Throughout history, humans have devised some truly awful ways to punish criminal offenders. From ancient tortures to modern day death penalties, the creativity involved in developing new and more painful punishments seems to know no bounds. Let’s examine some of the most cruel and unusual punishments in recorded history.
Crucifixion
One of the most well-known execution methods, crucifixion was used in the ancient world for especially heinous crimes like treason and rebellion. The condemned would be tied or nailed through the wrists and ankles to a wooden cross and left to hang until they died from shock, blood loss, exposure, or suffocation. Crucifixions could last for days, with the suffering victims enduring crows pecking out their eyes and extreme thirst and fever before finally succumbing.
Crucifixion was frequently used by the Persians, Seleucids, Carthaginians, and Romans from about the 6th century BC to the 4th century AD. Jesus Christ is the most famous victim of crucifixion.
Impalement
Impalement involved inserting a sharpened pole through the body, either vertically or horizontally, and leaving the victim to slowly slide further down the pole under their own body weight. Vertical impalement meant the pole would pierce the victim through the torso or backside, avoiding fatal internal injuries while maximizing agony. Horizontal impalement was typically achieved by tying the victim’s ankles and wrists to each end of the pole.
Impalement could last for hours or days before the victim died, either from massive organ trauma, circulatory shock, or simple loss of blood. Various forms of impalement were employed by the Assyrians, Persians, Romans, Ottomans, and many others.
Drawing and Quartering
Mainly used in England, drawing and quartering was reserved for men accused of high treason. The gruesome public execution began with the victim being dragged on a wooden frame by horses to the location of his death. He would then be hanged until nearly dead, emasculated, disemboweled, beheaded, and chopped into four pieces. The severed head and quarters would often be parboiled and displayed around town as a warning.
Although it is unknown exactly when this method of execution began, some of the earliest records date back to the early 13th century under King Henry III. Last used in 1830, the brutal process was meant to demonstrate the king’s power over his subjects and act as a deterrent to treason.
Scaphism
A method of torture and execution said to originate in ancient Persia, scaphism involved trapping the naked victim between two boats or hollowed out tree trunks. Only the head, hands, and feet were left protruding. The trapped person would be force fed milk and honey to cause severe diarrhea, and more milk and honey would be spread over their exposed body parts to attract insects.
Left floating in a stagnant pond, the victim would suffer from sunburn, dehydration, nausea, fever, and delirium from the bodily wastes. They would be eaten alive by swarms of bugs and other vermin over the course of days or weeks. Scaphism was intended to inflict unbearable torment before the victim finally succumbed to exposure, dehydration, shock, or sepsis.
The Brazen Bull
An ancient Greek device of torture and execution, the brazen bull was a hollow bronze sculpture in the shape and size of an actual bull. The condemned would be locked inside the bull and a fire lit beneath it, roasting them to death as their screams echoed from the bull’s mouth. A complex system of tubes and stops made the screams seem like the bellows of an actual bull.
The brazen bull was invented in the 6th century BC and presented to the tyrant Phalaris of Agrigentum, Sicily as a new means of execution. Instead, Phalaris had its inventors put to death in the bull to demonstrate the cruelty of the device.
Rat Torture
A cheap and effective torture method used for centuries, rat torture involved restraining the victim and applying a cage filled with live rats to various parts of the body, usually the abdomen or face. A heating element would then be used to agitate the rats, causing them to attack and chew through the victim’s flesh to try and escape.
This horrific practice was used during the Roman empire, medieval times, the Spanish Inquisition, Elizabethan England, and the 18th and 19th centuries in Europe before being banned in the early 1900s. The intense sensations of hundreds of rat bites would cause horrific pain, bleeding, swelling, and infection.
The Rack
The rack is a wooden frame with rollers at each end. The victim’s ankles are secured to one roller and the wrists are chained to the other. As the interrogation progresses, a handle and ratchet mechanism are used to very gradually increase the tension on the chains, slowly pulling the body in opposite directions. This resulted in excruciating pain, dislocating joints, and even limb separation as ligaments snap and bones break.
Used throughout medieval Europe, the rack was meant to cause unbearable pain without killing or maiming the victim. If done slowly, it could be survived so the victim could then face additional torture. The rack remains a lasting symbol of torture’s cruelty and brutality.
Keelhauling
Primarily used in the Dutch Navy, keelhauling involved tying ropes to the victim, throwing them over the bow of the ship, and dragging them under the ship’s keel from one side to the other. Drowning, massive trauma, and sharks were a constant threat. Ordeal by water varied—victims could be dragged underwater once, several times, or continual loops until death.
Keelhauling was officially abolished in 1853, though some reports suggest it was still occasionally used until the early 1900s. The random chance of survival meant it was more terrifying than certain death—the victims had to contemplate their gruesome fate each time they were forced underwater.
Burning at the Stake
Execution by burning has been practiced by societies all over the world for crimes like treason, heresy, witchcraft, and sexual transgressions. The condemned is bound to a stake surrounded by flammable material and burned alive, suffering extreme heat that causes severe skin and internal organ damage before death. It is an extremely painful way to die.
Burning at the stake was done as both a form of community justice and public entertainment during the Spanish Inquisition and 16th-17th century witch trials. The victim was literally burned alive in front of large crowds over the course of up to two hours before death.
The Blood Eagle
Blood eagle was a ritualized method of execution unique to Norse culture. The victim would be placed in a prone position, their ribs severed from the spine with an axe. The bones and skin of the back would then be pulled outward to form “wings” as the victim’s lungs were pulled through the openings in their back. Salt was sprinkled in the wounds for added agony.
This shockingly gruesome execution method was intended to insult the honor of enemies and deserters in Scandinavian society. The exact history is debated by scholars, but accounts indicate it was used as a rare punishment from the 8th to 11th centuries.
Crushing By Elephant
For thousands of years, elephants have been utilized in Asian warfare for their intelligence, strength, stature, and potential for fear. One of the cruelest methods was punishment by elephant—the convicted criminal would be stomped and crushed to death by an elephant trained for this purpose. Alexander the Great and Romans like Cicero are said to have used this technique to frighten enemy soldiers.
The Mughal Empire frequently condemned enemies to be crushed by elephants. Methods could include simply riding over them, squeezing them between two elephants, stepping on their heads, or squeezing them against a wall. Death was excruciating—bones would snap and organs be pulverized under the elephant’s massive weight.
Death by a Thousand Cuts
Also known as “slow slicing” or “lingchi”, this execution method originated in China around 900 AD. The victim is tied up and methodically mutilated with a variety of sharp cutting implements. Parts like the nose, tongue, ears, fingers, breasts, and genitals are amputated one by one before proceeding to limbs and decapitation.
It was meant to be a fitting punishment for those who committed heinous crimes against their families or emperor. It also provided a torturous deterrent. Rarely practiced due to its graphic nature, it was still occasionally used as late as 1905 in China.
The Pear of Anguish
The pear of anguish was an implement used for oral, rectal, or vaginal torture. It consisted of a metal body vertically divided into spoon-like segments that could be spread by turning a screw. The device would be inserted and slowly spread, mutilating soft tissues. Jagged edges would tear the skin and hooks would rip chunks of flesh as it was extracted.
This instrument was used in medieval Europe and also by the Spanish Inquisition. The excruciating pain it inflicted was meant to coerce confessions from victims or punish offenses before death. Records indicate it could cause permanent organ damage and even death in its victims.
Hanged, Drawn, and Quartered
Used mainly in England from the 13th century to the early 19th century, hanging, drawing, and quartering was the penalty for high treason. First the victim was dragged on a wooden frame to the gallows where they were hanged until near death. Still alive, they were cut down and disemboweled. The entrails were burned before the victim was decapitated and dismembered into four parts.
Considered the most vile form of punishment in England, it was meant to be graphically painful and gruesome. The remains were often parboiled and put on public display. Guy Fawkes underwent this torture in 1606 for his role in the gunpowder plot against Parliament.
Boats
Being adrift on a boat was a particularly cruel and unusual punishment inflicted on some of the earliest British convicts sent to settle Australia in the late 18th century. Criminals would be transported for months on end in cramped, filthy conditions rife with disease and malnutrition. Many died before reaching their destination. Those who survived faced harsh sentences of hard labor and servitude.
The journey itself became known as the “floating hell”. Prisoners endured floggings, dysentery, cholera, hunger, storms, and despair. The weeks at sea left convicts weak and emaciated, putting them at an immediate disadvantage when they arrived in Australia’s rough penal colonies.
The Head Crusher
The head crusher used the principles of the screw to inflict unimaginable torture and pain. The chin was placed over a bottom bar and the head under an upper cap. The torturer slowly turned the screw, pressing the bar into the cap. The victim’s teeth could shatter, their eyes squeezed from sockets, skull compacted—all contributing to an agonizing death.
The head crusher was commonly used during the Spanish Inquisition, especially effective for extracting confessions from accused heretics and witches. If the torture was stopped before death, permanent damage to the brain, jaw, and eyes was likely.
Republican Marriage
“Republican marriage” was a cruel mockery of marriage invoked during the Reign of Terror in the French Revolution. Men and women who had failed to report counter-revolutionary activities would be stripped naked and bound together, face to face, in a suggestive pose before being drowned. Floating entwined corpses became a common sight.
This humiliating form of punishment was instituted by Jean-Baptiste Carrier as a way to discourage anti-revolutionary behaviors and strike fear into dissenters. Hundreds of naked couples were tied together and drowned in France’s Loire River during this unstable political era.
The Coffin Torture
This sadistic torture method is centuries old and shockingly simple. The naked victim is forced inside a metal cage roughly the size of a human body—too small to fully extend their limbs or lie down. Often the cage is then hung up so they cannot rest on solid ground. Shivery, sleepless, and soiled in their own filth, it offered no protection from the elements.
From Medieval torture to 19th century prison punishments, the cramped coffin would become stifling hot or bitterly cold. Some devices included spikes or protrusions inside, pressing into the victim’s tender flesh. After days of such treatment they could succumb to exposure, dehydration, exhaustion, hypothermia, or delirium.
The Judas Cradle
This gruesome torture device consisted of a pyramid-shaped seat on top of a tripod or small stool. The naked victim would be placed atop it, legs tied apart, with the point inserted into their anus, genitals, or the space between. Their struggling body weight would cause slow impalement as they sank down on the angled point over time. To maximize pain, weights could be added to the legs.
The intense stretching and pressure from being impaled by the point could cause severe internal trauma. Many victims died from the massive anal and tissue damage over the course of hours or days. Those who survived sustained permanent mutilations to the reproductive organs and spine.
Neck Torture
Torture focused on the neck can be agonizing and gruesome all at once. Neck devices like the heretic’s fork had a metal collar with spikes pointing at the neck and chest, making it impossible to lower one’s head. Even swallowed water was painful. The collar would be chained to a wall so victims could not sleep, eventually dying from exhaustion.
Other methods like pressing neck screws or the choke pear compressed the throat using blades or spikes to partially suffocate victims. Neck bands could encircle the neck and tighten to restrict breathing. Neck torture immobilized victims in addition to inflicting intense pain.
Starvation
One of the simplest yet most cruel punishments, starvation has been used for centuries to terrorize and intimidate prisoners. By depriving inmates of adequate nutrition for prolonged periods, their bodies slowly waste away to gaunt, weakened shells of themselves. Hunger pains become all-consuming, but food is always kept just out of reach until the prisoners’ resolve and health shatters completely.
Starvation was frequently used in brutal prison camps and detention centers like Andersonville, Belsen, and the Nazi death camps of WWII. The agonizing downward spiral as bodies slowly shut down over weeks or months made prisoners more pliable for interrogations, less prone to escape, and an example to others.
Conclusion
Human creativity in devising horrific punishments and tortures seems to know no bounds. Many of these punishments were invented to deter crimes against the state or church and extract confessions from accused heretics and traitors. Punishments like flaying, stoning, crucifixion and the iron maiden were intended to maximize fear, agony, humiliation and hopelessness. While some ancient torture methods fell out of favor hundreds of years ago, the fundamental desire to hurt, maim and kill those deemed wicked or unworthy remains an ugly constant in the human psyche.