Lictor, you address a particular topic prone to sensationalism or titillation
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without resorting to either, which is
not easy to do. Well damn done.
Thank you!
In other tales of crucifixion the feet were nailed together by one nail on the front of the stipes or they were nailed separately. Given the evidence you have gathered it seems it was done on the sides for support and humuliation. Would you not think that nailing each foot separately on the front of the stipes would also serve that purpose? I would think that if nail went through where the foot meets the leg that would also provide the same effect as going through the heel.
ShadowWolf, we have very little evidence to go on, but my goal with this website is to stick to what we KNOW. When we know very little, it's tempting, and maybe even necessary at times, to try to imagine something PLAUSIBLE. I try to keep the plausible imagination to a minimum and make sure it is well marked when we do use it.
The only EVIDENCE we have is of a man who seems to have had his feet nailed to opposite sides of the cross. COULD the feet have been nailed side by side to the front of the cross sometimes? Absolutely possible. Would it have provided the same effect? Your imagination is a good as mine.
Probably so.
As far as providing support for the body, I'm not a doctor, so I report all of this second-hand and without authority, but my understanding is that the nail through the heel provides the maximum support for the body. Nailing through the front where the foot meets the leg would, I understand, necessarily break bones, which would then not be able to support the body.
That doesn't mean it wasn't done. But since our only piece of archaeological evidence employs a method medically recognized to provide the maximum support for the body, to me the case is strong that it was likely the "standard" way, if such a thing existed.
On the other hand, there is the Alexamenos graffito, which depicts a very different method of foot nailing. See out article on foot nailing:
Roman crucifixion is often depicted with the crucified person standing on a footrest. However, it is unlikely that a footrest was common in Roman crucifixion. The one archaeological specimen of a c…
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