Roman Torture Devices and Methods

Nero

Ruled for fifteen years.

• Had his own mother executed (he didn't trust her).
• Blamed for a fire in 64 A.D. and used the Christians as a scapegoat.
• Was eventually hated by his people and was ruled a public enemy.

Flavian Amphitheater

Caligula

Became very sick one October and after the illness passed he became a very evil man.

The punishment for Patricide

The Colosseum was not only used for gladiator fights...

Caligula's favorite method of torture was sawing

Projectio in profluentem

Throwing a criminal into the river.

"Death in the Colosseum"

Patricide

A citizen once insulted Caligula to his face. He responded by having the individual tied down and beaten with heavy chains.

Killing one's father

Rebels, thieves and traitors were dragged to the Colosseum to be publicly executed.

Once convicted...

He had another insulter and his entire family publicly executed in front of a crowd, forcing the family to watch.

of patricide, the guilty individual was blindfolded. Next, after the individual was taken outside the city, they would be stripped and whipped with rods.

There was no specific "game" they were sentenced to. The ruling was "death in the arena".

The individual would then be placed inside of a sack and thrown into the sea.

The use of the "seesaw" in the Colosseum

Two criminals were strapped to both ends of the seesaw and encouraged to begin the game. Then, the cages of the Colosseum were opened and wild animals were released.

"Playful" Pranks were also used on "local miscreants"

"As this man has practiced deceit, now deceit is practiced on him."

14 - 37

Tiberius

Didn't exactly care for the job...

His safety was a concern to him, so he had to leave Rome to the island of Capri.

They've also had much more brutal methods of torture for daughters of descendents and political opponents of the Empire, or adulterers and rapists.

While living on this island he had a huge villa known as the Villa of Jove (Jupiter).

The Use of Wild Animals

Chimps and Baboons were used for this brutal act. They were given alcohol until the point they were drunk. These Apes were specially trained to rape women who would be tied to a post.

Crucifixion

"A capital punishment used by the Romans!"

Rome Burns

Cause of Death?

Asphyxiation...

Crucifixion was considered a shameful and disgraceful way to die.

The event of feeding convicts to hungry carnivores was a public event.

or otherwise known as suffocation, however this form of execution ranges in other causes of death as well. For example, physical shock.

Gladiators

Gladiators didn't actually come from upper class Roman families but low ranking ones. Many were slaves captured by the military, convicted thieves, murderers, and rebels.

Commodus

Son of Marcus Aurelius, one of Rome’s greatest rulers.

He adored Gladiatorial games. particularly playing in the games.

At one point he had ordered anyone in the city considered "undesirable" to be thrown into the arena to kill each other.

The Romans had a twisted sense of humor! Gladiators were often placed in scenarios they had no chance of winning.

• He adored killing animals.
• In one day he killed 100 lions.

The animals actually had to be trained to kill people since they had no instinct to do so.

Rome's persecution of Christians

Those who practiced Christianity were considered criminals and were either killed or tortured.

Nero's persecution of the Christians (64 AD).

Nero blamed the christians for burning down the city of Rome.

Decimation

Christians were tortured by emperors that followed Nero however the style of torture did change with each emperor.

This was a punishment used in the Roman army. Of every ten soldiers one was executed.

Whips

• Confiscation of property
• Being fed to animals
• Being burned at the stake

A common method of punishment used by the Romans.

Because slaves did cost money, many of the punishments didn't inflict lasting damage. Therefore, the Lash was a common punishment for slaves.

A form of punishment used for only very serious offenses.

Sources

Caligula Clip - The Most Evil Men in History

Roman Torture Devices

and Methods of Torture

What is torture?

• http://ancienthistory.about.com/od/socialculture/g/021108TarpeianR.htm
• http://www.2020site.org/rome/roman-execution-practices.html
• http://www.mariamilani.com/colosseum/colosseum_capital_punishment.htm
• http://voices.yahoo.com/bizarre-punishments-used-romans-651820.html
• http://www.livius.org/de-dh/decimation/decimation.html
• http://www.roman-colosseum.info/roman-life/roman-punishment.htm
• http://www.superiordatarecovery.com/roman-sentences-of-the-law/
• http://suite101.com/article/torture-the-evolution-of-european-torture-and-torture-methods-a266797
• http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/christians.htm
• http://listverse.com/2010/05/09/top-10-worst-roman-emperors/

The action or practice of inflicting severe pain on someone as a punishment or to force them to do or say something.

Tarpeian Rock

dejectio e rupe Tarpeia

Katherine Reina

There were two forms of execution on this rock:

• Being killed on the rock and then being thrown off.
• Execution by precipitation.