Crucifixion in Antiquity

Gunnar Samuelsson investigates the philological aspects of how ancient Greek, Latin and Hebrew/Aramaic texts depict crucifixions. A survey of the texts shows that there has been too narrow a view of the "crucifixion" terminology. The various terms do not only refer to "crucify" and "cross." They are used much more diversely. Hence, most of the crucifixion accounts that scholars cite in the ancient literature have to be rejected, leaving only a few. "Gunnar Samuelsson has a rare distinction, for his work received attention, perhaps even notoriety, prior to its publication. Apart from the reports on subject specific blogs, the content of this thesis was being communicated through global media outlets such as CNN and Pravda. [...] The breadth of primary data assembled will be of great benefit to subsequent generations of scholars." Paul Foster in The Expository Times 123 (3) 2011, 122-124