Crucifixion the Bodily Support – The Acuta Crux in Patristic Writings (9)

This post has been brought to you by the number Five.

(Part 7i of the series: Crucifixion the Bodily Support)

Part 1      Part 2      Part 3      Part 4
Part 5a    Part 5b    Part 5c    Part 5d
Part 5e    Part 5f     Part 5g    Part 6a
Part 6b    Part 6c    Part 6d    Part 6e
Part 7a    Part 7b    Part 7c    Part 7d
Part 7e    Part 7f     Part 7g    Part 7h


Justin Martyr on the Acuta Crux (Part 8) and Irenaeus with His Five Ends and High Points.

Justin Martyr.

Justin Martyr has one last thing to say about the horns of the σταυρός (staurós) or crux.

He harangues the Jewish Trypho about the gear of Jesus' execution, which we have seen is none other in Justin's mind than a Priapus stake, sometimes clearly designed to make the genitals prominent, that is, ἐξέχον (exéchon) "projecting," and equipped with its own virile member which crucified by penetration. He alights on the line in the 22nd Psalm with the words, "they pierced my hands and feet," and calls it a prohecy of the execution pole. He then runs down the whole first half of the Psalm, coming towards the end of his quote with the line about "the horns of the unicorn."

Save me from the lion's mouth, and my humility from the horns of the unicorns.

(Greek LXX: σῶσόν με ἐκ στόματος λέοντος καὶ ἀπὸ κεράτων μονοκερώτων τὴν ταπείνωσίν μου (sôsón me ek stómatos léontos kaí apó kerátôn monokerátôn tên tapeínwsín mou)) (Latin Vulgate: Salva me ex ore leonis, et a cornibus unicornium humilitatem meam.)

(Psalm 22:22)  1

Justin Martyr explains that "the lion's mouth" is death, and the "horns of the unicorn" are none other than the endpoints of the σταυρός (staurós):

For the passage, 'Deliver my soul from the sword, and my only-begotten from the hand of the dog; save me from the lion's mouth, and my humility from the horns of the unicorns,' is indicative of the suffering by which He should die, i.e., by crucifixion. For the 'horns of the, unicorns,' I have already explained to you, are the figure of the σταυρός (staurós) only.

Justin Martyr, Dialogue with Trypho 105 2

And we have already seen what Justin Martyr meant by the σταυρός (staurós): the Priapus stake only.


Irenaeus.

Irenaeus doesn't say much about the nature of the structure of the crux: he says it has five ends and high points, in a long chapter about how some kind of significance of numbers, letters and syllables confutes the arguments of the 'heretics'.

In his theme on the number Five (Against Heresies II.24):

The very form of the crux, too, has five extremities, two in length, two in breadth, and one in the middle, on which [last] the person rests who is fixed by the nails.

Latin: Et ipse habitus crucis, fines et summitates habet quinque, duos in longitudine, et duos in latitudine, et unum in medio, in quo requiescit qui clavis affigitur. 

Irenaeus, Against Heresies, II.24.4 3

In the Latin the term for extremities is not, as one would expect, extremitates, but fines et summitates, "ends and high points." High points, plural, as in top ends, heights or highest parts. But he tells the reader where the points are: two in the length of the instrument, two in its breath and one in the middle where, or by which, the person person rests from the Latin requiescit, "rests, finds support, reposes, finds rest, lets rest, stops, stays, arrests, rests, becomes refreshed, etc."

Now one may interpret the gear of execution as a Chresimon symbol (or the Comet of Julius Caesar) made out of framed timbers, similar to a Saint Andrew's Cross, but supported by a pole. But the problem with this one is, though it certainly has five 'high' points, it has six ends!

The kind of gear for executionary suspension that has five ends, of course, is that infamous Priapus stake.

Five* ends and (multiple) high points:
Two vertically, two horizontally, and one in the middle.
On which rests the one who is fastened with nails.

*six counting the back end of the brake beam.

And Irenaeus also notes that Jesus held his back to the instrument when he was allegedly crucified:

But the words whose government is set upon His shoulders means allegorically the Crux, on which He held His back when he was crucified.

Irenaeus, Demonstration of Apostolic Preaching, 56 [120]

And that Jesus stretched out his arms when suspended:

...and He also frees us from Amelec by stretching forth his hands...

Irenaeus, Demonstration of Apostolic Preaching, 46 [111]

And again, concerning His Crux, Isaiah says as follows: "I have stretched forth my hands all the day to a stubborn and contrary people:" for this is a figure of the Crux.

Irenaeus, Demonstration of Apostolic Preaching, 79 [136]

Murillo, Martyrdom of St Andrew

It's a bit difficult to keep one's back against the gear of his execution, particularly if it's an X-type with no central vertical pole rising up past the head, or with the cross members of the 'X' thicker than mere planks. Either the thing might tip over, or the distance behind the back is too large. And there's no resting on a central end-and-high-point at any rate, one just slumps down from the nails, driven through the hands or wrists into the wood of the 'X'.

And as the stretching forth of His hands the whole day long, dealing with an ornery and contrarian people? Irenaeus may have confused stretching out with "stretching forth", but I doubt seriously he'd confuse stretching up with stretching forth.

So it appears Irenaeus is referring to what the Romans typically used in his day.

Next: Tertullian.

Notes:

1. Catholic numbering per New Advent.org. Most translations number the line as Ps. 22:21 and translate the Hebrew רֵמִ֣ים (re-mim), declension of רְאֵם (reem), as "wild oxen."
2. Cf. with Documenta Catholica Omnia, Justin Martyr, Dialogus cum Tryphone Judaeo 105, PDF p. 126, col. 721 for the Greek and col. 722 for the Latin. Link.

Greek: Tό γάρ, "Pῥῦσαι ἀπό ῥομφαίας τήν ψυχήν μου, καί ἐκ χειρός κυνός τήν μονογενῆ μου. σῶσόν με ἐκ στόματος λέοντος καὶ ἀπὸ κεράτων μονοκερώτων τὴν ταπείνωσίν μου." ὁμοίως μηνύοντος δι᾽ οὗ πάθους ἔμελλεν ἀποθνήσκειν, τουτέστι σταυροῦσθαι. Tό γάρ, "κεράτων μονοκερώτων," ὅτι τό σχῆμα τοῦ σταυροῦ ἐστι μόνου, προεξηγησάμην ὑμίν.

Transliteration: Tó gár: "Rusai apó romfaías tên psuchên mou, kaí ek cheirós kunós tên monogenê mou. sôsón me ek stómatos léontos kaí apó kerátôn monokerátôn tên tapeínwsín mou," omoíôs mêúontos di' ou páthous emellen apoqnêskein, toutésti staurousthai. Tó gár: "kerátôn monokerátôn," oti tó sxêma tou staurou esti mónou, proeksêgêámên umin.

Latin: Illud enim: 'Erue a gladio animam meam, et de manu canis unicam meam. Salva me ex ore leonis et a cornibus unicornium humilitatem meam.' similiter denuntianus est, quo supplicii genere moriturus esset, id est cruce; illud enim, 'a cornibus unicornium,' solius crucis formeam exhibere, vobis antea exposui.

3. Documenta Catholica Omnia, Irenaeus, Contra Haereses II.24, PDF pp. 184-5, col. 794-5, Cf. n. 39 where the unicorn passage from Justin Martyr Dialogus cum Tryphone is quoted. Link.

Crucifixion the Bodily Support – The Acuta Crux in Patristic Writings (8)

Pliny’s monokeros.

(Part 7h of the series: Crucifixion the Bodily Support)

Part 1          Part 2          Part 3         Part 4

Part 5a        Part 5b        Part 5c        Part 5d

Part 5e        Part 5f         Part 5g        Part 6a

Part 6b        Part 6c        Part 6d        Part 6e

Part 7a        Part 7b        Part 7c        Part 7d

Part 7e        Part 7f         Part 7g

Justin Martyr on the Acuta Crux (Part 7)

Recap:

In the first part previous I’ve shown how Justin Martyr brings up the figure of the σταυρός (staurós) or τρόπαιον (trópaion) and how it related to a flurry of cross and ‘T’ shaped objects, one of which definitely had an attachment that could be relate to the σκόλοψ (skólops) or acuta crux that was attached to the front of the execution pole. In the second part I showed Justin telling Antoninus Pius how the Jews sat Jesus in proper position on what he, Justin, called a βήματος (bêmatos), that is, a judgment seat, although it’s impossible to tell if that seat was also the sedilis excessu of the execution pole that turned it into a Priapus stake. In the third part I noted the peculiarity of Justin's comparison of a person who is undergoing the suspension of the  σταυρός and the roasting of the Passover Lamb: because the Lamb was suspended by its front paws from a horizontal wooden beam, and impaled on a wooden spit from the hindquarters right up to the mouth, as if the acuta crux Jesus was subjected to was a regular impaling stake! In the fourth I showed how early Christians took a verse of overthrowing Jeremiah’s tree and the fruit thereof into a prophecy about how wood was caused to go onto the body of Jesus, or into his body, or both. And in the fifth I showed how Justin’s accusation to the Jewish Trypho that the Jewish religious authorities extirpated the words “from the wood” out of the 96^th Psalm works in favor of the Cross of Jesus Christ having had a short (maybe it wasn’t short) impaling spike meant for the crucified to sit on. And in the sixth part I showed that spike was exactly what Justin was talking about when he spoke of the Monokeros horn fixed in the middle frame.

Horns of the Unicorn - Breakdown

Now here I will show the breakdown of the comparison with Joseph’s Horns of a μονοκέρως (monokérôs), a.k.a. Rhinoceros or Unicorn, mentioned in Deuteronomy 33:13-17 and the extremities or “limbs” of the typical Roman execution pole, called a σταυρός (staurós) or crux, ca. the mid Second Century CE.

The Indian Rhinoceros.

Rhinoceros unicornis. Credit: Krish Dulal, Wikipedia.

Again, Pliny makes mention of a monoceros or unicorn in his treatise on the terrestrial animals of India (NH 8.18.31). The description he gives does not come close to the unicorn of Medieval myth, but comes closer to the Indian rhinoceros (rhinoceros unicornis), although apparently through a 4,000 mile long game of Chinese Whispers (Telephone). So, then, Justin Martyr appears to be dealing with a rhinoceros here.

Now I will breakdown the length of the passage to see if the main frame Justin talks about is a crux-immissa (Latin cross type) or sort of, or whether it was the crux-commissa (utility pole) type, and see how the Latin translations treat Justin’s Greek for the phrase “on which are suspended.”

Here we go. First, here is the passage in toto:

Now, no one could say or prove that the horns of an unicorn represent any other fact or figure than the type which portrays the cross. For the one beam is placed upright, from which the highest extremity is raised up into a horn, when the other beam is fitted on to it, and the ends appear on both sides as horns joined on to the one horn. And the part which is fixed in the centre, on which are suspended those who are crucified, also stands out like a horn; and it also looks like a horn conjoined and fixed with the other horns.

Justin Martyr, Dialogue with Trypho 91 (Donaldson-Roberts transl.) ₁

And now the breakdown: the Greek and Latin texts can be found at the Documenta Catholica Omnia website. ₂ All the English translations below are mine.

First Sentence:

Greek:

Mονοκέρωτος γάρ κέρατα οὐδενός ἄλλου πράγματος ἤ σχήματος ἔχοι ἄν τις εἰπεῖν καί ἀποδεῖξαι, εἰ μή τοῦ τύπου ὅς τόν σταυρόν δείκνυσιν.

Monokérôtos gár kérata oudenos állou prágmatos ê sxêmatos échoi án tis eipein kaí apodeixai, ei mê tou túpou ós tón staurón deiknusín.

“For the horns of a monokeros can provide none other undertaking or appearance that anyone could say or reveal, if not of the form that the σταυρός (staurós) points out.

Latin-1:

Unicornis enim cornua nemo dicere aut demonstrare possit in alia re aut figura invenir, nisi in ea quae crucem exhibet.

“Namely the horns of a unicorn, no-one can say or rather demonstrate to be found in another thing or form, except in that which exhibits the crux.”

Latin-2:

Per Monoceratis cornua nemo dicere, aut ostendere potest rem aliam, seu figuram referri, nisi eam quae cruces speciem adumbrat.

“By the horns of a monokeros no-one is able to say, or reveal any other thing, or a form to be referred, except that which represents a species of the crux.”

Latin-3:

(Not present)

My comment: The Greek and the Latin translations agree with each other. And the unicorn is not the horse of Medieval myth and preteen girl fantasy, but the monokeros plinii: possibly, the Indian rhinoceros.

Second Sentence.

Greek:

ὄρθιον γάρ τό ἔν ἐστι ξύλον προσαρμοσθῇ, καί ἑκατέρωθεν ὡς κέρατα τῷ ἐνί κέρατι παρεζευγμένα τά ἄκρα φαίνηται.

órthion gár tó én esti xúlon prosarmosthê, kai ekatérôthen ôs kérata tô ení kérati parezeugména tá árka faínêtai.

“For the timber is into an upright [station], indeed from/of [that] is the topmost portion erected into a ‘horn’, whenever the other timber is attached, and having been yoked beside onto that ‘horn’ those points on either side would appear as ‘horns’.” 

Latin-1:

Rectum enim unum lignum est, a quo summa pars in cornu attollitur, cum adaptum fuerit aliud lignum, et utrinque extrema, veluti cornua uni adjunct cornu apparuerint.

“Namely one timber is upright, from which the top part is lifted up into a ‘horn’, when another timber is installed and at both ends the extremities will have appeared just as a set of ‘horns’ joined to a ‘horn’.”

Latin-2:

Hujus enim lignum unum urrectarium est, cujus pars summa tanquam cornu eminet: cum alterum lignum aptatum est, hujus extremitates instar cornuum alteri cornu junctorum proeminentes utrinque videntur.

“Namely of this one timber is erected, of which the top part rises up just as a horn: when the second timber is put on, of this the endpoints projecting out on both sides are seen [as] the equal of ‘horns’ connected to the other ‘horn’.”

Latin-3: Second Sentence:

Crux igitur nihil aliud est nisi lignum erectum. Cujus ligni, cum aliun lignum transversarium adaptur, summa pars habet cornu foram: partier utraque transversarii ligni pars prominens cornu speciem gerit;

Therefore the crux is none other except an erected timber. Of which timber, when another transverse timber is attached, the highest part holds a figure for a ‘horn’: and together each of the two transverse parts of the timber jutting out bears a semblance to a horn.

My comments: We have a tacit admission from the Roman Catholic Church that the σταυρός (staurós) / crux is none other than an upright pole, and that the transverse may not always have been attached, even though it was in the usual case in the mid Second Century CE. ₃ The transverse appears to have been placed, yoked against the upright pole: προσαρμοσθῇ (prosarmosthê) “attached,” contrast with adaptatum, “having been fitted, adjusted, adapted;” aptatum, “having been fitted, adapted, applied, put on;” and adaptatur, “is fitted, adjusted, adapted.” The second attachment verb, παρεζευγμένα (parezeugména) “having been yoked beside, set beside.” Compare with adjuncta, “having been added, joined, bound to” and junctorum, “connected, adjoining, contiguous; having been joined, united, brought together, connected, yokeed.” It appears the transverse is attached as a ship’s yardarm rather than inlaid as seen in renaissance art and in films that show the crux immissa cross, consisting of two transverse beams or planks inlaid (infixum, caelaverunt) to each other. And the extremities of the transverse are not perfectly shaped as true horns but each bears a figurative resemblance to a horn.

Third Sentence:

Greek:

καί τό ἐν τῷ μέσῳ πηγνύμενον ὡς κέρας καί αὐτό ἐξέχον ἐστιν, ἐφ᾽ ᾧ ἐποχοῦνται οἱ σταυρούμενοι. καί βλέπεται ὡς κέρας καί αὐτό σύν τοῖς ἄλλοις κέρασι συνεσχηματισμένον καί πεπηγμένον.

kaí tó en méso pêgnúmenon ôs kéras kaí autó exéchon estin, ef’ w epoxountai oi stauroúmenoi. kaí blépetai ôs kéras kaí autó sún tois állois kérasi sunêschematisménon kaí pepêgménon.

“And that which is fixed in the middle, and itself is projecting out just as a horn, on which are carried / ‘ride’ who are crucified / impaled.  And it even looks like a horn, having been skillfully shaped and conjoined with those other horns.”

Latin-1:

Et illud quod in medio figitur, ut ei insideant qui crucifiguntur, ipsum etiam veluti quoddam cornu eminet, et cornu speciem exhibit cum aliis cornibus conformatum et fixum.

“And that one which is fixed in the middle, so that on the same item may sit those who are crucified / impaled, likewise itself reaches upward just as a certain horn, and presents a likeness to a horn, when it is skillfully shaped and fixed with the other horns.”

Latin-2:

Illud vero quod in medio defixum est, et ipsum tanquam cornu eminet, quo innixi sustinentur, qui crucifiguntur, et apparet veluti cornu illud quoque cum aliis cornibus conformatum atque compactum.

“Indeed that one which is fixed in at the middle, and itself reaches upward, by which having supported themselves by grasping are held upright those who are crucified / impaled, and it appears just as the well-known horn also having been skillfully shaped and assembled together with the other horns.”

Latin-3:

Aliud etiam cornu in illo lingo cernitur, quod in media cruce fixum est, ut insideant qui cruci affiguntur. Itaque crux composite est ex cornibus unicornis.

Yet another horn is discerned on that wood, which in the middle of the crux is fixed, so that those who are fastened on to the crux may occupy it as a perch. And so the crux is assembled out of the ‘horns’ of a unicorn!

My comments: “And that which is fixed in the middle” (καί τό ἐν τῷ μέσῳ πηγνύμενον (kaí tó en méso pêgnúmenon)) is in agreement across all three Latin translations: Et illud quod in medio figitur “And that which is fixed in the middle,” illud vero quod in medio defixum est “indeed that which is infixed at the middle,” and quod in media cruce fixum est: “that which is fixed in the middle of the crux.”

The Greek “And the same is standing out / projecting as a horn” (ὡς κέρας καί αὐτό ἐξέχον ἐστιν (ôs kéras kaí autó exéchon estin)) is also in agreement between the Greek and the Latins: ipsum etiam veluti quoddam cornu eminet “likewise itself reaches upward just as a certain horn,” et ipsum tanquam cornu eminet “and itself reaches upward,” and “Aliud etiam cornu in illo lingo cernitur “And so another horn is discerned on that wood.”

The Latin-1 mentions that the horn in the middle is just like a certain horn (tanquam quoddam cornu): a cornu unicornis: either that of the monokeros plinii or rhinoceros unicornis.

The Right Reverend John Pearson appears to have had this support figured out in 1659 -- the Seventeenth Century! For he wrote:

The form then of the cross on which our Saviour suffered was not a simple but a compounded figure, according to the custom of the Romans, by whose Procurator* he was condemned to die. In which there was not only a straight and erected piece of wood fixed in the earth, but also a transverse beam fastened unto that towards the top thereof; and beside these two cutting each other transversely at right angles (so that the erected part extended itself above the transverse), there was also another piece of wood infixed into, and standing out from, that which was erected and straight up. ₄

Vivat Crux Graffito, Pompeii, 79 CE.

Brought out from an on-line image of the Pozzuoli. (See n. ₅)

And the Greek for “on which are carried / ‘ride’ those who are crucified / impaled” (ἐφ᾽ ᾧ ἐποχοῦνται οἱ σταυρούμενοι (ef’ w epoxountai oi stauroúmenoi) ) is reflected in the Latin-1 ut ei insideant qui crucifiguntur “so that on the same item may sit those who are crucified,” the Latin-2 quo innixi sustinentur, qui crucifiguntur, “by which having supported themselves by grasping are held upright those who are crucified” and the Latin-3 ut insideant qui cruci affiguntur “so that those those who are fastened on to the crux may occupy it as a perch.”

The Greek ἐποχοῦνται is in the famous / infamous medium voice and not only does it mean “are carried by” but also means “ride,” ₆ and when it refers to a female animal in congress with a male animal, it means “couple with,” i.e., “ride” in an entirely different sense. Compare with the Latin insideant (here used in the active with a dative noun or pronoun: indirect object) “sit on, be situate on, stand upon, occupy as a perch,” and the Latin innixi (used with an ablative noun: instrumental agent) “support themselves by grasping, leaning on.”

So we have clear support in the Latin that the horn on which the crucified were carried was actually one on which they were situated, sat, perched, leaned and grasped: in other words, ‘rode’ -- coupled with. And with “the dance of the cross” it wasn’t just a simple impalement or mini-impalement, it was more like… fucking. The French and the Germans are right: the Pompeiian epithet “In crvce figarvs” (figaris) does mean va te faire crucifier and lass dich ans kreuz schlagen, “Go fuck yourself with a crux!” How rude. ;^)

IN CRVCE FIGARVS

Pozzuoli Graffito. This poor bugger was literally riding a thorn!

And the participle σταυρούμενοι is in the famous / infamous medium as well, so not only does it mean “being crucified / impaled / pile-driven,” it also means “crucifying / impaling / pile-driving themselves.” This despite the Latin documents using the passive crucifiguntur “are crucified / impaled” and cruci affiguntur “affixed to a crux (nailed to or impaled on it or both)” And note that not only does the medium voice have famous / infamous connotations, the verb σταυρόω (staurów) itself has a famous / infamous meaning as well. So when this verb is conjugated in the middle voice, it can acquire a double infamy… or more precisely, an infamy squared.

And the last “And it even looks like a horn, having been skillfully shaped and conjoined with those other horns,” the Greek (καί βλέπεται ὡς κέρας καί αὐτό σύν τοῖς ἄλλοις κέρασι συνεσχηματισμένον καί πεπηγμένον (kaí blépetai ôs kéras kaí autó sún tois állois kérasi sunêschematisménon kaí pepêgménon)) has as its Latin counterparts: et cornu speciem exhibit cum aliis cornibus conformatum et fixum “and presents a likeness to a horn, when it is skillfully shaped and fixed with the other horns;” et apparet veluti cornu illud quoque cum aliis cornibus conformatum atque compactum. “and it appears just as the well-known horn also having been skillfully shaped and assembled together with the other horns;” and Itaque crux composite est ex cornibus unicornis “And so the crux is assembled out of the ‘horns’ of a unicorn!”

The Greek and the first two Latins are in agreement that the ‘horn’ fixed in the middle actually looked like a horn. For the Greek συνεσχηματισμένον (sunêschematisménon) the first two Latins use conformatum, “skillfully / symmetrically shaped,” meaning the Greek, too, would mean “completely formed, fashioned, shaped in accordance with.”

This is confirmed with the participle πεπηγμένον, which covers the sense of having been assembled and conjoined, as well as fixed, and which is buttressed to cover those meanings by the Latins: fixum “fastened, attached, erected, set up;” compactum “joined together, frame, make by joining;” and composite est “is fitted together, joined, connected.”

And again, in the Latin-2 we have mention again of the well-known horn (cornu illud) and one has to ask, what kind? The monerceratis cornua “horns of a monokeros,” which is Pliny’s Monokeros, a mythical creature probably in my opinion derived from garbled or confused reports of what people actually saw in India --- the description of the Indian rhinoceros through a 4,000 mile game of Chinese Whispers, known in America  as the game of  Telephone.

And so, we have straight from Justin Martyr’s mouth that the description of the crux or σταυρός (staurós) in use at the time was shaped like a T or a mast with its yardarm and included a horn-like attachment that rose up and curved out and crucified the condemned by penetration, wherein the sufferer was quite literally fucked… and it was his own strong leg and butt muscles that were doing the fucking. And contrary to modern Christian perceptions of the Crucifiction of Jesus Christ, wherein he is portrayed as hanging from a tropaeum cross, Justin Martyr has the poor man literally fucking himself on a Priapus stake! And less than a century later, Origen, in Alexandria across the Mediterranean from Rome, called crucifixion the mors turpissima crucis (the most polluted death of the cross) ₇. Why? Because it was an ugly parody of male-on-male sex, meant to kill in a manner so cruel, hideous and unspeakably vile, others would be deterred from doing the same crimes the crucified ones committed.

Maybe it helps explains why Christianity has been so homophobic throughout its history.

Next, Irenaeus and his five ends and high points.

Greek and Latin Word Definitions.

Not all the definitions of the Greek and Latin words included above will be presented here. The ones that aren’t, can be looked up at Perseus Greek Word Study Tool, IBG Greek Verb Chart, Perseus Latin Word Study Tool, Numen Word Study Tool, and William Whitaker’s Words.

Greek.

ἐξέχον (exéchon): participle singular present active neuter nominative, “standing out, projecting.” Perseus Greek Word Study Tool, Link.

ἐποχοῦνται (epoxountai): verb third person plural indicative middle of  ἐποχέομαι (epoxéomai) “be carried, ride,” which appears to be the first person medium-passive counterpart of the active verb ἐποχεύω (epoxeúô) “of the male animal: spring upon, cover, (in the medium) couple with.” Perseus Greek Word Study Tool, ἐποχέομαι, ἐποχεύω; BGI Verb Ending Chart, Link. (Note: medium = middle)

παρεζευγμένα (parezeugména): participle plural perfect passive neuter nominative of παραζεύγνυμι (parazeúgnumi), “having been joined, yoked against, coupled.” Perseus Greek Word Study Tool, Link; IBG Greek Word Chart, Link.

πεπηγμένον (pepêgménon): participle singular perfect middle-passive neuter nominative, “having been fixed, compacted, planted, fastened together, fitted together, constructed, built.” Perseus Greek Word Study Tool, Link.

προσαρμοσθῇ (prosarmosthê): verb third person present indicative passive of προσαρμόζω (prosarmózô), “attach closely to.” Perseus Greek Word Study Tool, Link; IBG Greek Verb Chart, Link.

σταυρούμενοι (stauroúmenoi): participle plural present middle-passive masculine nominative, “being fenced with pales, pile-driven, impaled, crucified [or actively doing the same to themselves!].” IBG Verb Ending Chart, Link. Perseus Word Study Tool, Link. See also FdVR post Σταυρόω.

συνεσχηματισμένον (sunêschematisménon): participle singular perfect middle-passive neuter nominative, “having been given a certain form, formed, fashioned, arranged” + “with, along with, altogether, completely.” From σύν- (sún-) and σχηματίζω (schêmatízô) Perseus Greek Word Study Tool, Link1, Link2, IBG Verb Ending Chart, Link.

Latin.

adaptatum: participle singular perfect passive neuter nominative of adapto, “having been fitted.” Lewis and Short, Link; William Whittaker’s Words, Link.

adaptatur: verb third person present indicative passive of adapto, “is fitted.” Lewis and Short, Link; William Whitaker’s Words, Link.

adjuncta: participle singular perfect passive feminine nominative of adjungo, “having been added, joined, bound to.” Perseus Latin Word Study Tool, Link.

aptatum: participle singular perfect passive neuter nominative, “having been put on.” Perseus Latin Word Study Tool, Link.

compactum: participle singular perfect passive neuter nominative, “having been joined together, frame, made by joining.” Perseus Latin Word Study Tool, Link.

composite: participle singular perfect passive neuter vocative, “having been brought together, placed together, united, fit together, joined, connected,” (i.e., assembled).  Perseus Latin Word Study Tool, Link.

conformatum: participle singular perfect passive neuter nominative, “having been formed, fashioned, shaped symmetrically of skillfully.” Perseus Latin Word Study Tool, Link.

crucifiguntur (cruci + figuntur): noun single masculine dative + verb third person plural present indicative passive, “are fixed, fastened, thrust on, affixed and / or attached to a tree, pole, gallows, frame and / or stake (i.e.: crucified, impaled).” Perseus Latin Word Study Tool, Link 1, Link 2.

eminet: verb third person singular present indicative active, “standing out, projecting, reaching upward.” Perseus Latin Word Study Tool, Link.

fixum: participle singular perfect passive neuter nominative, “having been fixed, fastened, attached, affixed, posted, erected, set up.” Perseus Latin Word Study Tool, Link.

innixi: c. w/ dat. or abl., participle plural perfect passive masculine nominative of innitor: “having leaned upon, having supported oneself by.” The references indicated by the Lewis and Short indicates that when the passive is used with the ablative, it appears to become the medium (ex’s.: ipse hasta innixus, “grasping [and leaning on] his spear” (Livy 4.19.4) (Spillan transl.: “by help of his lance”), et innixus moderamine navis “And taking hold uppon the sterne” (Ovid Metamorphoses 15.726) (Golding transl.)). Perseus Word Study Tool, Link.

insideant: verb third person present subjunctive active of insideo: “may sit on, settle on, be situate upon, occupy as a perch.” Perseus Latin Word Study Tool, Link.

junctorum: adjective plural neuter genitive of junctus, “connected, adjoining, contiguous;” participle plural perfect passive neuter genitive of jungo, “having been joined, united, brought together, connected, yoked.” Perseus Digital Library Lewis and Short, Link 1 and Link 2; William Whitaker’s Words, Link. 

Text References and Notes.

1. New Advent.org, Justin Martyr, Dialogue with Trypho 91, Link.

2. Documenta Catholica Omnia, Justin Martyr, Dialogus cum Tryphone Judaeo 91, PDF p. 111-112, cols. 692, 693 for the Greek and cols. 691, 694 for the Latin-1, Link; Irenaeus, Contra Haereses Lib. II., PDF p. 184, col. 794, n. (39) for the Latin-2, Link; and Justin Martyr, PDF p. 111, col. 692, n. (71) for the Latin-3.

3. FdVR posts on The Acuta Crux in Anti-Christian Discourse (2) and (2A). Cf. FdVR post Σταυρόω.

4.  Pearson, John, D.D., Chevallier, Temple, B.D., rev. and corr., An Exposition of the Creed, Cambridge, England, The University Press (1859), p. 384-5. See also p. 385, n. 1. (You may see the 1847 ed. at Google Books Preview, Link, pp. 362-5 and p. 364, n. 99)

5._. Zaninotto, Gino; Savarino, P. and Scannerini, eds.; “The Shroud and Roman Crucifixion: A Historical Review;” The Turin Shroud, past, present and future - International Scientific Symposium (Turin, 2-5 March 2000); Cantalupa: Effatà Editrice (2000), pp. 285-324, Puzzuoli Graffito fig. 5. P. 305, Vivat Crux fig. 6 p. 306. On-line image of the Pozzuoli kindly provided by Antonio Lombatti.

6. William Smith, LLD, William Wayte, G. E. Marindin, Ed., A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities (1890), “CRUX” (Link):

It was impossible that the whole weight of the body should rest upon the nails; hence there was a piece of wood projecting from the stipes on which the sufferer sat, or rather rode (κέρας ἐφ᾽ ᾦ ἐποχοῦνται οἱ σταυρούμενοι, Just. Mart. Dial. c. Tryph. 91; sedilis excessus, Tertull. adv. Nat. 1.12; cf. Iren. adv. Haer. 1.12). The expression acuta si sedeam cruce, in the famous lines of Maecenas ap. Sen. Ep. 101, probably refers to this support, and not, as Lipsius thought, to impalement (see Archd. Farrar in Dict. of the Bible, s. v. Cross). when it was wanting, the body was probably sustained by ropes….

The wording is unclear, but I suspect that the above authors presumed the sufferer ‘rode’ the piece the way one rides a horse or a bicycle. Epigraphy indicates otherwise.

7. Origen, Commentary on Matthew 27:22ff, ap. Hengel, Martin; Bowden, John,  transl.; Crucifixion. Philadelphia, Fortress Press (1977), p. xi: "son solum homicidam postulantes ad vitam, sed etiam iustum ad mortem et ad mortem turpissimam cruces 'asking not only life for a murderer but also death for an innocent man, indeed the utterly vile death of the cross.'" We now know that Origen certainly did not mean the cross nearly all Christians today think was the gear of Jesus’ execution. If nothing or no one else, Celsus made sure of that.

Crucifixion the Bodily Support – The Acuta Crux in Patristic Writings (7)

What appears to be a suspension on a Roman execution pole.

Note at this angle the sedile / acuta crux would be discreetly hidden.

The suspended male would be damn lucky to be able put his legs together.

(Part 7g of the series: Crucifixion the Bodily Support)

Part 1          Part 2          Part 3         Part 4

Part 5a        Part 5b        Part 5c        Part 5d

Part 5e        Part 5f        Part 5g         Part 6a

Part 6b        Part 6c        Part 6d        Part 6e

Part 7a        Part 7b        Part 7c        Part 7d

Part 7e        Part 7f

Justin Martyr on the Acuta Crux (Part 6)

Recap:

In the first part previous I’ve shown how Justin Martyr brings up the figure of the σταυρός (staurós) or τρόπαιον (trópaion) and how it related to a flurry of cross and ‘T’ shaped objects, one of which definitely had an attachment that could be relate to the σκόλοψ (skólops) or acuta crux that was attached to the front of the execution pole. In the second part I showed Justin telling Antoninus Pius how the Jews sat Jesus in proper position on what he, Justin, called a βήματος (bêmatos), that is, a judgment seat, although it’s impossible to tell if that seat was also the sedilis excessu of the execution pole that turned it into a Priapus stake. In the third part I noted the peculiarity of Justin's comparison of a person who is undergoing the suspension of the  σταυρός and the roasting of the Passover Lamb: because the Lamb was suspended by its front paws from a horizontal wooden beam, and impaled on a wooden spit from the hindquarters right up to the mouth, as if the acuta crux Jesus was subjected to was a regular impaling stake! In the fourth I showed how early Christians took a verse of overthrowing Jeremiah’s tree and the fruit thereof into a prophecy about how wood was caused to go onto the body of Jesus, or into his body, or both. And in the fifth I showed how Justin’s accusation to the Jewish Trypho that the Jewish religious authorities extirpated the words “from the wood” out of the 96^th Psalm works in favor of the Cross of Jesus Christ having had a short impaling spike meant for the crucified to sit on.

Horns of the Unicorn

Now this is a coup de grâce in favor of what type of σταυρός (staurós) / crux was typically used in the Second Century CE. For Justin Martyr talks of one that is “assembled” out of the “horns” of a “unicorn.”

And God by Moses shows in another way the force of the mystery of the cross, when He said in the blessing wherewith Joseph was blessed, 'From the blessing of the Lord is his land; for the seasons of heaven, and for the dews, and for the deep springs from beneath, and for the seasonable fruits of the sun, and for the coming together of the months, and for the heights of the everlasting mountains, and for the heights of the hills, and for the ever-flowing rivers, and for the fruits of the fatness of the earth; and let the things accepted by Him who appeared in the bush come on the head and crown of Joseph. Let him be glorified among his brethren; his beauty is [like] the firstling of a bullock; his horns the horns of an unicorn: with these shall he push the nations from one end of the earth to another.' (Deuteronomy 33:13-17)

Justin Martyr, Dialogue with Trypho 91 (emphasis mine) ₁

In the cited passage, the Septuagint renders “unicorn” as μονοκέρωτος (monokérôtos) and the Latin Vulgate returns rhinocerotis “of a rhinoceros”. ₂ Ah! Now we are getting somewhere. For Pliny makes mention of a monoceros or unicorn in his treatise on the terrestrial animals of India (NH 8.18.31). He notes that it appeared to have the body of a horse, the feet of an elephant, the tail of a wild boar, and the head of a stag where from the middle of the forehead, rises a single black horn, 2 cubits (3 feet or 90 cm) in length. ₃ Now this description does not come close to the unicorn of Medieval myth, but comes closer to the Indian rhinoceros (rhinoceros unicornis), although apparently through a 4,000 mile long game of Chinese Whispers (Telephone). ₄ So, then, Justin Martyr appears to be dealing with a rhinoceros here.

Rhinoceros unicornis. Credit: Krish Dulal, Wikipedia.

And of course, Justin Martyr uses these examples as figures of the typical Roman execution pole! For he says the horns of the unicorn can be not found anywhere except in the figure of a σταυρός (staurós):

Now, no one could say or prove that the horns of an unicorn represent any other fact or figure than the type which portrays the cross. For the one beam is placed upright, from which the highest extremity is raised up into a horn, when the other beam is fitted on to it, and the ends appear on both sides as horns joined on to the one horn. And the part which is fixed in the centre, on which are suspended those who are crucified, also stands out like a horn; and it also looks like a horn conjoined and fixed with the other horns.

Justin Martyr, Dialogue with Trypho 91 (emphasis mine) _{1, 5}

“And that part which is fixed in the centre” (καί τό ἐν τῷ μέσῳ πηγνύμενον (kaí tó en méso pêgnúmenon)) (1) indicates there was a part of the Roman execution pole which was fixed onto the middle of the apparatus as an attachment.

“On which are suspended those who are crucified” (ἐφ᾽ ᾧ ἐποχοῦνται οἱ σταυρούμενοι (ef’ w epoxountai oi stauroúmenoi) ). (2) It should be noted here that the Greek ἐποχοῦνται and σταυρούμενοι are both in the famous / infamous medium, and this alternative infamous meaning, “on which ‘ride’ those who are ‘crucifying’ themselves” is just as valid as the famous meaning rendered in the New Advent translation quoted above. And the riding was not like riding a horizontal or slightly-upwards turned peg like one rides horse or a bicycle, as Victorian-era scholars thought _{6, 7, 8} and many of those since then think, but ‘riding’ the way a bottom would in same-sex anal intercourse – epigraphy proves it.

Pozzuoli Graffito. This poor bugger was literally riding a thorn!

Notice he says “those who are crucified.” Of course, the Greek verb includes impalement as well (see FdVR post Σταυρόω), so to any non-Christian reader back then, like Trypho, would understand that Justin Marytr sees this sort of crucifixion-impalement as the typical means, or the Roman ‘standard’ of executionary suspension.

It “also stands out like a horn.” (ὡς κέρας καί αὐτό ἐξέχον ἐστιν (ôs kéras kaí autó exéchon estin)) (3) The Greek translates literally as, “and the same is standing out / projecting as a horn.” Well what kind of horn? The horn of the monokeros plinii or rhinoceros unicornis, that’s what. And when one is forced to ‘ride’ one, it is frightful and nasty!

It should be noted here that the New Advent English translation has the above two phrase out-of order: in the Greek and Latin the phrase “and the same is projecting like a horn” precedes “on which are suspended / ‘ride’ those who are crucified / pile-driving themselves.” ₅

“And it also looks like a horn conjoined and fixed with those other horns.” (καί βλέπεται ὡς κέρας καί αὐτό σύν τοῖς ἄλλοις κέρασι συνεσχηματισμένον καί πεπηγμένον (kaí blépetai ôs kéras kaí autó sún tois állois kérasi sunêschematisménon kaí pepêgménon)) (4) Actually, since the participle πεπηγμένον covers the sense of having been assembled and conjoined, as well as fixed, the word συνεσχηματισμένον should refer to its other meaning, to avoid being redundant: “having been altogether, completely formed, fashioned, shaped in accordance with a horn” because that is what the extant epigraphy indicates.

Vivat Crux Graffito, Pompeii, 79 CE.

Note the horn – this is no evidence of Christianity!

Brought out from an on-line image of the Pozzuoli. (See n. 9)

 So the last sentence, which is the critical one to determine what sort of σταυρός (staurós) / crux Justin Martyr assumed Jesus was suspended on and was typically used in the Second Century CE. And properly arranged and translated, the English would read as follows:

And that which is fixed in the middle, and itself is projecting out just as a horn, on which are carried those who are crucified / impaled (or: on which ‘ride’ those who are ‘crucifying’ / pile-driving themselves).  And it even looks like a horn, having been skillfully shaped and conjoined / fixed with those other horns.

And so Justin Martyr understands the typical Roman gear of executionary suspension of the mid Second century CE to be a Priapus stake! And it was called a σταυρός (staurós), a crux, by the Ancients. But when Constantine made Christianity a state religion in 325 CE and abolished the penalty of the Priapus stake in 337 CE, it quickly mutated into a simple two-beam Latin cross, or tropaeum.

Next: Line-by-line breakdown of Justin Martyr’s description of the cross, with three Latin translations!

Greek and Latin Word Definitions.

1.  μονοκέρωτος (monokérôtos) noun singular nominative genitive of μονοκέρως (monokérôs) “with but one horn.” Perseus Greek Word Study Tool, Link.

(1) "and that which is fixed in the centre."

2.     καί (kaí): conjunction, “and, also.” Perseus Greek Word Study Tool, Link.

3.   τό (tó): article singular neuter nominative, “that one.” Perseus Greek Word Study Tool, Link.

4.    ἐν (en): preposition, c. w/ dat, “in, upon, onto.” Perseus Greek Word Study Tool, Link.

5.   τῷ (tw): article singular masculine or neuter dative, “the.” Perseus Greek Word Study Tool, Link.

6.     μέσῳ (mésô): noun singular masculine or neuter dative, “centre, middle, midpoint.” Perseus Greek Word Study Tool, Link.

7.   πηγνύμενον (pêgnúmenon): participle singular present passive masculine nominative, “being fixed, attached.” Perseus Greek Word Study Tool, Link.

(2) "upon which are suspended those who are crucified."

1.     ἐφ᾽ (ep’): preposition, c. w/ dat., “upon, onto.” Perseus Greek Word Study Tool, Link.

2.     ᾧ (w): pronoun singular masculine or neuter dative, “which.” Perseus Greek Word Study Tool, Link.

3.     ἐποχοῦνται (epoxountai): verb third person plural indicative middle, of  ἐποχέομαι (epoxéomai) “be carried, ride,” which appears to be the first person medium-passive counterpart of the active verb ἐποχεύω (epoxeúô) “of the male animal: spring upon, cover, (in the medium) couple with.” Perseus Greek Word Study Tool, ἐποχέομαι, ἐποχεύω; BGI Verb Ending Chart, Link. (Note: medium = middle)

4.     οἱ (oi): pronoun plural masculine nominative, “those.” Perseus Greek Word Study Tool, Link.

5.   σταυρούμενοι (stauroúmenoi): participle plural present middle-passive masculine nominative, “being fenced with pales, pile-driven, impaled, crucified [or actively doing the same to themselves!].” IBG Verb Ending Chart, Link. Perseus Word Study Tool, Link. See also FdVR post Σταυρόω.

(3) "also stands out like a horn."

1.     ὡς (ôs): adverb, “as, according as, like, just as.” Perseus Greek Word Study Tool, Link.

2.  κέρας (kéras): noun singular neuter accusative, “a horn.” Perseus Greek Word Study Tool, Link.

3.   καί (kaí): adverbial conjunction, “also, even.” Perseus Greek Word Study Tool, Link.

4.   αὐτό (autó): pronoun single neuter nominative, “the same, itself.” Perseus Greek Word Study Tool, Link.

5.    ἐξέχον (exéchon): participle singular present active neuter nominative, “standing out, projecting from, being prominent.” Perseus Greek Word Study Tool, Link.

6.   ἐστιν (estin): verb third person singular present indicative active, “is.” Perseus Greek Word Study Tool, Link.

(4) “And it also looks like a horn conjoined and fixed with those other horns.”

1.     καί (kaí): conjunction, “and, also.” Perseus Greek Word Study Tool, Link.

2.     βλέπεται (blépetai): verb third person singular present indicative medium-passive, “looks, appears.” Perseus Greek Word Study Tool, Link.

3.     ὡς (ôs): adverb, “as, according as, like, just as.” Perseus Greek Word Study Tool, Link.

4.  κέρας (kéras): noun singular neuter accusative, “a horn.” Perseus Greek Word Study Tool, Link.

5.     καί (kaí): conjunction, adverb, “and, also, even.”  Perseus Greek Word Study Tool, Link.

6.   αὐτό (autó): pronoun single neuter nominative, “the same, itself.” Perseus Greek Word Study Tool, Link.

7.     σύν (sún): preposition, c. w/ dat., “with, along with, together with.” Perseus Greek Word Study Tool, Link.

8.  τοῖς (tois): article plural neuter dative, “the, those.” Perseus Greek Word Study Tool, Link.

9.    ἄλλοις (állois): adjective plural neuter dative, “other.” Perseus Greek Word Study Tool, Link.

10. κέρασι (kérasi): noun plural neuter dative, “horns.” Perseus Greek Word Study Tool, Link.

11. συνεσχηματισμένον (sunêschematisménon): participle singular perfect middle-passive neuter nominative, “having been given a certain form, formed, fashioned, arranged” + “with, along with, altogether, completely.” From σύν- (sún-) and σχηματίζω (schêmatízô) Perseus Greek Word Study Tool, Link1, Link2, IBG Verb Ending Chart, Link. Compare with conformatum “having been formed, fashioned, shaped symmetrically or skillfully,” used in the Latin translation.

12. καί (kaí): conjunction “and, also.”

13. πεπηγμένον (pepêgménon): participle singular perfect middle-passive neuter nominative, “having been fixed, compacted, planted, fastened together, fitted together, constructed, built.” Perseus Greek Word Study Tool, Link.

Text References and Notes.

1. New Advent.org, Justin Martyr, Dialogue with Trypho 91, Link.

2. New Advent.org, Bible, Deuteronomy 33, Link.

3. Pliny, Historia Naturalis 8.31, “The Terrestrial Animals of India,” portion quoted below, Link. Cf. 18.29, “The Rhinoceros,” Link.

In India et boves solidis ungulis, unicorns… (Orsaei Indi simias candentes toto corpore venantur) – asperrimam autem feram monocerotem, reliquo corpore equo simile, capite cervo, pedibus elephant, cauda apro, mugitu gravi, uno cornu nigro media fronte cubitorum duum eminente. Hanc feram vivant negant capi.

“The Orsaeans hunt down… a very fierce animal called the monoceros, which has the head of a stag, the feet of an elephant, and the tail of a boar, whilst the rest of the body is like that of a horse; it makes a deep lowing noise, and has a single black horn, which projects from the middle of its forehead, two cubits in length. This animal, it is said, cannot be taken alive.”

4. Wikipedia, Indian Rhinoceros. Link.

5. Documenta Catholica Omnia, Justin Martyr, Dialogus cum Tryphone Judaeo 91, PDF p. 111-112, cols. 692, 693 (Greek), cols. 691, 694 (Latin) . Link. The side-by-side Greek and Latin texts of the critical sentences are as follows:

Greek: καί τό ἐν τῷ μέσῳ πηγνύμενον ὡς κέρας καί αὐτό ἐξέχον ἐστιν, ἐφ᾽ ᾧ ἐποχοῦνται οἱ σταυρούμενοι. καί βλέπεται ὡς κέρας καί αὐτό σύν τοῖς ἄλλοις κέρασι συνεσχηματισμένον καί πεπηγμένον.

Transliteration: kaí tó en méso pêgnúmenon ôs kéras kaí autó exéchon estin, ef’ w epoxountai oi stauroúmenoi. kaí blépetai ôs kéras kaí autó sún tois állois kérasi sunêschematisménon kaí pepêgménon.

Latin: Et illud quod in medio figitur, ut ei insideant qui crucifiguntur, ipsum etiam veluti quoddam cornu eminet, et cornu speciem exhibit cum aliis cornibus conformatum et fixum.

6. Smith, William, LLD; Wayte, William, G. E. Marindin, Ed., A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities (1890), “CRUX” (Link):

It was impossible that the whole weight of the body should rest upon the nails; hence there was a piece of wood projecting from the stipes on which the sufferer sat, or rather rode (κέρας ἐφ᾽ ᾦ ἐποχοῦνται οἱ σταυρούμενοι, Just. Mart. Dial. c. Tryph. 91; sedilis excessus, Tertull. adv. Nat. 1.12; cf. Iren. adv. Haer. 1.12). The expression acuta si sedeam cruce, in the famous lines of Maecenas ap. Sen. Ep. 101, probably refers to this support, and not, as Lipsius thought, to impalement (see Archd. Farrar in Dict. of the Bible, s. v. Cross). when it was wanting, the body was probably sustained by ropes….

7. Fulda, Hermann, Das Kreuz und die Kreuzigung, Breslau (1878), p. 151, pgh. [231]:

“4) Das Sedile. [231]  Vielmehr hatte das Kreuz fuer starke Personen und wenn man den Verurtheilten nicht anbinden, sondern annageln wollte, zur Unterstuetzung seiner Last ohngefaehr in der Mitte des Balkens, wie schon gesagt, einen hervorragenden, starken Pflock, auf welchen der dem Gesetz Verfallene vor seiner Anheftung gehoben wurde; daher den die Ausdruecke “auf das Kreuz setzen, oder darauf sitzen” vorkommen, wenn sie nicht an vielen Stellen das Spiessen bezeichnen, was selten zu entscheiden ist.  S. S 15. – Jener Pflock diente dann nicht bloss zur Erleichterung des ganzen Verfahrens, sondern er hinterte auch das allzuschnelle Herabfallen des Leichnams, wenn die Flechsen der Haende anfingen zu verderben, und der Last allein nicht mehr widerstanden; und ueberdiess konnte er noch zu einer schmerzhaften Vermehrung der Quaelereien eingerichtet warden.  S. S 22. – Am wunderlichsten hat sich Lipsius geirrt, das ser aus allen mit grosser Belesenheit herbei gezogenen Stellen, so deutlich sie redden, dennoch jenen oft gebrauchten Sitz nicht merkt.  Er geht dicht um die Sache herum, und quaelt und kreuzigt sich selbst mit Conjecturen. ( S. de Cr. 1, 10)  

My rough translation: 4. The Sedile. [231] Rather the cross had for strong people and if you wanted to nail the condemned not but bind him, but rather to support his weight in the middle of the bar on an excellent, strong peg on which was lifted the one sentenced by law before his fixation;   therefore the expressions "to put on the cross, or to sit on it" if they do not designate the skewers in many places, which is rare to decide.  (See Sect. 15.)  -That stake served not only to facilitate the entire process, but it hindered the all too fast falling of the corpse if the sinews of hands began to tear and alone no longer resisted the weight;  and besides it could be a painful increase in the torments furnished.  (See Sect. 22.)  – most remarkably was Lipsius mistaken, that these out of all points drawn with great erudition, so clearly it reads, nevertheless he does not notice that often required seat.  He beats around the bush [lit.: he is tightly around the thing], and tortures and crucifies himself with conjectures!  (See de Cruce 1.10)

8. Ibid. p. 161, pgh. [248]: Fulda is describing some kind of peg which turned upwards to some degree which had a point at the end or a sharpened ridge so that when the crucified rode the thing, it impaled his genitals or cut his perineum.

Im Fall man den Verurtheilten annagelte, musste er, wie oben gezeigt wurde, auf einem Pfahl in der Mitte des Kreuzes reitend sitzen zu seiner Erleichterung, und um der fuerchterlichen Ausdehnung durch das Gewicht seines Koerpers vorzubeugen (s. S 20.5); auch diese Linderung seiner Leiden konnte man ihm wieder verderben, indem man dem Pflock eine etwas aufwaerts gekehrte Richtung gab, und ihn spitzig zuschnitt, um so mit der Kreuzigung eine Art von Spiessen zu verbinden, und dem allerwaerts Geplagten neue, unsaegliche Pein zu bereiten.

My rough translation: In the case of the nailing of the condemned he had, as was shown above, on a peg in the center of the cross, sitting astride to his relief and to prevent the terrible racking due to the weight of his body (see Subsect. 20.5); even this relief of his suffering could destroy him again, in that one gave the peg a slightly upwards-turned direction, and sharpened it cut him, so as to connect with the crucifixion a kind of impalement and prepare the everywhere-afflicted new, unspeakable pain.

9._. Zaninotto, Gino; Savarino, P., Ed.; and Scannerini, S., Ed.; “The Shroud and Roman Crucifixion: A Historical Review;” The Turin Shroud, past, present and future - International Scientific Symposium (Turin, 2-5 March 2000); Cantalupa: Effatà Editrice (2000); pp. 285-324; Puzzuoli Graffito fig. 5. P. 305, Vivat Crux fig. 6 p. 306. On-line image of the Pozzuoli kindly provided by Antonio Lombatti.