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See also: Crucifixion of Jesus.


Crucifixion was in use particularly among the Persians, Seleucids, Carthaginiansmarker, and Romans from about the 6th century BC to the 4th century AD, when in the year 337 Emperor Constantine I abolished it in his empire, out of veneration for Jesus Christ, the most famous victim of crucifixion. It was also used as a form of execution in Japan, of both criminals and Christians.

A crucifix (an image of Christ crucified on a cross) is the main religious symbol for Catholics, Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox, but most Protestant Christians prefer to use a cross without the figure (the "corpus" - Latin for "body") of Christ. The term crucifix derives from the Latin crucifixus or cruci fixus (itself the past participle passive of crucifigere or cruci figere, "crucify", "fix to a cross.")

Details of crucifixion

Crucifixion was almost never performed for ritual or symbolic reasons outside of Christianity, but usually to provide a death that was particularly slow, painful (hence the term excruciating, literally "out of crucifying"), gruesome (hence dissuading against the crimes punishable by it) and public, using whatever means were most expedient for that goal. Crucifixion methods varied considerably with location and time period.



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 , "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.



Cross shape

See also Cross or stake as gibbet on which Jesus died

At times the gibbet was only one vertical stake, called in Latin crux simplex or palus, or in Greek μόνος σταυρός (monos stauros, i.e. isolated stake). This was the simplest available construction for torturing and killing the criminals. 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). Other forms were in the shape of the letters X and Y.

The earliest writings that speak specifically of the shape of the cross on which Jesus died describe it as shaped like the letter T (the Greek letter tau), or composed of an upright and a transverse beam, together with a small ledge in the upright.

Nail placement in crucifixion

In popular depictions of the crucifixion of Jesus (possibly because in translations of 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).


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.


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 do mention the sedile, a small seat attached to the front of the cross, about halfway down, which could have served a similar purpose.


Cause of death


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 conjectured 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. Indeed, Roman executioners could be asked to break the condemned's legs, after he had hung for some time, in order to hasten his death. Once deprived of support and unable to lift himself, the condemned would die within a few minutes. Experiments by Frederick Zugibe have, however, revealed that, when suspended with arms at 60° to 70° from the vertical, test subjects had no difficulty breathing, only rapidly-increasing discomfort and pain. This would correspond to the Roman use of crucifixion as a prolonged, agonizing, humiliating death. Legs were often broken to hasten death through severe traumatic shock and fat embolism. Crucifixion on a single pole with no transom, with hands affixed over one's head, would precipitate rapid asphyxiation if no block was provided to stand on, or once the legs were broken.

Surviving crucifixion

There is a record of one person who survived crucifixion. 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.

Archaeological evidence for ancient crucifixion




History of crucifixion

Pre-Roman States


The Greek writer Herodotus described at the conclusion of HISTORIES, BOOK IX (120-121), the execution in about 479BCE of a traitor; "they nailed him to a plank and hung him up...this Artacytus who suffered death by crucifixion." (Translation, Aubrey de Selincourt.)

Some Christian theologians, beginning with Paul of Tarsusmarker writing in Galatians , have interpreted an allusion to crucifixion in Deuteronomy . This reference is to being hanged from a tree, and may be associated with lynching or traditional hanging. However, ancient Jewish law allowed only 4 methods of execution: stoning, burning, strangulation, and decapitation. Crucifixion was thus forbidden by ancient Jewish law. 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 executed 2000 survivors from his siege of the Phoenicianmarker city of Tyremarker, 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.


Roman Empire

Explanation of Construction (Crucifixion): Homage to Mondrian

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 (unfortunate 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 first-century A.D. 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. According to others, the Romans appear to have learned of crucifixion from the Carthaginiansmarker.

Crucifixion was used for slaves, pirates, and enemies of the state. Therefore crucifixion 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.



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 provincial freedmen of obscure station ('humiles'). 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. Control of one’s own body was vital in the ancient world. Capital punishment took away control over one’s own body, thereby implying a loss of status and honour. The Romans often broke the prisoner's legs to hasten death and usually forbade burial.


The 'nails' were tapered iron spikes approximately long, with a square shaft across. In some cases, the nails were gathered afterwards and used as healing amulets.


Crucifixion in the Qur'an




In Surah 5:33, The Qur'an mentions crucifixion as a form of punishment for those who fight Allah and his messenger.




Crucifixion was introduced in Japan during the Age of Civil Wars (1138-1560), 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 , crucifixion was used in Japanmarker before and during the Tokugawa Shogunate. The condemned, usually a sentenced criminal, was hoisted upon a T-shaped cross. The executioner finished him off with spear thrusts, then the body was left to hang for a time before burial.

In 1597, twenty-six Christians were nailed to crosses at Nagasaki, Japan. Among those executed were Paul Miki and Pedro Bautista, a Spanishmarker Franciscan who had worked about ten years in the Philippinesmarker. The executions marked the beginning of a long history of persecution of Christianity in Japan, which continued until the Meiji Restoration introduced religious freedom in Japan in 1871.


In the early Meiji period (circa 1865-8), the 25 year-old servant Sokichi was executed by crucifixion for the murder of his employer, a store-owner, during the course of a robbery. He was affixed to a stake with two cross-pieces by tying, rather than nailing (photograph).

Crucifixion as punishment in modern times

Saudi Arabia

In Saudi Arabiamarker, the bodies of beheaded convicts may be tied to wooden displays for public display after the execution.


In the Fiftieth Session of the UN Commission on Human Rights (1994), local bishops reported several cases of crucifixion of Christian priests. Sudanmarker's Penal Code, based upon the government's interpretation of Shari'a, provides for execution by crucifixion. The sentence has been passed as recently as 2002, when 88 people were condemned.


As of 2000, Yemenmarker provides for non-lethal crucifixion of criminals, though this punishment is apparently reserved for those also condemned to death.




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.

United Kingdom

A practice resembling crucifixion, also known as Field Punishment Number One, was used as a form of punishment in the British Army, especially during the First World War, usually for crimes such as disobedience and the refusal of orders. The offender would be tied to the wheel of a wagon or gun carridge for two hours every day. They would also be subjected to solitary confinement, a bread-and-water diet and hard labour in between crucifixions. This could last for up to twenty eight days. Later on in the war, when wagons and gun carridges were in short supply, the offender would be tied to a fence, a beam, or on at least one occasion, a barbed wire fence. The main idea was to humiliate the soldier.

Crucifixion as a devotional practice

Devotional crucifixion in San Fernando, Pampanga, Philippines, easter 2006
at least the mid-1800s, a group of Catholic flagellants in New Mexicomarker 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 very devout Catholics are voluntarily, non-lethally crucified for a limited time on Good Friday, to imitate the suffering of Jesus Christ. A notable example is the ceremonial re-enactment that has been performed yearly in the town of Iztapalapa, on the outskirts of Mexico Citymarker, since 1833.

Devotional crucifixions are also common in the Philippinesmarker, even driving nails through the hands. One man named Rolando del Campo vowed to be crucified every Good Friday for 15 years if God would carry his wife through a difficult childbirth. (There is a video of the crucifixion here.) In San Pedro Cutud, devotee Ruben Enaje has been crucified 21 times, as of 2007, during Passion Week celebrations.


The Crucifixion of Christ is one of the most important parts of any Passion Play, or Mystery Play, production. The story critically leads the audience through death to resurrection, the dividing of the resurrected into 'sheep' (the good, destined for heaven) and 'goats' (sinners, destined for hell), and to God and Christ in Glory. A typical account is in the York Waggon Plays performed by the Guilds of York, currently every four years. (next production summer 2010). This mediaeval set of plays includes two that depict Christ's Death (1) The Crucifixion (Christ is put on the cross) and (2) the Death of Christ. The second of these was traditionally played by the Butchers' Gild as the butchers took on a supplementary role in civic life as the city's executioners.

Famous crucifixions

See also


  2. Encyclopaedia Britannica Online: crucifixion
  3. Crucifixion
  4. Online Etymology Dictionary
  6. Crucifixion in the Ancient World
  7. Annales 2:32.2
  8. Annales 15:60.1
  9. Jewish War V.II
  10. Mishna, Shabbath 6.10, quoted in Crucifixion in Antiquity
  11. Josephus, Wars of the Jews, 5.11.1
  16. Liddell and Scott on χείρ. Cf. The Science of the Crucifixion.
  17. a brief news article
  18. Jewish Encyclopedia: Crucifixion
  19. Crucifixion in Antiquity
  20. The Cross
  21. Some Notes on Crucifixion
  23. Joe Zias, Crucifixion in Antiquity - The Anthropological Evidence
  24. Edwards et al., On the physical death of Jesus Christ, in The Journal of the American Medical Association, March 21 1986
  25. The history and pathology of crucifixion
  26.;&version=31; John 19:31-19:35, NIV
  27. The Life Of Flavius Josephus, 75
  29. In the Fullness of Time, by Paul L. Maier
  30. F.P. Retief & L. Cilliers, The history and pathology of crucifixion, South African Medical Journal, vol. 93, no. 12, pp. 938-941 (2003)
  32. Livy I.26 and the Supplicium de More Maiorum
  33. Apologia, IX, 1
  35. The Physical Death Of Jesus Christ, Study by The Mayo Clinic
  36. The Real Spartacus.
  37. Encyclopaedia Britannica Online: crucifixion
  38. Dictionary of Images and Symbols in Counselling By William Stewart 1998 ISBN 1853023515, p. 120
  39. Archaeology of the Bible
  40. Crucifixion in the Islamic Republic of Iran
  41. Executed Sokichi
  42. Saudi court upholds child rapist crucifixion ruling
  43. Sudan: Imminent Execution/Torture/Unfair trial | Amnesty International
  44. Yemen: Fear of execution | Amnesty International
  45. RELIGION-MEXICO: The Passion According to Iztapalapa
  47. Home | Propeller

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