Ancient Torture Techniques

[frankq]

Actually, ancient torture techniques is not unbefitting this particular forum, since it does involve ethics and man's behavior with his fellow man.

 

Any case, does anyone know if the rack was employed at this early date? What devices were used to loosen a man's tongue and soul? Normally, most of the devices we association with a grim torture chamber hail from references from the Middle Ages.

[FLavius Valerius Constantinus]

I don't know if this falls into the topic Sextus Roscius started in worst Roman punishments.

The only torture device I can think of is a wooden boards with nails focused on one end. Then there is the one from the Passion of the Christ when they, don't know if its consider torturing Jesus. But those Roman soldiers had leather something-like straps with pointy triangular metals lining each segment. Now try imagining whipping someone's back with that, impressioning their skin. I also remember the soldier counting to 99 times of whip, ouch. That movie brought me into sense how horriblely Jesus suffered.

[Lost_Warrior]

A cat'o nine tails. It hooked in the skin and as it was dragged back, it tore the skin away.

[longbow]

Scourge

[Tobias]

I've read about an oriental punishment in which the person being tortured was stretched out on a rack-type device. The rack was usually positioned over growing bamboo shoots. The person was left there and kept alive as the bamboo shoots grew. Eventually, the shoots would reach the victim's back, and slowly but surely grow into the victim's back. Not pleasant eh?

As well, the good old water drip torture was rather effective; a person was tied up and left underneath a dripping pipe or something else, and the person was positioned so as to have the drips falling on the forehead. Go and try it, it's rather unpleasant. It usually drove the person insane, as they were left there for a long time.

These are two of the tamer tortures though, i'm afraid...

[FLavius Valerius Constantinus]

Thank you Lost Warrior, now I know flogging is again. I also have a question. Did the Romans ever consider pyschological torturing methods or was it just their way to get it done and over with?

[Favonius Cornelius]

I think I remember reading about the use of metal orbs heated with hot coals, applied to distinct parts of the body while held with tongs or some such.

Edited November 13, 2005 by Favonius Cornelius

[Lost_Warrior]

There was also "goat licking"....that's an interesting one...basically they applied honey or such to a man's bare genitals, tied them up and...turned a goat loose on them. Yea. um...

 

There were actually many creative methods of torture...and slow deaths...I used to know where a big list with descriptions could be found, but I don't know now. I'll have to look it up.

[Tobias]

One that i don't think i could forget was a certain variant of flaying alive;

The victim was tied down, and not drugged in anyway. A person with a sharp blade then proceeded to shave all the skin off the flesh; every single sliver of flesh off the body whilst keeping the person conscious. It became exceedingly popular in the middle ages onwards. Eventually, the victim would be a pile of flesh with no skin on any part of his body, and still alive. Not pleasant, i'm afraid.

[Sextus Roscius]

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm............ for this one, from the things brought up on my own topic, I have concluded that this was the worst touture/exectution technique.

 

I give the member Trajen full credit to this:

 

The offender's penis would be wound with wire, and he would then have to drink water until he died (presumably from a burst bladder).

 

And I think that would be horribly pain full, not to mention messy.

[FLavius Valerius Constantinus]

A simple one, get your tongue cut sucks, because then for the rest of your left, you could no longer converse with anyone, unless you were literate, and that is something most Romans weren't.

 

The move, the Mummy, brought light to me that its horrible to have your tongue cut out and get mummified alive, along with those scarab beatles eating at your flesh the whole time.