Roman soldiers in the time of Jesus had many different gruesome ways to torture for any different crime. One of the most iconic tortures in this time was the scourging of Jesus. Scientists have used the Shroud of Turin and other ways to discover some of the ways Jesus was tortured. One of the main tools used in the scourging of Jesus was the flagrum. This is a whiplike tool. Flagellum have 3 strings of leather coming off of a stick with two lead balls on each string. These lead balls make this tool much more gruesome. They do this by adding weight, which makes the string whip faster, and by ripping the flesh of the victim every time they are hit. The Romans did this to make sure the victim was as weak as possible before crucifixion. The wooden handle of the flagrum is about 8” long, and the leather strings can vary from 11” to 13”. On other versions of flagellum there are the same number of leather strings, but more lead balls, which are also smaller. There are many different kinds of flagellum, all which do there job very well. Some flagellum would even have hooks on each of the beads. While torturing victims, Romans had very brutal hits and had the right technique to make the pain as apparent as possible. They would hit the victims at least 50 times depending on how severe the crime. Each one of these hits would be ripping off flesh from the victim, making them extremely winded and in agony. Crucifixion, which is said to be one of the worst thing that can happen to you, was usually preceded by the whipping of the flagrum. Romans also used other tools, depending on the crime. Roman soldiers would show the tools to the victim, prior to the scourging, as a matter of intimidation. Roman Soldiers were also very smart about this in that they knew that if they whipped around the stomach area, the victim would bleed out, so they only did in the spots where the least blood would accumulate.
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