An execution is when a person is sentenced to death for a forbidden action. In modern day America, the most common use of execution in states are of lethal injection. Since 1976, there have been 1284 killings of lethal injection. In the state of Tennessee, lethal injection is used for death penalties, as well as the electric chair (“Methods). In older times, death penalties seemed to be much more brutal than how it has evolved now. One of the gruesome, ancient executions was crucifixion. Jesus Christ was a crucified victim, and his crucifixion is the most famous one. Jesus was crucified because of his claims of being the “King of Jews”. Other victims could be crucified for causing criminal acts. Crucifixion was not only just an execution, but an ignominious way to die (“Crucifixion”). Crucifixion was a violent way of death, and some death penalties seemed to follow along with its brutality centuries later.
Death Penalties stretch far back to Before Christ. The Eighteenth Century B.C. was around the time when Hammurabi established his Code of Laws (Part 1). Hammurabi’s Code of Laws included executions. Hammurabi’s Code of Laws were made up of 282 laws, and they were strict. One example from the Code of Laws is that a robber would be put to death if his actions were caught (The Avalon Project). The Ancient Romans had laws similar to Hammurabi’s Code of Laws called the Twelve Tables (Part 1). The Twelve Tables was Ancient Rome’s rules and were strict as well. One rule from the Twelve Tables was that a severely deformed child had to be killed (Historyguide.org).
Crucifixion was a gruesome process of death which was used by the Persians, Seleucids, and most importantly, the Romans. In Ancient Rome, crucifixion was used from the 6th to 4th century CE. In the early 4th century CE, the emperor Constantine the Great did not continue the death penalty because it was the same way Jesus Christ died. Crucifixion takes a while for the victim to die. During the beginning of the sufferer’s punishment, they are whipped before having to carry crossbeam to where the shaft was already standing. They are undressed before or after having to carry the crossbeam (The Editors). When prisoners were whipped, they would sometimes be whipped by flagrums. Flagrums are whips, except that hard beads of metal or bone were aligned on the leather. Whippings would cause blood loss to some victims because the painful whips would remove the skin. (“Crucifixion.” Allaboutjesuschrist.org). The stake the victim was placed on did not always look like a cross. It could also be in the shape of an “X” or “T” (“Jewishencyclopedia.com”). Before the crossbeam is attached to the shaft, nails are driven through the victim’s wrists. When the crossbeam was risen up, the feet are nailed to the shaft as well (The Editors).
Broken circulation and shock are some of the causes to the victim’s crucified death. Asphyxiation was another cause of death as well. Asphyxiation is when there is a lack of oxygen. Asphyxiation was another cause of death in crucifixion because of how the victims were positioned on the cross. Sometimes the sufferer’s legs were broken from being struck by a club because it caused asphyxiation to kill even more quickly (The Editors). Due to asphyxiation, sufferers would sometimes develop hypoxia. Sufferers could also get respiratory problems and heart failure due to the heart not pumping enough blood (“Crucifixion.” Allaboutjesuschrist.org). The time it took for the sufferer to die varied. Sometimes deaths would take twelve hours, or even a couple of days, and the bodies were left to rot and wait for animals to eat them (“Jewishencyclopedia.com”).
Jesus Christ went through an agonizing death for everybody, and for their sins. Before Jesus’s crucifixion, He was badly whipped and had to wear a crown of thorns, which stabbed his scalp. During His execution, Jesus possibly suffered dehydration from the lengthy walk carrying his crossbeam and blood loss from his whippings. If Jesus lacked oxygen and blood, then he most likely experienced severe cramps. Jesus’s cause of death is not specific, for people do not know the exact health issue he faced that led to him to passing away. One reason why he died could have possibly been because His heart could not pump blood. Another reason could have been cardiac rupture, heart failure, shock, or asphyxiation (“Crucifixion.” Allaboutjesuschrist.org).
Like crucifixion, the death penalties centuries later in the Middle Ages were ferocious. Executions in the Medieval Times were usually taken place in public, so it can alert others that they could die gruesomely if they perform bad actions. There were a variety of violent methods used on prisoners for their death. If a prisoner had to be boiled to death, they were put in a cauldron of boiling water or oil; the result was of the prisoner becoming burned to death. There were prisoners who were burned at the stake and were sawn in half. Impalement was one of the most terrifying public executions and were sometimes used on witches. Many other methods were used in the Middle Ages, but crucifixion was used as a method in Europe as well (“Execution).
In America, death penalties are different compared to those from the Middle Ages and crucifixion. In the United States during colonial times, hanging was the most common execution because it was thought as a simple process. 1890 marks the beginning of the electric chair. During that year, hanging executions were ended by legislators of state, and electrocution began to be used for prisoners. Execution by gas was also used in America as well. The Supreme Court stopped the rule of death penalties in 1972, but was soon continued. The process of lethal injection began with Texas in 1982. After Texas used the procedure, other states began to as well and it became popular in the 90’s. Even though lethal injection is the most popular used procedure for execution in the United States, some states stick to alternative methods. A couple of states still use the electric chair, gas, and even firing squads (Ford).