ShadowWolf
Tribune
Oiling would obviously make the curcifixion a much more sexual display and would certainly add to the condemned's humiliation. It's part of a story I've thought about.
Here's another angle:
From Deborah on the Cross by Tarquinius Rex
(My copy is a Spanish translation, which I have translated back into English, so
good luck!)
A group of old women approached Deborah with a pigment which excited the crowd
and a goatskin with a potion designed to dull the mind. With the goatskin positioned
over her head in front of her, Deborah threw her head back to clear her brown hair from
her face. She drank the potion avidly, hoping the antesthetic would help her face her
execution. Two of the old women gently detached the wooden placard from the rings
in her nipples and passed it quickly to one of the soldiers. The old women began to
apply the bright red pigment to Deborah's nipples. It consisted of a fine powder which
mixed with Deborah's own sweat formed a kind of paint: the courtesans of Egypt had
used this technique to great effect. With large paintbrushes, the old women applied
the fine red powder to the sweaty nipples of Deborah. The result was very impressive
because it highlighted the aureoles and excited nipples with maximum contrast. The
old women worked the big paintbrushes around the nipples of the slave, skillfully mixing
the powder with the slave's sweat until it attained the consistency necessary to produce
a permanent red paste. Then, shaking their heads when the soldiers brought up Deborah's
cross bar, the old women turned and left.
That is a lovely example.