ity, the Jews expressed to the Roman
authorities[3] their desire that this holy day should not be profaned
by such a spectacle.[4] Their request was granted; orders were given
to hasten the death of the three condemned ones, and to remove them
from the cross. The soldiers executed this order by applying to the
two thieves a second punishment much more speedy than that of the
cross, the _crurifragium_, or breaking of the legs,[5] the usual
punishment of slaves and of prisoners of war. As to Jesus, they found
him dead, and did not think it necessary to break his legs. But one of
them, to remove all doubt as to the real death of the third victim,
and to complete it, if any breath remained in him, pierced his side
with a spear. They thought they saw water and blood flow, which was
regarded as a sign of the cessation of life.

[Footnote 1: Matt. xxvii. 46; Mark xv. 37; Luke xxiii. 44. Comp. John
xix. 14.]

[Footnote 2: _Deut._ xxi. 22, 23; Josh. viii. 29, x. 26, and
following. Cf. Jos., _B.J._, IV. v. 2; Mishnah, _Sanhedrim_, vi. 5.]

[Footnote 3: John says, "To Pilate"; but that cannot be, for Mark (xv.
44, 45) states that at night Pilate was still ignorant of the death of
Jesus.]

[Footnote 4: Compare Philo, _In Flaccum_, Sec. 10.]

[Footnote 5: There is no other example of the _crurifragium_ applied
after crucifixion. But often, in order to shorten the tortures of the
sufferer, a finishing stroke was given him. See the passage from
Ibn-Hischam, translated in the _Zeitschrift fuer die Kunde des
Morgenlandes_, i. p. 99, 100.]

John, who professes to have seen it,[1] insists strongly on this
circumstance. It is evident, in fact, that doubts arose as to the
reality of the death of Jesus. A few hours of suspension on the cross
appeared to persons accustomed to see crucifixions entirely
insufficient to lead to such a result. They cited many instances of
persons crucified, who, removed in time, had been brought to life
again by powerful remedies.[2] Origen afterward thought it needful to
invoke miracle in order to explain so sudden an end.[3] The same
astonishment is found in the narrative of Mark.[4] To speak truly, the
best guarantee that the historian possesses upon a point of this
nature is the suspicious hatred of the enemies of Jesus. It is
doubtful whether the Jews were at that time preoccupied with the fear
that Jesus might pass for resuscitated; but, in any case, they must
have made sure that he was really dead.