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How About The Breaking Of The Legs?

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lovecraft

Assistant executioner
Aside from historical texts I have seen it displayed only once in one of the episodes of Xena where the blow of the Hammer/reaction of the victim concludes the scene. However brutal it was regarded as an act of mercy since the victim was not longer able to "dance".

To my taste it could add some spice especially to mass crucifixion scenes where some of the victims receive this kind of dubious mercy and some don`t.

But it seems that this aspect of crucifixion does not attract any of the artists or reenactors since I have seen no pictures anywhere involving this (historically quite common) practice. Could this fantasY really be too brutal?
 
Since in my fantasies I have only been a spectator (or even a crucifier) I have actually never thought about trying out one of those fantasies on myself (as a victim). In this sense even crucifixion itself (even without the breaking of the legs) would not hold too much of a thrill for me if I should be the person on the cross. Unfortunately I am not able to switch roles even in my imagination. But then again it (breaking of the legs) could certainly not be a question of how you feel about it when it is done to you but whether it suits your fantasies. After all the roman crucifixion we are talking about was a method of execution that neccesarily resulted in the death of the victim.

Since breaking of the legs has been a classical feature of historical crucifixion I still wonder wy it has never found its way into the numerous pieces of art that have been published since reenactment would certainly not be advisable. Could it be that the idea is about a basicly unharmed person (except for some scourging) nailed on the cross and that any additional brutality would spoil the fun (or the symetry or the aestetics)?
 
24p treatments

Mmm...Scorcese didn't mind leaving that part out of "Last Temptation" either. Although his point had already been made and the movie ended with Christ smiling?? Of course Mel Gibsons "The Passion" and Phillip Saville's "Gospel of John" give you a good taste of the "breaking of the legs". In both movies they show the roman soldiers with a large hammer (sledge-hammer), wind up like they are going to hit a baseball, and then WHACK!! The camera pans away so that we cannot see it. The audio in both movies is quite hideous to the imagination. Imagine bone cracking and splintering? In "Gospel of John" you see the crowds reaction as the breaking occurs and they are quite shaken and ready to vomit and rightfully so! But since we know from history that the breaking of the legs occured, we are clued into why this may have taken place. That is that the feet were probably nailed (we already know that) but also that a slow death was hastened to a quicker death. Why?? I remember the movie Spartacus and it seemed as though the slaves who were crucified, were strung up with no feet support. Death is suppose to occur relatively quick in this situation. Stanley Kubrick who directed this movie, made perfect sense, because of the fact that the crucifixions were along many miles of road, therefore the roman soldiers probably didn't manage the scene but able to leave them knowing that they would surely die and quickly.
There were probably many different reasons for hastening death. Also you could speculate that the leg breaking didn't have to be with a hammer, but something as simple as hyper-extending the knees by forcefully pushing on them, that is if the feet were nailed to the side of the cross or on a foot rest. Or whacking the ankles... ad nauseum... As you say Lovecraft it happened and in a dubious (or even sadistic sense) was probably merciful, and not much fun to look at.[/quote]
 
The breaking of the legs is to me one of the more erotic aspects of crucifixion- particularly if the victim, or better yet, a member of the victim's family, has to ask for it.

I remember in Colleen McCullough's book about Julius Caesar when the pirates were ordered to make their own crosses, they were given a promise of having their legs broken as a reward for working hard on the cross construction.
 
So at last there is someone who doesn`t see only the brutality of it. The idea of the victim`s (or the victim`s families) choice does indeed have a quite erotic aspects. Think of it: chosing imense pain over long lasting agony must be quite a though decision. But the erotic aspect is the partial consent in a situation (execution) where typically the victim has no choice whatsoever.
But then again gucky007 is also right. Watching it in reality must have been a sickening experience. So whether we can find it erotic is obviously a question of aesthetics (how it is diplayed in art or reenactment). Nevertheless I have only seen realistic (and therefor unerotic) versions that gucky007 has mentioned with the sole exception of this short scene in one of the Xena episodes. Maybe this deviation within our deviation is simply to rare.
 

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The crurifragrium--the breaking of the legs of a crucified person--can be a sexually stimulating addition to a crucifixion. In my experience, hanging naked on a cross, watching someone approach you with a club, knowing they're going to break you shins with it and you can't do anything to prevent it, is wildly erotic. The same if you're on a cross watching someone approach the pile of brush below you with a flaming torch, or shoving a spearhead up under your breast. It adds a tremendous rush of adrenalin and eroticism. Breaking someone's legs is an ugly scene, which is why is is generally omitted from depictions. Nothing really sexy about smashed and protruding bones.

In the crucifixions I've endured, the "executioner" utilizes a toy plastic bat. He or she can get in a good whack with it, but with no permanent damage.
 
I see some discussion about breaking victims' legs, I have this picture in my collection.
 
Hammerlock said:
The crurifragrium--the breaking of the legs of a crucified person--can be a sexually stimulating addition to a crucifixion. In my experience, hanging naked on a cross, watching someone approach you with a club, knowing they're going to break you shins with it and you can't do anything to prevent it, is wildly erotic. The same if you're on a cross watching someone approach the pile of brush below you with a flaming torch, or shoving a spearhead up under your breast. It adds a tremendous rush of adrenalin and eroticism. Breaking someone's legs is an ugly scene, which is why is is generally omitted from depictions. Nothing really sexy about smashed and protruding bones.

In the crucifixions I've endured, the "executioner" utilizes a toy plastic bat. He or she can get in a good whack with it, but with no permanent damage.
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I may be mistaken,but I thought the victims legs were broken after death...atleast thats what I read.
 
The purpose behind breaking the legs is to, first of all, add more agony and shock to the situation, and, second, to deprive the victim of his or her ability to raise himself/herself up on the cross to breathe, thus insuring an agonizing death by suffocation. Wouldn't make much sense to break the legs after death, would it?
 
Hammerlock said:
The purpose behind breaking the legs is to, first of all, add more agony and shock to the situation, and, second, to deprive the victim of his or her ability to raise himself/herself up on the cross to breathe, thus insuring an agonizing death by suffocation. Wouldn't make much sense to break the legs after death, would it?
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No,I guess you are right,it would not make any sence to break the legs after the victum has died and the suffering has ended.....parden!
 
In at least one of my stories I wrote about a victim having her legs broken.

I really don't think the it was done that often. Afterall the purpose of a public cruxing was to set an example, a horrible example, of what could happen to the transgressors.

Why shorten up the torment if th epurpose was to terrify.

I can see two cases in which it might be done.

One someone was bribed to end the victim's suffering.

two, in the case of supressing a rebellion the cruxers might have to move on to the next objective. They wouldn't want to leave any live victims behind to get rescued so they'd make sure everybody was dead before moving on.

kisses

willowfall
 
cmeinsen said:
Hammerlock said:
The crurifragrium--the breaking of the legs of a crucified person--can be a sexually stimulating addition to a crucifixion. In my experience, hanging naked on a cross, watching someone approach you with a club, knowing they're going to break you shins with it and you can't do anything to prevent it, is wildly erotic. The same if you're on a cross watching someone approach the pile of brush below you with a flaming torch, or shoving a spearhead up under your breast. It adds a tremendous rush of adrenalin and eroticism. Breaking someone's legs is an ugly scene, which is why is is generally omitted from depictions. Nothing really sexy about smashed and protruding bones.

In the crucifixions I've endured, the "executioner" utilizes a toy plastic bat. He or she can get in a good whack with it, but with no permanent damage.
Click to expand...
I may be mistaken,but I thought the victims legs were broken after death...atleast thats what I read.
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here is a movieclip about breaking legs

http://rapidshare.com/files/98910554/Xe ... d.wmv.html
 
Breaking the legs was usually done when the guard detail wanted to go home. If there was no rush, then the victim would be allowed to expire naturally, from exhaustion, exposure, and probably blood poisoning from the spikes in the wrists and feet.
 
So why didn't they break the legs of Christ? The centurian only stabbed him in the side just before his friends took him down. Could he have possiblied survived and.... An albino assassin has just spotted me. Got to run....
 
xlegion said:
So why didn't they break the legs of Christ? The centurian only stabbed him in the side just before his friends took him down. Could he have possiblied survived and.... An albino assassin has just spotted me. Got to run....
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If I recall,they did not break the legs of Christ because he was already dead!
 
When you ever had a broken leg as I had you wouldnt find any erotic
aspect in that matter.The pain is pure terror and horror.
 
How to simulate the broken bone thing in the game. I rearranege my darling good ftiends feet so its really hard for her to stand up. The finally follows soon.
 
clout said:
How to simulate the broken bone thing in the game. I rearranege my darling good ftiends feet so its really hard for her to stand up. The finally follows soon.
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Not at all (simulate). Some things can be simulated, some can't. Breaking the legs is something that can't be done, unless you think that using an inflated stick would add to the eroticism of the situation (what I seriously doubt).
 
cmeinsen said:
If I recall,they did not break the legs of Christ because he was already dead!
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They didn't actually break his legs at all, 'cos he was already dead - just shoved a spear in his belly to make sure.
Breaking legs was to finish off the ones who were still alive, so they died before Sabbath began at sunset.
 
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