The Answerer

Good question thank you, as there is some confusion about this subject.

The Romans, under their Emperor called ‘Caesar’ ruled most of the known world when Jesus came to earth. They made everyone pay taxes to Caesar and that hurt.

They were mostly clever, often brutal but often helped by making good roads (with slave labour) and supplying water and other things.

However, if anyone in their ‘occupied lands’ broke their laws, like trying on a rebellion, they were severely punished. The most painful, shameful and publicly humiliating death was by crucifixion on a cross, naked.

Roman Governors of all of Caesars occupied lands had to “..keep the peace and the people under control.” A bad report to Caesar meant trouble for that Governor. Pontius Pilate was the Roman Governor of Judea at the time of Jesus.

The Roman method of execution was by crucifixion in public. It sure put most people off doing wrong things and upsetting the Romans. In a crucifixion, the victim is nailed to the cross on the ground and then the cross is raised and dropped into a prepared hole.

The victim dies from slow asphyxiation (cannot get enough oxygen) and death can come in a few hours or in a day or two. I heard a well-educated preacher say recently that four days was the longest time recorded by the Romans for a man to die.

The cross could not have been a plank, as we today understand a plank. A saw in a sawmill or workshop saws a plank to size and there were no machine-saws back then. Carpenters made the cross from tree trunks and branches by hand-shaping with axes and suchlike - so they were pretty rough. Not made for comfort.