why did the romans crucify their crimanals and enemies?

Answer 1

The same reason some civilisation used hanging or the electric chair - to kill them and be rid of them.

Answer 2

Apart from the obvious, it was used to make an example and also to create maximum humiliation/degradation (although you never saw it in the films, a lot of them were crucified naked).
Interesting if somewhat macabre fact is that the REALLY bad ones were nailed with hands and feet whereas a more 'humane' method was hands only because the weight of the body hanging (rather than being supported by the feet)would put continues pressure on the lungs and over the course of a few hours would kill you by asphyxiation. Hands and feet criminals would take days to die.
Relatives would bribe their guards to either smash their knees with a hammer or hamstring them so they would not be able to support themselves and, same as hands only, would die a lot quicker. That was the only mercy the family could offer.

Answer 3

Crucifixion was regarded by the Romans as a punishment fit only for slaves and criminals. It sometimes took days to die of exposure and thirst so it was considered a mercy to break the 'victim's' legs or stab/lance/spear them (as Jesus was) to speed up the process. Crucifixion was used as a powerful visual deterrent (to rebels-slave or free and criminals). Remember that the Romans had invaded and colonised large territories and needed to keep the locals under control.

Answer 4

Well, it was a slow, agonizing way to die. And after you died, you were left there to rot & remind what happens when you tick off the Romans.

But it was one of many choices in the Roman execution arsenal.

So they didn't do it to all; it was mostly reserved for the worst of the worst. Those who REALLY pissed off the Romans. Sparticus' defeated slave army was crucified along the via Appia

Answer 5

As a deterrent to would-be criminals , some prisoners of war and any would-be rebels.Left by the roadside to rot, it was a gruesome sight if a mass Crucifixion had taken place, some lines on either side of the road leading to a major town running non-stop for miles.

Answer 6

Just to note, the Romans did not invent crucifixion but "borrowed" it from the Persians. Crucifixion began as impaling; when the Old Testament refers to 'hanging' in the book of Esther and other places it's refering to impaling rather than a noose.

Answer 7

Slow, painful death by exposure (the vast majority of the time their injuries consisted only of the nails through the wrist) and a public example of the wrath and might of the Roman Empire.

Answer 8

Well if you saw i person who'd been crucified dying a slow and painfull death would it not make you think about commiting a crime.

It was generally used against enemies of Rome as a deterant a ' See what happens if you f**k with us' sort of thing.

Answer 9

As a warning to others not to do the same, they were always left hanging untill they rotted

Answer 10

It was the accepted form of judicial capital punishment