What method of execution in history makes your hair stand on end?

What method of execution in history makes your hair stand on end?

Brandon James: "It’s called the Poena cullei (penalty of the sack), used as a way of punishing those who kill their mother, father or other close relatives (known as parricide) - it stems from ancient Rome. 

The first known version of the punishment was carried out right around 98 BC until Emperor Hadrian really ramped it up in the 2nd Century AD.

The Punishment

For the crime of killing your nearest and dearest, you met your maker in just as cruel a manner. First, you would be bound by the hands. 

Then, a sack made of animal skin is placed over your head (already horrible on a hot day, as you instantly start to panic and slightly suffocate). 

Next, they couldn’t have you running off blind, bound, and gasping, so they would place wooden clogs or boards on your feet.

Now, they proceed to beat the hell out of you. Actually, they beat you until you’re bloody (it’s the law), and then, gasping for air and unable to see the gruesome wounds, they then beat you a bit more. 

And now we wait for you to die... Just kidding! Now they put you into a giant sack that Romans typically used to transport large amounts of wine (those of you who know ancient Rome, know that they had these on hand quite readily). 

Now we wait? Nope, sorry, now they place some friends in the bag with you - before Hadrian got involved it was mostly just snakes. 

But now that you’ve committed such a crime in Hadrian’s time, you get way cooler friends: a snake, a rooster, a dog, and… a monkey!

Como what?! I know! They didn’t always have monkeys so sometimes you got whatever else was to hand (sometimes more snakes), can you imagine being trapped in a bag with just an angry monkey let alone part of a small farm? 

So, you’re all trapped together and only one of you deserves to be here and the rest are programmed to carry out Darwin’s evolutionary theory on your face! Oh, and you can’t even use your hands to protect your face, because they’re still tied.

I feel like that’s not it. Correctamundo! You and your friends are transported by an Ox, to the nearest body of water: a running stream, a lake, or the sea! And we all know what comes next: a hard drop and a sudden plop! You and your innocent animal friends (who have probably already severely maimed you by now) are dropped into the water to slowly drown together in a melee of survival instinct and pure violence. 

We have to imagine the sound of panicking animals and a human in agony (still with the bag on their head) must have been quite horrible.

[Yeah, something like this image, except less hand freedom, more blindness, way better footwear, and where is the dog?! I mean, either the artist phoned this one in or they were fresh outta sacks, man-eating Maltese, and wooden sandals that day.]

Effectiveness

Well, this technique was so gruesome that the Romans reverted to just throwing people to the beasts in gladiatorial arenas. I mean, that’s much messier (come on guys, all the mess was conveniently locked away in the bag!) and the beasts had a fighting chance. 

Then, Constantine came along and brought it back but this time with just snakes, like it was in the beginning - lots and lots of snakes. Imagine those wriggling and twisting and writhing all over you and biting and licking (arrgh! Scared myself).

Such was the effectiveness of this as a deterrent for people not killing their families, that the Byzantines (yeah, the ones who built the Hagia Sophia) adopted it and kept it as a punishment for over 4 centuries. Then the Germans picked it up and ran with it for a while in the mid-1700s.

Just writing this made my hairs stand up. What a way to go. I guess it does beg the question, “does the punishment fit the crime?” I do feel bad for the animals who did nothing to deserve such a fate. 

But the Romans were not known for their mercy towards animals… or murderers… or slaves… or people who made jokes about the Emperor.

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