The Context of Crucifixion

On The Jesus Dynasty blog, James Tabor has posted a nice summary of the Jewish historian Josephus' references to crucifixion. Although crucifixion is naturally a focal point of Christian history, theology, and worship, many believers are largely unaware of the broader history and context of the practice. These passages from Josephus (and also Martin Hengel's brief summary of crucifixion) help to fill that gap.

On a supplemental note, it is interesting that one of the passages listed by Tabor (Antiquities 18.65, 78-80) includes one of the very few (if not the only) recorded crucifixions of a woman: the freedwoman Ide, who devised the twisted plot by which Mundus seduced the virtuous Paulina.