How were the punishments in ancient times, before they had corrections?

Answer 1

Crucifiction
Stoning
Beheading
Hanging
Ex-Communication
Burning at the stake
Beating to death

Answer 2

One of the nice things about the Bible is, that while it is not a history book, there is so much history in it. Jails and prisons were uncommon in many, but not all, of the ancient world. In the Bible, we first see jails in the context of Egypt. Much of the laws described in the four of the five books of Moses involved paying restitution or death. That is where we get the "eye for an eye" mentality--you did something to hurt someone else, then they or their family would have the right to inflict the same or similar punishing pain on you. Then too, if you killed someone, you were killed (but in the Bible there were cities of refuge, where in the case of an accidental death a person could be judged by the city judges and protected from the avengers from the family of the person you accidentally killed). The Bible's description changes a bit over time. Moses wasn't just giving a God's eye view of how He wanted things, but a culturally understandable (for the times), yet distinctly uniform way of administering it. The issue was uniformity, a well-defined set of lines for all to follow, not just the whims of the top boss. That was the truly unique part.

Another punishment was paying restitution, sometimes an extra punitive amount. If I stole something from you, I would be expected to pay double, or triple, or more in return. We still do that, which is why a woman can spill coffee in her lap and a judge tell the restaurant to make her a millionaire for her pain and suffering.

Still another punishment was slavery. Some slaves were born slaves because one or both parents were slaves, but at some point people were enslaved because of one of three major reasons: (1) they were captured in a war, (2) they were being punished for a crime, (3) they are working off a debt (which was actually related to number 2 in many places). Of course, kings and such rulers could enslave people simply for slighting or offending them, which was a crime too.

Even the most calloused of ancient rulers recognized that not every offense was worthy of an "off with his head!" exclamation. Enslaved people could still be valuable. In ancient Rome, one of the most feared punishments by Romans (Romans rarely crucified Romans, it was too heinous of a punishment to inflict upon their own folk) was to be sentenced en metallica--the lead mines. Over half those assigned to such did not survive the first initiating day. You were given a one-size tunic of two rectangular pieces of cloth that you tied the top two corners at the shoulders. You were fastened in a one-size length of chain around the waist (if you were fat, that was too bad, they fit it on you even if it killed you). If you were young (the sentence was 15 years, so a very few folks did actually survive it), you were castrated (only men were sent there, female criminals were at least useful for un-castrated men, so they went elsewhere). The guards were usually from the barbarian peoples at the fringes of the empire, chosen for their strength and meanness and their desire to beat up Romans. If they ordered you to do something and you didn't understand their language, you would work hard to guess the meaning so the beatings would stop for a while. If you died, they would simply push your body into the sewer pit in the middle of the work site. If it was hot, tough. If it was rainy, tough. If it was cold, tough. That was all you got, a chain, a single tunic, and a daily piece of bread and cup of water. If you died, no one mourned you, but your fellow prisoners probably envied you.

So, if you were an ancient Roman and were thinking of doing a crime that wasn't worthy of the death penalty but was more than you could afford to pay your way out of, you simply had to remember the stories of being en metallica and you would straighten out your ways.

Answer 3

Here is one no one mentioned. Public humiliaton. Ever heard of the scarlet letter. If a person commitied adultry you would have to wear a big letter A all the time showing everyone what you had done. Also hanging, strung up and left to die from starvation or the elements. Buried in sand with only your head above, in the middle of nowhere. Your only chance is if someone came along and wanted to let you out. Put in a hanging cage like in the movie Willow. It was not uncommom to be tarred. Some times you were just sent to prison camps and forced to work. Some places you were killed and sacrificed to the gods. Or fed to King Kong! =)

Answer 4

By ancient times, I assume you mean way, way back.
Death was by and large the accepted punishment for just about everything. The only difference was the method. If it was minor, death was pretty much instantaneous, but if it was a major crime, such as insulting the authority (King, etc) death was both a spectacle and prolonged.
Jail time was not as pleasant as now either. The dungeon was the jail back then, and there were no civil rights.

Answer 5

Yes, they have always had punishment, Thu the years only the severity and method has changed. in some cases. stoning was an accepted type of capital punishment in olden times.

Answer 6

How ancient? 500 years ago, 1000, 3000, 10,000? And where? Europe, Africa, Asia, Americas?

Answer 7

In Ancient times - If you were caught stealing they cut your hands off. Women who were caught committing adultry were stoned to death. It was very harsh