4. Crucifixion, in contrast to the common depiction of nails and blood loss, instead historically resorts to deliberately drawing out a slow and torturous death over the course of several days.
Crucifixion, an ancient method of capital punishment, is perhaps the most famous means of torture in history due to its association with the Christian narrative of Jesus. Designed to deter witnesses from repeated the offense of the condemned, crucifixions were deliberately orchestrated events. The victim was forced to carry their crossbeam to the place of public execution, weighing an estimated 100 lbs, where they would be displayed. Death often came slowly to those subjected to the practice, typically succumbing after several days to exhaustion or heart failure, whereafter their body would be left to rot as an example.
In contrast to common depiction, most crucifixions did not involve the nailing of the victim’s hands or feet to the cross. Instead, they were more frequently attached by rope in order to prolong the torture. Known to have been used as a punishment prior to the Roman civilization, appearing in ancient Persia, Macedon, and Carthage, Alexander the Great famously order the crucifixions of 2,000 survivors of the siege of Tyre in 332 BCE. As a form of punishment, crucifixion exists still today, notably in Saudi Arabia and Iran, where the most recent known occurrences of crucifixion occurred as recently as the early 2000s.