Just read an interesting — if grisly — article in Der Speigel on torture in the ancient world (“The Worst Ways to Die“). It’s a catalog of all the various punishments and execution methods from the usual suspects: Romans, Assyrians, and the like. For example, the Assyrian kings used a technique known as ‘staking.’
“Staking involved the executioner hammering a stake through the victim’s lubricated anus. The goal was to place the rounded, wooden stake so carefully that it only just pushed the internal organs aside. Many victims lived for days skewered like this.”
Yikes. But the real winners are the Persians. I don’t know what it is, but the Persians…they got creative. Seriously. They make the “Saw” movies seem like “Bedtime with Elmo.”
“And the punishment of “sitting in the tub” saw the convicted person placed in a wooden tub with only their head sticking out. The executioner would then paint the victim’s face with milk and honey. Flies would begin to swarm around the victim’s nose and eyelids. The victim was also fed regularly and fairly soon, they would virtually be swimming in their own excrement.
At which stage maggots and worms would devour their body. One victim