Research Paper on:
Historical Roman Crucifixion Evidence

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fairly common practice in the times of Jesus Christ and prior to Jesus Christ, but we rarely imagine the historical reality of the practice. In the following paper we examine  Roman crucifixion and crucifixion in general, in terms of its historical importance and evolution in theology. Crucifixion "Undoubtedly, one of the cruelest and most humiliating forms of punishment  in the ancient world was, according to ancient sources, crucifixion. The Jewish historian Josephus best described it following the siege of Jerusalem by the Romans in AD 66-70 as the  most wretched of deaths" and "Senecas Epistle 101 to Lucilius...argues that suicide is preferable to the cruel fate of being put on the cross."1 Interestingly enough, as is perhaps the  case with many historical practices, the origins of crucifixion are unknown. Zias states that "While its origins are obscured in antiquity, it is clear that this form of capital punishment  lasted for around 800 years and tens if not hundreds of thousands of individuals were subject to this cruel and humiliating death. Mass executions in which hundreds and thousands died  - such as the well known crucifixion of 6,000 followers of Spartacus as part, of a victory celebration along the Appian Way in 71 BCE - appear in the literature."2  From this examination we can perhaps understand that Roman crucifixion was not something that was limited to only criminals. People of all types it seems were put upon a cross,  or a tree, or any other device that would serve as a crucifix. Zias indicates that "the literature clearly shows that this class of individuals were not the only ones  subjected to this ultimate fate. Alexander the Great had 2,000 survivors from the siege of Tyre crucified on the shores of the Mediterranean" and "during the times of Caligula -