Some ancient forms of capital punishment are chillingly gruesome.
During the feudal era, China recorded the brutal execution method known as Lingchi. This form of torture horrified many due to its prolonged nature. The condemned would be tied to a post, and at the executioner’s signal, marked by a drumbeat or a tablet, the executioner would slice off a piece of flesh from the prisoner, pausing between each cut for the next command. This agonizing process could take a long time until the prisoner finally succumbed to death.
Scaphism, a bloody execution method from ancient Persia, involved the condemned being trapped and tied to a boat. They were forced to consume large amounts of honey and milk, leading to severe diarrhea. Then, the boat would be set adrift on a lake or river, leaving the prisoner to die from starvation, thirst, or infections from insect bites over several days of torture.
Buried Alive is one of the most barbaric forms of execution in the world. As the name suggests, the prisoner is buried alive, dying from hunger, thirst, or lack of oxygen.
Flaying is one of the most horrifying methods of torture in medieval history. The executioner would use sharp knives to slowly peel the skin off the condemned, inflicting excruciating pain before death.
In ancient Rome, there was a gruesome execution method known as Bestiarii. Political prisoners would be thrown into the arena to fight wild beasts without armor or weapons, giving them no chance of survival.
Elephant Execution was a brutal punishment for those guilty of treason. The victim would be pinned to the ground and trampled by elephants, or lifted with their trunk and thrown to the ground until dead.
The Brazen Bull was a gruesome method of execution popular in Athens, Greece. The condemned would be locked inside a hollow brass bull, where wood was placed underneath and set on fire, causing the prisoner to die in excruciating pain.
Torturing prisoners with mice is horrifying. The victim would be covered with a metal container containing mice. Then, the container would be heated, causing the frightened mice to seek an escape. In their panic, the mice would gnaw at the victim’s body.
Saw Torture was used in both the West and the East. The condemned would be sawed in half, dying slowly in immense pain.
Drawing and Quartering is a brutal punishment where the prisoner’s limbs are tied to four horses. The horses would then be whipped to run in different directions, resulting in the victim being torn apart into five pieces, dying in agony.
The Rack. This torture device resembles a long table made of wood and iron, featuring rollers on both ends, with a lever in the middle that moves the rollers. The victim would be placed on the table, with arms and legs tightly bound to the rollers. The torturer would then use the lever to pull the arms and legs in opposite directions, causing immense pain, tearing flesh, rupturing muscles, and eventually breaking bones.
Breaking on the Wheel. This execution method was primarily used in England. The condemned would be tied at the head and then dragged by horses to the execution site. Weakened by this, they would then be broken into many pieces with a sword or hammer and displayed publicly. This form of punishment was reserved for men.
Disembowelment, especially of the intestines, was a method of torture for thieves or those accused of adultery. The victim’s abdomen would be sliced open, and some internal organs would be pulled out, primarily those in the abdominal area.
Burning at the Stake was primarily carried out in Rome, Akragas in Sicily, Italy, England, and some regions in North America. The prisoner’s body would be burned sequentially from the calves, thighs, hands, torso, arms, chest, head, and finally to death. They would even pour pitch on them to make the fire burn faster.
Psychological Torture with Mice. In this form of animal torture, the victim would have a metal container placed over them, containing mice. The torturer would then heat the container, forcing the frightened mice to seek escape. Instinctively, the mice would gnaw at the victim’s body in their frantic attempt to flee. This method of torture inflicts both physical pain and psychological terror on the victim.
Stoning to Death is an incredibly violent and painful method of execution from ancient times. Various ancient civilizations employed this form of death for condemned prisoners. True to its name, the condemned would be pelted with large stones by many people until they breathed their last. This process could take a long time, subjecting the prisoner to prolonged suffering before finally being freed from their agony.
Another painful form of death that many fear is being dragged along the road as a public execution method. The condemned would be tied by the legs to the back of a cart or directly to horses. Then, the horses would be urged to run, causing the prisoner to be dragged along the rough road. The uneven surface with many small, even sharp stones would cause the prisoner to suffer abrasions, bleeding, muscle damage, and broken bones… After some time, the prisoner would succumb to their severe injuries.
Eagle’s Wing. A convict sentenced to this form of execution will endure unprecedented pain. The reason is that the executioner uses a sharp knife to cut the flesh on the convict’s back. Once the back is sliced open, the executioner will break the ribs and pull them apart, resembling the wings of an eagle on the convict’s back. In some cases, salt is sprinkled into the wound to increase the level of agony before the convict dies.
Death by Snake Bites. Dangerous snakes, even those with lethal venom, are prepared in a deep pit before the convict is thrown inside. At that moment, the swarm of snakes rushes to attack the convict, leading to a horrifying death from snake venom.
Cangue: Cangue is one of the infamous tortures in ancient China. “Cangue” in Chinese means “patella.” This punishment is carried out by cutting the patella, rendering the victim unable to walk. In Chinese history, the famous military strategist Sun Tzu was subjected to this horrific torture. Sun Tzu and Pang Juan were both students of Guiguzi, but only Sun Tzu received the teachings of strategy and military tactics. This caused Pang Juan to harbor resentment, kidnapping Sun Tzu and forcing him to share the “Guiguzi Military Strategy” while having soldiers cut his patella, leaving Sun Tzu confined to a wheelchair for life.
Extermination of Three Clans: This brutal punishment was practiced during feudal times in Asian countries such as Vietnam and China, meaning the complete annihilation of three clans: the convict’s paternal clan, maternal clan, and the clan of their spouse (or in-laws). Those who commit treason or crimes against the state face this punishment. When a convict is sentenced to extermination of three clans, everyone from all three clans, regardless of age, is executed. This includes relatives from the maternal and in-law families, with no exceptions even if the mothers, stepmothers, or secondary wives of the convict had passed away before the sentence. As a result, throughout history, when extermination of three clans occurred, it often led to the massacre of hundreds, even thousands, of people sharing various surnames at once. Many individuals with only distant familial ties to the convict were also executed.
