Crucifixion

Execution by crucifixion had two purposes: the victim had to suffer as much as possible, and as long as possible. The Romans knew exactly how to do that. Tens of thousand of people have been crucified. When Christianity became the leading religion in the Roman empire crucifixion was no longer used. And after the collapse of the Roman Empire crucifixion was not re-introduced, and the knowledge about it disappeared. But in the darkest days of medical science, from 1942-45, that changed. Physicians arose that wanted to investigate what happened when somebody dies. And from the German government of those days they got all the necessary support. One of the ways of dying that was investigated was death by crucifixion. It soon became clear that the images of the crucified Jesus were not correct. If you crucify somebody by nailing his hands to the cross, his hands will tear out. The nails have to go through the wrist. They also discovered that if you hang somebody on the cross in this way, he will die quickly, because his weight makes breathing very difficult. Dying quickly was not the intention of the Romans, nor of Mengele c.s. That is why one sees in images of crucifixions a support for the feet and one to sit on, more or less. Both serve to allow the victim to breath by diminishing the weight born by the arms, using the nailed feet.