have served a similar purpose.
In
1968, archaeologists discovered at Giv'at ha-Mivtar in northeast Jerusalem the
remains of one Jehohanan, who had been crucified in the 1st century. The remains
included a heel bone with a nail driven through it from the side. The tip of
the nail was bent, perhaps because of striking a knot in the upright beam,
which prevented it being extracted from the foot. A first inaccurate account of
the length of the nail led some to believe that it had been driven through both
heels, suggesting that the man had been placed in a sort of sidesaddle
position, but the true length of the nail, 11.5 cm (4.53 inches),
suggests instead that in this case of crucifixion the heels were nailed to
opposite sides of the upright. The skeleton from Giv'at ha-Mivtar is currently
the only recovered example of ancient crucifixion in the archaeological record.
Cause of death
The
length of time required to reach death could range from hours to days depending
on method, the victim's health, and the environment. A literature review by
Maslen and Mitchell identified scholarly support for several possible causes of
death: cardiac rupture, heart failure, hypovolemic shock, acidosis, asphyxia,
arrhythmia, and pulmonary embolism. Death could result from any combination of
those factors or from other causes, including sepsis following infection due to
the wounds caused by the nails or by the scourging that often preceded
crucifixion, eventual dehydration, or animal predation.
A
theory attributed to Pierre Barbet holds that, when the whole body weight was
supported by the stretched arms, the typical cause of death was asphyxiation.
He wrote that the condemned would have severe difficulty inhaling, due to
hyper-expansion of the chest muscles and lungs. The condemned would therefore
have to draw himself up by his arms, leading to exhaustion, or have his feet
supported by tying or by a wood block. When no longer able to lift himself, the
condemned would die within a few minutes. Some scholars posit other causes of
death, including Frederick Zugibe, who suspended test subjects with arms at 60°
to 70° from the vertical. Test subjects had no difficulty breathing during
experiments, but did suffer rapidly increasing pain, which is consistent with
the Roman use of crucifixion to achieve a prolonged, agonizing death. Legs were
often broken to hasten death through severe traumatic shock and fat embolism.
Survival
Since
death does not follow immediately on crucifixion, survival after a short period
of crucifixion is possible, as in the case of those who choose each year as a
devotional practice to be non-lethally crucified.
There
is an ancient record of one person who survived a crucifixion that was intended
to be lethal, but that was interrupted. Josephus recounts: "I saw many
captives crucified, and remembered three of them as my former acquaintance. I
was very sorry at this in my mind, and went with tears in my eyes to Titus, and
told him of them; so he immediately commanded them to be taken down, and to
have the greatest care taken of them, in order to their recovery; yet two of
them died under the physician's hands, while the third recovered."
Josephus gives no details of the method or duration of the crucifixion of his
three friends before their reprieve.
Ancient practice
Despite
the fact that the ancient Jewish historian Josephus, as well as other sources,
refers to the crucifixion of thousands of people by the Romans, there is only a
single archaeological discovery of a crucified body dating back to the Roman
Empire around the time of Jesus. This was discovered in Jerusalem in 1968. It
is not necessarily surprising that there is only one such discovery, because a
crucified body was usually left to decay on the cross and therefore would not
be preserved. The only reason these archaeological remains were preserved was
because family members gave this particular individual a customary burial.
The
remains were found accidentally in an ossuary with the crucified man’s name on
it, 'Yehohanan, the son of Hagakol'. Nicu Haas, an anthropologist at the Hebrew
University Medical School in Jerusalem, examined the ossuary and discovered
that it contained a heel bone with a nail driven through its side, indicating that
the man had been crucified. The position of the nail relative to the bone
indicates that the feet had been nailed to the cross from their side, not from
their front; various opinions have been proposed as to whether they were both
nailed together to the front of the cross or one on the left side, one on the
right side. The point of the nail had olive wood fragments on it indicating
that he was crucified on a cross made of olive wood or on an olive tree. Since
olive trees are not very tall, this would suggest that the condemned was
crucified at eye level.
Additionally,
a piece of acacia wood was located between the bones and the head of the nail,
presumably to keep the condemned from freeing his foot by sliding it over the
nail. His legs were found broken, possibly to hasten his death as described in
John 19:31-35. It is thought that because in Roman times iron was rare, the
nails were removed from the dead body to conserve costs. According to Haas,
this fact could help to explain why only one nail has been found, as the tip of
the nail in question was bent in such a way that it could not be removed.
Haas
had also identified a scratch on the inner surface of the right radius bone of
the forearm, close to the wrist. He deduced from the form of the scratch, as
well as from the intact wrist bones, that a nail had been driven into the
forearm at that position. However, much of Haas' findings have been challenged.
The scratches in the wrist area were determined to be non-traumatic and,
therefore, not evidence of crucifixion. A later reexamination of the heel bone
revealed that the two heels were not nailed together, but nailed separately to
either side of the upright post of the cross.
History and religious
texts
Pre-Roman states
Crucifixion
(or impalement), in one form or another, was used by Persians, Carthaginians,
Macedonians, and Romans. Death was often hastened. "The attending Roman
guards could only leave the site after the victim had died, and were known to
precipitate death by means of deliberate fracturing of the tibia and/or fibula,
spear stab wounds into the heart, sharp blows to the front of the chest, or a
smoking fire built at the foot of the cross to asphyxiate the victim."
The
Greeks were generally opposed to performing crucifixions. However, in his Histories,
ix.120–122, the Greek writer Herodotus describes the execution of a Persian
general at the hands of Athenians in about 479 BC: "They nailed him to a
plank and hung him up ... this Artayctes who suffered death by
crucifixion." The Commentary on Herodotus by How and Wells remarks:
"They crucified him with hands and feet stretched out and nailed to
cross-pieces; cf. vii.33. This barbarity, unusual on the part of Greeks, may be
explained by the enormity of the outrage or by Athenian deference to local
feeling."
Some
Christian theologians, beginning with Paul of Tarsus writing in Galatians 3:13,
have interpreted an allusion to crucifixion in Deuteronomy 21:22-23. This
reference is to being hanged from a tree, and may be associated with lynching
or traditional hanging. However, Rabbinic law limited capital punishment to
just 4 methods of execution: stoning, burning, strangulation, and decapitation,
while the passage in Deuteronomy was interpreted as an obligation to hang the
corpse on a tree as a form of deterrence. The Aramaic Testament of Levi (DSS
4Q541) interprets in column 6: "God [will set] right errors. [He will
judge] revealed sins. Investigate and seek and know how Jonah wept. Thus, you
shall not destroy the weak by wasting away or by [crucif]ixion. Let not the
nail touch him."
Alexander
the Great is reputed to have crucified 2000 survivors from his siege of the
Phoenician city of Tyre, as well as the doctor who unsuccessfully treated
Alexander's friend Hephaestion. Some historians have also conjectured that
Alexander crucified Callisthenes, his official historian and biographer, for
objecting to Alexander's adoption of the Persian ceremony of royal adoration.
In
Carthage, crucifixion was an established mode of execution, which could even be
imposed on generals for suffering a major defeat.
The
Jewish king Alexander Jannaeus crucified 800 rebels, said to be Pharisees, in
the middle of Jerusalem.
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The Orpheos Bakkikos crucifixion,
hematite seal reflecting ancient Greek themes, considered to be from the third
or fourth century AD, although one source suggests that it is from the early
Christian era. Formerly housed at the Altes Museum in Berlin, but lost or
destroyed during World War II.
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Ancient Rome
The
hypothesis that the Ancient Roman custom of crucifixion may have developed out
of a primitive custom of arbori suspendere—hanging on an arbor infelix
("inauspicious tree") dedicated to the gods of the nether world—is
rejected by William A. Oldfather, who shows that this form of execution (the
supplicium more maiorum, punishment in accordance with the custom of our
ancestors) consisted of suspending someone from a tree, not dedicated to any
particular gods, and flogging him to death. Tertullian mentions a 1st-century
AD case in which trees were used for crucifixion, but Seneca the Younger
earlier used the phrase infelix lignum (unfortunate wood) for the transom
("patibulum") or the whole cross. Plautus and Plutarch are the two
main sources for accounts of criminals carrying their own patibulum to the
upright stipes.
Crucifixion
was used for slaves, pirates, and enemies of the state. It was considered a
most shameful and disgraceful way to die. Condemned Roman citizens were usually
exempt from crucifixion (like feudal nobles from hanging, dying more honorably
by decapitation) except for major crimes against the state, such as high
treason.
Notorious
mass crucifixions followed the Third Servile War in 73–71 BC (the slave
rebellion under Spartacus), other Roman civil wars in the 2nd and 1st centuries
BC, and the Destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD. To frighten other slaves from
revolting, Crassus crucified 6,000 of Spartacus' men along the Appian Way from
Capua to Rome. Josephus tells a story of the Romans crucifying people along the
walls of Jerusalem. He also says that the Roman soldiers would amuse themselves
by crucifying criminals in different positions. In Roman-style crucifixion, the
condemned could take up to a few days to die. The dead body was left up for
vultures and other birds to consume.
Under
ancient Roman penal practice, crucifixion was also a means of exhibiting the
criminal’s low social status. It was the most dishonourable death imaginable,
originally reserved for slaves, hence still called "supplicium
servile" by Seneca, later extended to citizens of the lower classes (humiliores).
The citizen class of Roman society were almost never subject to capital
punishments; instead, they were fined or exiled. Josephus mentions Jews of high
rank who were crucified, but this was to point out that their status had been
taken away from them. The Romans often broke the prisoner's legs to hasten
death and usually forbade burial.
A
cruel prelude was occasionally scourging, which would cause the condemned to
lose a large amount of blood, and approach a state of shock. The convict then
usually had to carry the horizontal beam (patibulum in Latin) to the
place of execution, but not necessarily the whole cross. Crucifixion was
typically carried out by specialized teams, consisting of a commanding
centurion and four soldiers. When it was done in an established place of
execution, the vertical beam (stipes) could even be permanently embedded
in the ground. The condemned was usually stripped naked—all the New Testament
gospels describe soldiers gambling for the robes of Jesus.
The
'nails' were tapered iron spikes approximately 5 to 7 inches (13 to 18 cm)
long, with a square shaft 3⁄8 inches (10 mm) across.
In some cases, the nails were gathered afterward and used as healing amulets.
Constantine
the Great, the first Christian emperor, abolished crucifixion in the Roman
Empire in 337 out of veneration for Jesus Christ, its most famous victim.
In the Qur'an
The
Qur'an mentions crucifixion several times. In Surah 7:124, Firaun (Arabic for
Pharaoh) says that he will crucify his chief wizards. Also, Surah 12:41
mentions Prophet Yusuf (Joseph) prophesying that the king (the current ruler of
the land he was stranded in) would crucify one of his prisoners.
'And the wizards fell down prostrate, crying: "We believe in the Lord of the Worlds, The Lord of Musa and Harun". Firaun said: "Ye believe in Him before I give you leave! Lo! this is the plot that ye have plotted in the city that ye may drive its people hence. But ye shall come to know! Surely I shall have your hands and feet cut off upon alternate sides. Then I shall crucify you every one."' Surah 7:120-124'O my two fellow-prisoners! As for one of you, he will pour out wine for his lord to drink; and as for the other, he will be crucified so that the birds will eat from his head. Thus is the case judged concerning which ye did inquire.' Surah 12:41
In Surah
5:33, The Qur'an mentions crucifixion as a form of punishment. There are four
different punishments for the different severities of crime. Crucifixion is the
punishment for the robber who kills his victim after robbing him.
'The punishment of those who wage war against Allah and His Messenger, and strive with might and main for mischief through the land is: execution, or crucifixion, or the cutting off of hands and feet from opposite sides, or exile from the land: that is their disgrace in this world, and a heavy punishment is theirs in the Hereafter.' Surah 5:33
Japan
Crucifixion
was introduced into Japan during the Sengoku period (1467–1573), after a
350-year period with no capital punishment. It is believed to have been
suggested to the Japanese by the introduction of Christianity to the region.
Known in Japanese as haritsuke (磔?), crucifixion was used in Japan
before and during the Tokugawa Shogunate. The condemned, usually a commoner
convicted by the local feudal authorities, was hoisted upon a T-shaped cross.
The executioner finished him off with spear thrusts from below the ribcage,
then the body was left to hang for a time as a public display before disposal.
In
1597, twenty-six Christians were nailed to crosses at Nagasaki, Japan. Among
those executed were Saints Paulo Miki, Philip of Jesus and Pedro Bautista, a
Spanish Franciscan who had worked about ten years in the Philippines. The
executions marked the beginning of a long history of persecution of
Christianity in Japan, which continued until its decriminalization in 1871.
Crucifixion
was used as a punishment for prisoners of war during World War II. Ringer
Edwards, an Australian prisoner of war, was crucified for killing cattle, along
with two others. He survived 63 hours before being let down.
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Bakumatsu or early Meiji period crucifixion
(c. 1865–1868), Yokohama, Japan. A 25 year-old servant, Sokichi, was executed
by crucifixion for murdering his employer's son during the course of a robbery.
He was affixed by tying, rather than nailing, to a stake with two cross-pieces.
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Europe
During
World War I, there were persistent rumors that German soldiers had crucified a
Canadian soldier on a tree or barn door with bayonets or combat knives. The
event was initially reported in 1915 by Private George Barrie of the 1st
Canadian Division. Two investigations, one a post-war official investigation,
and the other an independent investigation by the Canadian Broadcasting
Corporation, concluded that there was no evidence to support the story.
However, British documentary maker Iain Overton in 2001 published an article
claiming that the story was true, identifying the soldier as Harry Band.
Overton's article was the basis for a 2002 episode of the Channel 4 documentary
show Secret History.
It
has been reported that crucifixion was used in several cases against the German
civil population of East Prussia when it was occupied by Soviet forces at the
end of the Second World War.
Contemporary use
Crucifixion
is still used as a rare method of execution in some countries.
Burma
The
human rights group Karen Women Organization documented a case of Tatmadaw
forces crucifying several Karen villagers in 2000 in the Dooplaya District in
Burma's Kayin State.
Iran
Theoretically,
crucifixion is still one of the Hadd punishments in Iran. although it is not
actually applied and there is no example of its use. If a crucified person were
to survive three days of crucifixion, that person would be allowed to live.
Execution by hanging is described as follows: "In execution by hanging,
the prisoner will be hung on a hanging truss which should look like a cross,
while his (her) back is toward the cross, and (s)he faces the direction of
Mecca [in Saudi Arabia], and his (her) legs are vertical and distant from the
ground."
Saudi
Arabia
Several
people have been executed by crucifixion in Saudi Arabia in the 2000s, although
on occasion they were first beheaded and then crucified. Most recently, in
March 2013, a robber was set to be executed by being crucified for three days.
Sudan
Sudan's
penal code, based upon the government's interpretation of Shari'a, includes
execution followed by crucifixion as a penalty. When, in 2002, 88 people were
sentenced to death for crimes relating to murder, armed robbery, and
participating in ethnic clashes, Amnesty International wrote that they could be
executed by either hanging or crucifixion.
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Devotional crucifixion in San Fernando,
Pampanga, Philippines, Easter 2006
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As a devotional
practice
Since
at least the mid-19th century, a group of Catholic flagellants in New Mexico
called Hermanos de Luz ("Brothers of Light") have annually conducted
reenactments of Jesus Christ's crucifixion during Holy Week, in which a
penitent is tied—but not nailed—to a cross.
Some
Catholics are voluntarily, non-lethally crucified for a limited time on Good
Friday, to imitate the suffering of Jesus Christ, although the Church greatly
discourages this practice. A notable example is the ceremonial re-enactment
that has been performed yearly in the town of Iztapalapa, on the outskirts of
Mexico City, since 1833.
Devotional
crucifixions are also common in the Philippines. Worshipers drive thin nails
through the palm of the hand, a step is used to stand on, and the period is
short, not a full crucifixion. One man named Rolando del Campo who was a carpenter
in Pampanga vowed to be crucified every Good Friday for 15 years if God would
carry his wife through a difficult childbirth. In San Pedro Cutud, devotee
Ruben Enaje has been crucified 21 times, as of 2007, during Passion Week
celebrations. Although the country's dominant Catholic Church disapproves of
the ritual, the Filipino government says it cannot stop the devotees from
crucifying and whipping themselves. The health department insists that those
taking part in the rituals should have tetanus shots and that the nails used to
pierce their limbs should be sterilized.
In
many cases the person portraying Jesus is first subjected to flagellation and
wears a crown of thorns. Sometimes there is a whole passion play, sometimes
only the mortification of the flesh.
Famous crucifixions
- The crucifixion of Jesus: Jesus of Nazareth's death by crucifixion by Pontius Pilate (most likely in AD 30 or 33), recounted in the four first-century canonical Gospels, is referred to repeatedly as something well known in the earlier letters of Saint Paul, for instance, five times in his First Letter to the Corinthians, written in AD 57 (1:13, 1:18, 1:23, 2:2, 2:8). Pilate was the Roman governor of Iudaea province at the time, and he is explicitly linked with the condemnation of Jesus not only by the Gospels but also by Tacitus, (see Responsibility for the death of Jesus for details). The civil charge was a claim to be King of the Jews.
- The rebel slaves of the Third Servile War: Between 73 BC and 71 BC a band of slaves, eventually numbering about 120,000, under the (at least partial) leadership of Spartacus were in open revolt against the Roman republic. The rebellion was eventually crushed, and while Spartacus himself most likely died in the final battle of the revolt, approximately 6,000 of his followers were crucified along the 200 km road between Capua and Rome, as a warning to any other would-be rebels.
- Saint Peter, Christian apostle: according to tradition, Peter was crucified upside-down at his own request (hence the Cross of St. Peter), as he did not feel worthy to die the same way as Jesus.
- Saint Andrew, Christian apostle and Saint Peter's brother: crucified, according to tradition, on an X-shaped cross, hence the name St. Andrew's Cross
- Simeon of Jerusalem, 2nd Bishop of Jerusalem, crucified either 106 or 107
- Little Saint Hugh of Lincoln was an English boy whose disappearance in 1255 prompted a blood libel against the local Jews. A Jewish man was tortured until he confessed to killing the child. The story of Little Saint Hugh became well known through medieval ballad poetry.
- Archbishop Joachim of Nizhny Novgorod: reportedly crucified upside down, on the Royal Doors of the Cathedral in Sevastopol, Russia in 1920
- Wilgefortis was venerated as a saint and represented as a crucified woman, however her legend comes from a misinterpretation of the full-clothed crucifix of Lucca.
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