Carrye said:
Is it written yet? It'd be great to read. Or is it less formal than that?
well it is in a rough draft really. Something came up and I never got the opportunity to deliver it. So it's not in the form of a speech really, just information. Here it is:
I. What is crucifixion?
Crucifixion was an ancient method of execution, in which the victim was nailed or tied to a large wooden cross and left to hang there until they died. The purpose of crucifixion was to provide a particularly painful, gruesome, and public death.
A. The cross shape: The horizontal beam of the cross, called the transom, could be fixed at the very top of the vertical beam to form a capitol letter " T" shape, which is called a Tau or Saint Anthonys cross. The horizontal beam could also be fixed at a short distance below the top of the vertical beam, forming a lower case "t" shape, called a Latin cross. At times, a cross could be made up of two diagonal beams to form an X , known as the decussate ( Day-cuss-ate) cross or as Saint Andrews cross. If those performing the execution were in a hurry or needed to crucify many people at once they may even use a single upright wooden pole and simply stretched the arms of the victim over their head.
B. The act of crucifixion: was usually preceded by a scourging with a whip that was usually imbedded with pieces of nail, bone, or glass to intensify the pain. Many people exposed to this whipping, died before they even made it to the crucifixion site. The one to be crucified was made to carry all or part of the cross to the site and if he could not do so, someone was pressed to carry it for him. After arriving at the site the victims clothes were stripped off him and usually divided up amongst soldiers present. The victim was then attached to the cross in one of several variations: The person could be fastened to the horizontal cross piece by being tied to it or nailed by the wrist or hands with tapered iron spikes . The wrist is believed to be the more common method of nailing the arms to the cross because the hands could not support the weight. However it is noted by Frederick Zugibe, that nails may have been driven in on an angle, entering in the palm in the crease that delineates the thick region at the base of the thumb, and exiting in the wrist, passing through the carpal tunnel. Once fastened by the arms to this crossbeam, the victim was then raised and fixed on top of the vertical beam. His feet were then nailed to the vertical beam by either a single nail through the arch of both feet placed together and toes pointing down or a nail through the side of each heel bone , fastening each foot to the side of the cross. It is important to note that a seat, or sedile, was often attached to the cross, to support the mans weight and prolong the agony. This may explain the Roman use of the phrase "to sit on the cross.
C. Cause of death: Death can come in hours or days, depending on crucifixion methods, the health of the crucified, and environmental circumstances. A theory by Pierre Barbet holds that the typical cause of death was asphyxiation. His theory stated that when the whole body weight was supported by the stretched arms, the victim would have severe difficulty exhaling, due to hyper-expansion of the lungs. Roman executioners were said to break the victim's legs, after the victim had hung for some time, in order to hasten his death. Once deprived of support and unable to lift himself, the victim would die within a few minutes.
Death could result from a number of other causes, including physical shock caused by the scourging before the crucifixion, and the nailing itself, dehydration, and exhaustion.
Experiments by Frederick Zugibe have revealed that, when suspended with arms at 60
̊ to 70
̊ while hanging vertically, test subjects had no difficulty breathing, only rapidly increasing discomfort and pain. This would correspond to the Roman use of crucifixion as a prolonged, agonizing, humiliating death.
II. History of crucifixion
A. Persia: Crucifixion most likely started with the ancient Persians. Evidence exists that pirates who were captures at the port of Athens in the 7th century BC. Alexander the Great is said to have crucified 2000 survivors after his siege on the city of Tyr.
B. Roman Empire: Romans adopted crucifixion from Carthage and used it to punish slaves, rebels, and especially hated enemies and criminals. With the exception of the crime of high treason, Roman citizens were exempt from crucifixion. The Romans would often crucify someone at the scene of their crime to pose as a warning to those passing by. They also made it a habit of not allowing those crucified to be allowed a proper burial. Preferring instead to leave the body to the animals. This explains the lack of vast archaeological evidence
III. Archaeological evidence
Jewish historian Josephus and other sources refer to the crucifixion of thousands of people by the Romans. Despite this fact, there is but one archaeological discovery of a crucified body that dated back to the Roman Empire around the time of Jesus. This fact is not surprising because a crucified body was usually left to decay as stated earlier and would not be preserved. These remains were preserved because the family members gave this crucified criminal a popular burial.
This find was happened upon accidentally in an ossuary with the crucified mans name on it, it read, "Yehohanan the son of Hagakol." The burial site contained a heal that had a nail driven through its side. This indicated that the heels may have been driven through the sides of the tree. The nail found had olive wood on it indicating that the man was crucified on an olive tree and not a beam. Because olive trees are not very tall, this suggests that victims were crucified at eye level. The mans legs were also found to be broken.
So there you have the rough draft. I doubt my speech teacher will let me deliver it since unforseen circumstances prevented me from attending that night class but oh well.
. I'm doing a 4-6 minute speech on Crucifixion. Not THE crucifixion but the act of crucifixion. If anyone knows any good sites with a detailed history of crucifixion I would really appreciate it. 
