There are two great empires in the history of Man that stand out as the two most successful Empires of all, the Roman Empire of antiquity and the British Empire of modern times. Most historians that I am familiar with say that the British were so successful in building an Empire because they brought British law with them and established about as much justice as one can, while subjugating a people. The Roman Empire worked because the Romans allowed an unusual amount of local autonomy, as we see clearly in the Gospels, and the New Testament writings in general. A provincial outpost such as Judea would have local governance within certain limits, as long as there was no overt rebellion against the Romans. If there was open opposition to the Romans, then their response would be swift, violent and brutal, as those in Judea would discover about 40 years later.
Individuals who didn’t follow the Roman rules were also dealt with merciless brutality, and that is where crucifixion came into play. Let’s be honest, crucifixion was not a very efficient method of execution; if the victim wasn’t roughed up too badly beforehand, it would take days for them to die, and that meant that guards would need to be posted for days to ensure that the victim wasn’t saved. The reason is that there is nothing inherently fatal about being nailed to a cross. By having the victim suffering in agony for days on public display served as a warning to all others not to cross the line.
But wait that’s not all! After the person finally died, their body would be le
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