Crucifixion was generally reserved for common criminals, and in the same
way as the public gibbets of early modern England stood as a ghastly reminder
of the wages of crime, the crucified victims of Roman justice served as a
warning to others tempted to sin. It was generally a very slow, painful way to
die, and to the agony was added the public humiliation of hanging in public
view, naked and vulnerable.^7
Israeli archaeologists have found the remains of a first centuryAD
crucifixion victim in Giv’at haMivtar in northeast Jerusalem. One of the nails
used to fix him to the cross remained embedded in his heel bone (Figure 11).
Its position suggested that each foot was nailed to the side of the upright
beam. We know the name of this man, because after his death his bones were
placed in an ossuary on which was scratched‘Jehohanan, the son of Hagakol’.
Splinters attached to the nail were of olive wood which suggest that the cross
was not very high, as olive trees do not grow very tall. The nail was stopped
by another piece of wood, this time acacia, so that the condemned man could
not have dragged his foot free. His legs had been broken, which seems to have
been a common practice intended to hasten death, but such mutilation also
formed part of other punishments that did not involve crucifixion. No other
nails were present, possibly because iron was expensive, and thrifty officials
recovered the nails when the body was removed. The nail found in the heel
had bent at the tip, and could not be readily pulled out, so it was left behind. A
CLASSICAL CRIMESFigure 11. Crucifixion bone and nail from a site in Israel