Crucifixion: Unfortunate Wood

20.04.2025 · 1 Std. 26 Min.

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What happens when death isn’t the punishment, but the spectacle?

In this episode of Torture: A Dark History, Kevin Young and Dan Hourigan explore the brutal history of crucifixion, from the ancient world and the Roman Empire to Japan, modern executions, and one infamous case that ended in a very different kind of crucifixion.

We’ll look at how crucifixion evolved, why Rome used it as a weapon of terror, and some of history’s most notorious mass crucifixions, including Spartacus, the siege of Tyre, Jerusalem, and the 26 Martyrs of Nagasaki. We’ll also meet one of the few known crucifixion victims whose remains still bear physical evidence of the punishment.

Then we’ll travel into the modern world, where crucifixion has continued in horrifying and unexpected ways, including the tragic death of Maricica Cornici during an attempted exorcism in Romania.

And because this is Torture: A Dark History, Kevin and Dan bring their own mildly inappropriate brand of humor to an execution method that has shaped religion, history, art, and popular culture for more than two thousand years.

If you’re interested in crucifixion, Ancient Rome, Spartacus, Alexander the Great, the siege of Jerusalem, Roman torture, Japanese history, the 26 Martyrs of Nagasaki, and the darkest forms of execution in human history, this episode is going to hurt.

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