Editing Flagellation (section)

===Antiquity===
[[File:William-Adolphe Bouguereau (1825-1905) - The Flagellation of Our Lord Jesus Christ (1880).jpg|thumb|left|upright=0.7|Painting of the flagellation of [[Jesus]] which illustrates the pain the punishment causes. ]]
In the [[Roman Empire]], flagellation was often used as a prelude to [[crucifixion]], and in this context is sometimes referred to as ''[[Scourge|scourging]]''. Most famously according to the gospel accounts, [[Flagellation of Christ|this occurred]] prior to the [[Crucifixion of Jesus|crucifixion of Jesus Christ]]. Due to the context of the flagellation of Jesus, the method and extent may have been limited by local practice, though it was done under Roman law.

Whips with small pieces of metal or bone at the tips were commonly used. Such a device could easily cause disfigurement and serious trauma, such as ripping pieces of flesh from the body or loss of an eye. In addition to causing severe pain, the victim would approach a state of [[Hypovolemia|hypovolemic shock]] due to loss of blood.

The Romans reserved this treatment for non-citizens, as stated in the {{Lang|la|lex Porcia}} and {{Lang|la|lex Sempronia}}, dating from 195 and 123 BC. The poet [[Horace]] refers to the {{Lang|la|horribile flagellum}} (horrible whip) in his ''Satires''. Typically, the one to be punished was stripped naked and bound to a low pillar so that he could bend over it, or chained to an upright pillar so as to be stretched out. Two [[lictor]]s (some reports indicate scourgings with four or six lictors) alternated blows from the bare shoulders down the body to the soles of the feet. There was no limit to the number of blows inflicted—this was left to the lictors to decide, though they were normally not supposed to kill the victim. Nonetheless, [[Livy]], [[Suetonius]] and [[Josephus]] report cases of flagellation where victims died while still bound to the post. Flagellation was referred to as "half death" by some authors, as many victims died shortly thereafter. [[Cicero]] reports in {{Lang|la|In Verrem}}, "''{{lang|la|pro mortuo sublatus brevi postea mortuus}}''" ("taken away for a dead man, shortly thereafter he was dead").