Aaron Mahnke

Tried being the operative word here.

You see, the Greeks believed that committing a murder, even in the context of execution, left behind a hideous spiritual stain called a miasma.

And so they came up with ways to kill someone without, well, actually killing them.

Things like throwing the convicted into a deep pit and just leaving them there, or tying them to a board before abandoning them to the elements.

You see, the state didn't really kill anyone, just left people outside for a while.

And if that person happened to die, well, no harm, no foul.

By the way, that tie-to-a-board method is sometimes called a bloodless crucifixion, which, yes, I hate as much as you do.

Much more rarely, people were forced to drink hemlock, the famous death of Socrates being one of those examples.

But to be honest, it was a pretty short-lived trend.

Glee was on TV for longer than Greece's hemlock phase.

Now, I know that ancient Greece and ancient Rome are sometimes spoken of interchangeably, but believe me when I say that the Romans had a very different approach to executions.

While the Greeks were trying to keep their moral hands spotless and preserving capital punishment for cases of homicide, the Romans were just straight up beating people to death for crimes as menial as, and I quote, publishing insulting songs or making disturbances in the city at night.

And it wasn't just beatings.

If convicted, you might find yourself drowned, strangled, buried alive, crucified, or thrown off a special execution cliff known as Tarpeian Rock.

And remember how the Egyptians had a special punishment for people who murdered their parents?

Well, so did the Romans.

It was called Penalty of the Sack and involved being stuffed into a leather sack alongside various unfortunate guests, such as a dog, a monkey, a snake, or a rooster, all before being flung into the sea.

So, yes, clearly the Romans weren't too worried about the spiritual miasma that the Greeks were.

And nothing proves this more than Rome's most famous execution method of all, domnatio ad bestias, or condemnation to the beasts.

Imagine that you're found guilty of theft.