PUNISHMENTS IN ANCIENT ROME

crucifixion of Spartacus probably didn't happen

Crucifixion is a well-known form of Roman punishment. That's what the Romans did to Jesus. After the Spartacus Slave Revolt, it was said, slaves were nailed to crosses along a 100 miles stretch of the Appian Way. Many of them remained there, it was said, until their bones were picked clean by vultures. Some historians doubt whether this really took place. There is some archaeological evidence that crucifixions did occur but it is unclear if the punishment was widely practiced.

The Emperors had no tolerance for people who revolted. In A.D. 70, Titus put down a Jewish revolt and and punished rebellious Jewish zealots by salting agricultural land, slaughtering and enslaving thousands of Jews, and looting menorahs and other sacred objects.

Thousands of Jewish slaves were brought to Rome from Judea. During a huge triumphal procession, commemorated by the Arch of Titus, Jewish prisoners were paraded through the streets and strangled at the Forum. Josephus claimed that all together over 1 million Jews died as a result of the Roman crackdown.

The Romans burned and sacked the Second Temple in Jerusalem. The Arch of Titus in Rome has a frieze showing legionnaires carrying candelabra and silver trumpets from the Temple. The Roman's added insult to injury by razing the Roman standard on the ruin of the Temple with an image of a pig (Jews like Muslims refrain from eating pork).

The most common punishments were fines. In some case, people were exiled, a fairly common practice in ancient Greece. Wooden soles were sometimes strapped to the feet of prisoners, making escape difficult. Lacking pliability, wood restricts the foot's movement. According to Romae Vitam: “For theft the common punishment for a Roman citizen was to pay damages usually many times the value of the object stolen.

The Romans made the difference between manifest and non-manifest theft, which depended on how close the thief was to the scene of the crime, manifest theft being the worst kind of theft. Initially, the penalty for manifest theft could be flogging, slavery or even death. Later on it was changed to paying damages amounting many times (usually four times) the value of the object stolen.”

Michael Van Duisen wrote for Listverse: “The status of homo sacer was given to those who broke oaths. Homo sacer translates best as “man who is set apart.” Those punished with this title were not allowed to be ritually sacrificed, but they could be killed by anyone, with impunity.

Some people were deemed homo sacer by a group of vigilantes, without any actual legal standing. (It is believed this may have occurred in early Rome, since they lacked the standing forces necessary to enforce the law, allowing people to take matters into their own hands on occasion.) In addition, any legal rights the convicted would have normally had, such as land ownership, were revoked, essentially ridding him of what made him a part of society.

The Law of the Twelve Tables, the foundation of Roman law, specifically mentions homo sacer, making it the punishment for patrons who deceive their clients. [Source: Michael Van Duisen, Listverse, February 13, 2014]

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THE WORLD FAMOUS HISTORY AND PAST EVENTS

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