In ancient Rome, the general rule was that slaves could be tortured freely. In fact, it was strongly suggested that any free man accused of a crime should have his slaves tortured, often executed, at his place before a verdict could be reached. But that didn’t stop the Roman elite from torturing the free men and women of their country. Roman law always had loopholes, and the elite rulers took advantage of every loophole.
Ancient Romans loved a good crucifixion. It was at one time the primary method used to tortured and kill countless numbers of slaves.
Crucifixion didn’t always involve nailing the accused to a cross. Sometimes, the accused was stripped, his head was covered, and he was tied down onto a cross or fork. He was then flogged, sometimes until he died.
If the accused was not supposed to die by continuous flogging, the next course of action involved nailing his hands to the cross beam. He was then hoisted onto a planted post, and his feet were nailed to the post. He might be left there to die a slow death, or his thighs might be broken to help speed his end.
In some cases, the accused might be hung upside down on the post. Other times, the executioner had the post driven through the accused’s private parts. The methods used differed from executioner to executioner, with no one set method of crucifixion for all.
