(3) Beating to Death. Beating to death was a Greek punishment for slaves. It was inflicted on a wooden frame, which probably derived its name front resembling a drum or timbre] in form, on which the criminal was bound and beaten to death (2 Mace. vi :19, 28; comp. v :3o).
(4) Fighting with Wild Beasts. Fighting with wild beasts was a Roman punishment, to which criminals and captives in war were some times condemned (Adam, Roman Antiq., p. 344; 2 Tim. 1V :17 ; comp. a Cor. xv:32).
(5) Drowning. Drowning with a heavy weight around the neck was a Syrian, Greek, and Roman punishment.
(6) The Lion's Den, etc. The lion's den was a Babylonian punishment (Dan. vi), and is still customary in Fez and Morocco (see accounts of, by Hoest. c. p. 77). Bruising and pounding to death in a mortar is alluded to in Prov. xxvii: 22. For crucifixion, see the article CRUCIFIXION.
4. Posthumous Insults. Posthumous insults offered to the dead bodies of criminals, though common in other nations, were very sparingly al lowed by Moses. He permitted only hanging on a tree or gibbet ; but the exposure was limitea to a day, and burial of the body at night was com manded (Dent. xxi:22, 23). Such persons were esteemed 'cursed of God' (comp. Josh. viii:29; x:26; 2 Sam. iv:12)—a law which the later Jews extended to crucifixion (John xix:31, etc.; Gal. iii :13). Hanging alive may have been a Canaan itish punishment, since it was practiced by the Gibeonites on the sons of Saul (2 Sam. xxi:9). • Another posthumous insult in later times con sisted in heaping stones on the body or grave of the executed criminal (Josh. vii:25, 26). To 'make heaps' of houses dr cities is a phrase de noting complete and ignominious destruction (Is. xxv :2 ; Jer. ix :1 ). Burning the dead body seems to have been a very ancient posthumous insult: it was denounced by Judah against his daughter in-law, Tamar, when informed that she was with child (Gen. xxxviii:24). Selden thinks that this means merely branding on the forehead (De Lure N. et G., vii, 5). Moses retained this ancient ig nominy for two offenses only, which from the na ture of things must have been comparatively rare, viz., for bigamy with a mother and her daughter (Lev. xx :4), and for the case of a priest's daugh ter who committed whoredom (xxi:9). Though 'burning' only he specified in these cases, it may be safely inferred that the previous death of the criminals, probably by lapidation, is to be under stood (comp. Josh. vii :25). Among the heathen this merciful preliminary was not always observed, as for instance in the case of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego (Dan. iii).
5. Minor Corporal Punishments. Among the minor corporal punishments ordered by Moses was scourging; or the infliction of blows on the back of an offender with a rod. It was limited by him to forty stripes, a number which the Jews in later times were so careful not to exceed, that they inflicted but thirty-nine (2 Cor. xi:24). It was to be inflicted on the offender lying on the ground, in the presence of a judge (Lev. xix :20 ; Deut. xxii:18; xxv :2, 3). We have abundant evidence that it was an ancient Egyptian punish ment. Among the Persians such punishments were too terrible for description : for instance two hundred stripes were awarded if the mother of a very young child drank water. Four hundred stripes were the penalty if one covered with a cloth a dead man's feet, and eight hundred if he covered the whole body.
The penalty for killing a puppy was five hun dred stripes, for killing a stray dog, six hundred stripes, for killing a shepherd's dog, eight hun dred stripes, and much more than this for killing a water-dog.
In the old German law two hundred stripes were the limit, and under the Mosaic law the number could never exceed forty. Sa. Bks. of the East, vol. iv, p. 99. Int.) Corporal punishment of this kind was allowed by Moses, by masters to servants or slaves of both sexes (Exod. xxi:20). Scourging was common in after times among the Jews, who associated with it no disgrace or inconvenience beyond the physical pain it occasioned, and from which no station was exempt (Prov. xvii:26; comp. x:13; Jer. xxxvii:15-20). Hence it became the symbol for correction in general (Ps. lxxxix :32). Solo mon is a zealous advocate for its use in education (Prov. xiii:24; xxiii:i3, 14; comp. Ecclus. xxx: i). In his opinion 'the blueness of a wound cleanseth away evil, and stripes the inward parts of the belly' (Prov. xx :30). It was inflicted for ecclesiastical offenses in the synagogue (Matt. x: 17; Acts xxvi:t1). The Mosaic law, however, respecting it, affords a pleasing contrast to the extreme and unlimited scourging known among the Romans, but which, according to the Porcian law, could not be inflicted upon a Roman citizen (Cicero, Pro Rabirio, 3; ad Famil. x, 32; in Ver rem, V, 53; comp. Acts xvi :22-37; xxii :25). Ref erence to the scourge with scorpions, 1. e. a whip or scourge armed with knots or thorns, occurs in Kings xii :I I.