Aaron Mahnke

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.

You have been stripped naked, chained at the neck, and dragged into an arena where thousands of eager spectators scream for your death.

And then suddenly, across the stadium, a trap door swings open, someone steps into the ring, but it's not someone, it's something.

A monster.

And the monster is hungry.

And while this may sound like a blend between the Hunger Games and Hopper's storyline in Stranger Things 4, I assure you that it is all too real.

Romans imported lions, tigers, wild boars, bears, elephants, and leopards, all for the single purpose of tearing condemned men and women apart in front of a cheering crowd.

And unlike the gladiatorial fights, those poor saps weren't given a single weapon for protection.

Now, while the Romans were making sport of death, the Brits were keeping things pretty simple.

During the 5th century BCE, the go-to appeared to tossing criminals into a bog.

Pretty straightforward, I know.

By the 10th century AD, they had upgraded to the gallows, with a smidge of drawing and quartering tossed in for good measure.