Fact or Crucifixion?
Some time ago I read a letter in which a fan expressed her exasperation with XWP's "crucifixion obsession". In fact, crucifixion was a remarkably prevalent form of execution in ancient times. You would have been hard pressed to go anywhere in the Mediterranean world without seeing a few corpses adorning a hilltop outside the nearest city.
Most readers will know that DESTINY is loosely based on an actual episode in Caesar's life, but he was not the only famous general to crucify his enemies. Alexander the Great, after capturing the city of Tyre, had 2,000 survivors (mostly civilians) crucified as a punishment for refusing to surrender. The bodies of 6,000 of Spartacus' followers lined the Appian Way after their defeat by Crassus and Pompey. In Carthage they had an unpleasant habit of crucifying any general who lost a battle, which must have concentrated their commanders' minds wonderfully!
One thing that does puzzle me is the show's predilection for leg?breaking. Crucifixion was primarily intended to kill through asphyxiation. The weight of the body supported solely by the arms made it extremely difficult to exhale, and modern research has shown that a victim would begin to asphyxiate after only 10 minutes. Binding and/or nailing the victim's feet to the upright prolonged the agony, as it was now possible to raise the body by pushing down against this support, making it easier to breathe. In this way a strong person could survive for several days before asphyxia, dehydration or blood poisoning (from the nail wounds) finally killed him. It should be noted that in Mark's Gospel, Pilate was surprised to hear that Jesus had died after just a few hours. The remains of a crucifixion victim from the Holy Land confirm the use of wooden "washers", as seen in IDES OF MARCH, to keep the hands and feet from tearing free of the nails.
Breaking the legs prevented the victim from raising his body and hastened death, hence its use on the two crucified robbers in John's Gospel. As such it was an act of mercy, not an additional torture as represented in XWP. It also causes problems with DESTINY and IDES OF MARCH, as in both these episodes Xena's legs would have been unable to support her weight. In the first instance she would certainly have died before M'lila could rescue her. The impression given in the latter episode is that Gabrielle outlived Xena by only a few minutes. A likelier margin would have been several hours, even allowing for hypothermia hastening Gabrielle's death. Still, one has to allow for dramatic licence.
Andrew's Essays
Home