Crucifixion wasn't always carried out the way we've seen it typically
depicted in paintings and pictures. In fact, as noted in this chapter,
a crucifixion victim likely wasn't nailed through the hands, since their
structure cannot support the weight of a human body. Most likely victims
were nailed through the wrist or, in some instances, had their arms
tied rather than being nailed.
Nor were victims always crucified on the kind of cross typically shown
in depictions of Christ's crucifixion. Note what The Anchor Bible
Dictionary says in its article on crucifixion:
"At times the cross was only one vertical stake. Frequently, however,
there was a cross-piece attached either at the top to give the shape
of a 'T' (crux commissa) or just below the top, as in the form
most familiar in Christian symbolism (crux immissa). The victims
carried the cross or at least a transverse beam (patibulum)
to the place of execution, where they were stripped and bound or nailed
to the beam, raised up, and seated on a sedile or small wooden
peg in the upright beam...
"Executioners could vary the form of punishment, as [Roman historian]
Seneca the Younger indicates: 'I see crosses there, not just of one
kind but made in many different ways: some have their victims with head
down to the ground; some impale their private parts; others stretch
out their arms on the [cross-piece]'...
"In his account of what happened to Jewish refugees from Jerusalem
[in the Jewish war of A.D. 67-70], [first-century historian] Josephus
also lets us see that there was no fixed pattern for crucifying people.
Much depended on the sadistic ingenuity of the moment" (David Noel Freedman,
editor-in-chief, 1992, Vol. 1, pp. 1208-1209).
