# Mercy-Killing a Crucifixion Victim: Ever Happen? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 4, 2011, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mercy-killing-a-crucifixion-victim-ever-happen/595162 "2011-09-04T13:32:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2011, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mercy-killing-a-crucifixion-victim-ever-happen/595162/21 "2011-09-06T19:43:52Z")
For what it’s worth, in Mark 15:44, Pontius Pilate expressed surprise that Jesus had died after “only” a few hours. Crucifixion was SUPPOSED to be a very long, drawn out process. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2011, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mercy-killing-a-crucifixion-victim-ever-happen/595162/22 "2011-09-07T02:43:53Z")
There’s a doc that occasionally airs on the History Channel. Ok, quit guffawing. . . Anyway, there’s a doc that airs occasionally on “THC” called “Crucifixion.” They go a great deal into what is recorded about crucifixions, and one of the common practices was scourging beforehand; that is, whipping the back with nasty metal and glass embedded whips until the flesh was starting to come off. I’m no expert on the subject, but it seems as though with that, a person might go into shock and died sooner rather than later, whether they were hanging by the arms or not. Interesting doc. I just wish I had paid a little more attention to the details. ---
**Author:** ![KarlGauss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karlgauss/32/3713_2.png) [@KarlGauss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGauss)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2011, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mercy-killing-a-crucifixion-victim-ever-happen/595162/23 "2011-09-07T02:59:08Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > After doing some careful research (ok, I read the wiki page on crucifixion), it appears the asphyxiation theory of crucifixion is in question now, if not completely defunct. I stand corrected. Here’s what seems to be a good, relatively recent (2006) review: [Medical theories on the cause of death in crucifixion](http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1420788/). ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2011, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mercy-killing-a-crucifixion-victim-ever-happen/595162/24 "2011-09-07T04:06:08Z")
> [@jnglmassiv](#): > > Wasn’t that one guy stabbed by a Roman soldier? > Was that to hasten death or to verify it? [It was a reaction.](http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d97/Clothahump/JustBefore.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![outlierrn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/outlierrn/32/3005_2.png) [@outlierrn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/outlierrn)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2011, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mercy-killing-a-crucifixion-victim-ever-happen/595162/25 "2011-09-07T04:47:22Z")
> [@KarlGauss](#): > > Here’s what seems to be a good, relatively recent (2006) review: [Medical theories on the cause of death in crucifixion](http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1420788/). For those not in the know, having a nail pounded through your calcaneous as shown in this article is likely to hurt like a motherfucker all by itself. ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2011, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mercy-killing-a-crucifixion-victim-ever-happen/595162/26 "2011-09-07T05:03:50Z")
> [@Clothahump](#): > > [It was a reaction.](http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d97/Clothahump/JustBefore.jpg) DAMMIT! I hate laughing at stuff like that! _good one_ ---
**Author:** ![Imasquare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Imasquare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Imasquare)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2011, 10:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mercy-killing-a-crucifixion-victim-ever-happen/595162/27 "2011-09-08T10:02:22Z")
> [@Sailboat](#): > > Crucifixion’s a doddle. Don’t keep saying that. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2011, 10:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mercy-killing-a-crucifixion-victim-ever-happen/595162/28 "2011-09-08T10:17:44Z")
> [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](#): > > Anyway, there’s a doc that airs occasionally on “THC” called “Crucifixion.” They go a great deal into what is recorded about crucifixions, and one of the common practices was scourging beforehand; that is, whipping the back with nasty metal and glass embedded whips until the flesh was starting to come off. That practice is mentioned in the Gospels as well, and googling for “forty stripes” or “forty lashes” brings up quotes from both the OT and NT (the ones I’ve looked at from the OT mention it as a stand-alone punishment). ---
**Author:** ![Walther\_Ego](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8dc957/32.png) [@Walther\_Ego](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walther_Ego)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2011, 11:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mercy-killing-a-crucifixion-victim-ever-happen/595162/29 "2011-09-08T11:02:06Z")
Romans executed massive amounts of people, so it must have been boring as hell to guard some moaning aboriginals who are nailed and thus won’t be going away anyway. You sit there while your friends are already in tavern. The urge to stab must have been strong. Break a leg! ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2011, 11:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mercy-killing-a-crucifixion-victim-ever-happen/595162/30 "2011-09-08T11:26:11Z")
> [@Imasquare](#): > > Don’t keep saying that. Well, you could be stabbed. ---
**Author:** ![md2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2011, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mercy-killing-a-crucifixion-victim-ever-happen/595162/31 "2011-09-08T13:25:38Z")
Of course, a civilian who decided to cut short the Roman justice system’s entertainment value with a mercy killing would likely be made the substitute entertainment and hung up himself for interference. It’s not like those were the days when you could say “ha, ha, you can’t prove beyond a reasonable doubt it was my arrow!” We have a weird 20th-century concept of anonymity that did not exist back 2000 years ago (or in any small town today). If you did something, there’s a good chance a lot of people saw it and recognized you. A few 3rd-degree burns and broken limbs later, if you still hadn’t confessed, they might still nail you up anyway, better safe than sorry. Can’t have people bypassing the full course of Roman justice. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2011, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mercy-killing-a-crucifixion-victim-ever-happen/595162/32 "2011-09-08T13:28:10Z")
> [@md2000](#): > > If you did something, there’s a good chance a lot of people saw it and recognized you. And not merely gone and ratted you out, but grabbed you and taken you down to be hung up, on account of Messing With The Entertainment. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mercy-killing-a-crucifixion-victim-ever-happen/595162.md?page=1)