spired writers refer, is crucifixion. It was used in Greece, but not so frequently as at Rome. It consisted of two beams, one of which was placed across the other, in a form nearly resembling the letter T, but with this difference, that the transverse beam was fixed a little below the top of the straight one. When a person was crucified, he was nailed to the cross as it lay upon the ground, his feet to the upright and his hands to each side of the transverse beam; it was then erected, and the foot of it thrust with violence into a hole prepared in the ground to receive it. By this means, the body, whose whole weight hung upon the nails which went through the hands and feet, was completely disjointed, and the sufferer expired by slow and agonizing torments. This kind of death, the most cruel, shameful, and accursed that could be devised, was used by the Romans only for slaves, and the basest of the people. The malefactors were crucified naked, that is, without their upper garments; for it does not appear they were stripped of all their clothes, and we know that an oriental was said to be naked, when he had parted with his upper garments, which were loosely bound about him with a girdle.

The miserable wretches that were fastened to the cross, often lived long in that dreadful condition; some are said to have lingered three days, and others nine. Eusebius speaks of certain martyrs in Egypt, that hung upon the cross till they were starved to death. Sometimes the malefactors were devoured by birds and beasts of prey; and after death, they were generally cast out in the open field, to become the prey of every devourer. To prevent the relations of the criminals or others, from taking them

* Potter's Grecian Antiq. vol. i, p. 134.

'down and burying them, a guard was placed around the cross. A guard of Roman soldiers was accordingly stationed round the cross of Jesus, to watch him both before and after he died; for it appears from the inspired narrative, that Joseph of Arimathea durst not take down the sacred body of his Lord, till he had obtained permission from the Roman governor.

It was the custom to crucify without the walls of their cities, on some eminence, or on the top of a mountain. Hence, our Lord was led away to be crucified without the gate, on the top of Calvary, a mount in the neighbourhood of the city, which for that reason was chosen as the common place of execution. He "went forth bearing his cross," which, according to Plutarch, every person was compelled to do that suffered crucifixion. Among other instances of ignominy and suffering which accompanied the death of Christ, it is written, they plaited a crown of thorns, and put it upon his head. In the opinion of Hasselquist, the naba or nabka of the Arabians, is, in all probabillity, the tree which furnised that instrument of insult and cruelty. It grows in great abundance in various parts of the east, and is well fitted for the purpose, being armed with many small and sharp spines, that, when applied with violence to the head, must produce exquisite pain. The crown might easily be made of the soft, round, and pliant branches of this thorny plant; and, what he considers as the strongest proof, is, the leaves much resemble those of ivy, in the darkness of their colour. The cruel and malicious enemies of the Saviour, would probably choose a plant somewhat resembling that with which emperors and victorious generals were usually crowned, that there might be calumny even

in the punishment. Others are of opinion, that it was the acacia, or white thorn, or the juncus marinus; but after all, the matter must be left indeterminate."

Another species of capital punishment which serves to illustrate the sacred text, is the pit into which the condemned persons were precipitated. The Athenians, and particularly the tribe Hippothoontis, frequently condemned offenders to the pit. It was a dark noisome hole, and had sharp spikes at the top, that no criminal might escape; and others at the bottom, to pierce and torment those unhappy persons that were cast in.

Similar to this place, was the Lacedæmonian Kasadas, into which, Aristomenes the Messenian being cast, made his escape in a very surprising manner. This mode of punishment is of great antiquity; for the speakers in the book of Job, make several allusions to it.

speech of Elihu: "He keepeth back his

Thus, in the soul from the

pit, and his life from perishing by the sword.""›- - Then is he gracious unto him, and saith, Deliver him from going down to the pit; I have found a ransom." --“He will deliver his soul from going down into the pit, and his life shall see the light." The allusions in the book of Psalms are numerous and interesting; thus, the Psalmist prays, "Be not silent to me; lest if thou be silent to me, I become like them that go down into the pit." ---“Let them be cast into deep pits, that they rise not up again." The following allusion occurs in the prophecies of Isaiah: "The captive exile hasteneth, that he may be loosed, and that he should not die in the pit, nor that his bread should fail."y

u

Hasselquist's Trav. p. 288.

w Job xxxiii, 18, 24.

Potter's Gr. Antiq. vol. i, p. 135. * Ps. xxviii, 1; and xl, 10. y Isa. li, 14.

Among the Romans, criminals were sometimes burnt alive; and to increase their torment, they were dressed in a tunic besmeared with pitch and other combustible matter. The holy Psalmist seems to allude to this kind of death in his prayer for deliverance from his enemies: "Let burning coals fall upon them; let them be cast into the fire." And Jehovah encourages his afflicted people with this gracious promise: "When thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burnt." This punishment was probably borrowed: from the Assyrians, among whom it seems to have been very common a striking instance of which occurs in the story of the three children, who were cast by the command of Nebuchadnezzar into the fiery furnace!

66

Criminals were sometimes hewed in pieces, and their mangled bodies given as a prey to ravenous beasts. This punishment seems to have been extremely common in Abyssinia when Mr. Bruce was there, and was proba bly handed down from the founders of that kingdom': Coming across the market place," says the traveller, "I had seen Za Mariam, the Ras's door-keeper, with three men bound, one of whom he fell a hacking to pieces in my presence; and upon seeing me running across the place, stopping my nose, he called me to stay till he should dispatch the other two, for he wanted to speak with me, as if he had been engaged about ordinary business; that the soldiers, in consideration of his haste, immediately fell upon the other two, whose cries were still remaining in my ears; that the hyænás at night, would scarcely let me pass in the streets, when I returned from the palace; and the dogs fled into my house, to eat pieces

* Isa. xliii, 2.

b

of human carcases at their leisure."a This account elucidates the mode of execution adopted by the prophet Samuel, in relation to Agag, the king of Amalek: "And Samuel said, (wx) As, (or, in the same identical mode) thy sword hath made women childless, so shall thy mother be childless among women. And Samuel hewed Agag in pieces before the Lord in Gilgal." This was not a sudden and passionate act of vengeance, but a deliberate act of retributive justice. That savage chieftain had hewed many prisoners to death; and therefore, by the command of Jehovah the Judge of all the earth, he is visited with the same punishment which he had cruelly used towards others.

But one of the most dreadful punishments which can be inflicted in the torrid zone, is to expose the criminal to perish by thirst. In the lamentation for Moab, how strongly expressive is the doom of Dibon in which the prophet alludes to this severest visitation: "Thou daughter that dost inhabit Dibon, come down from thy glory, and sit in thirst.”d

Persons that were guilty of slighter crimes, were subjected to various arbitrary punishments, according to the nature and degree of their offence. The ancient Romans were subjected to a fine, which Livy informs us, at first never exceeded two oxen and thirty sheep; but it was afterwards increased. By the law of Moses, an offending Israelite was punished with fines, differing in value according to the injury sustained. Thus, the king of Israel, in reply to Nathan's parable of the ewe lamb, declared: "As the Lord liveth, the man that hath done this thing shall surely die;

a Trav. vol. iv, p. 81. b 1 Sam. xv, 33.

c Forbes's Orient. Mem. vol. iii, p. 388. * Lib. iv, c. 30.

d Jer. xlviii, 18.