CROSS
518
CROSS
arch. Napolit.", Ser. 2, II, 178-179), and in the treas-
ury of Orehomenus. It seems to have been unknown
in Assyria, in Phoenicia, and in Egypt. In the West it
is most frequently found in Etruria. It appears on a
cinerary urn of Chiusi, and on the fibula found in the
famous Etruscan tomb at Cere (Grifi, Mon. di Cere,
PI. VI, no. 1). There are many such emblems on the
urns found at Capanna di Cometo, Bolsena, and Vetu-
lonia; also in a Samnite tomb at Capua, where it ap-
pears in the centre of the tunic of the person there de-
picted (Minervini, Bull. arch. Napolit., ser. 2, PI.
II, 178-179). This sign is also found in Pompeian
mosaics, on Italo-Grecian vases, on coins of Syracuse
in Sicily (Raoul-Rochette, "M^m. de I'acad. des
inscr." PI. XVI, pt. II, 302 sqq.; Minervini, "Bull,
arch. Nap.", ser. 2, PI. II, p. 178-179); finally, among
the ancient Germans, on a rock-carving in Sweden, on
a few Celtic stones in Scotland, and on a Celtic stone
discovered in the County of Norfolk, England, and now
in the British Museum. The swastika appears in an
epitaph on a pagan tombstone of Tebessa in Roman
Africa (Annuaire de la Society de Constantine, 1858-
59, 205, 87), on a mosaic of the tgmspicium (Ennio
Quirino Visconti, Opera varie, ed. Milan, I, 141,
sqq.), and in a Greek votive inscription at Porto. In
this last mommient the swastika is imperfect in form,
and resembles a Phoenician letter. We shall explain
below the value and symbolical meaning of this crux
gammata when found on Christian monuments. But
the swastika is not the only sign of this kind known to
antiquity. Cruciform objects have been found in As-
syria. The statues of Kings Asumazirpal and San-
sirauman, now in the British Museum, have cruciform
jewels about the neck (Layard, Monuments of Nine-
veh, II, pi. IV). Cruciform earrings were found by
Father Delattre in Punic tombs at Carthage.
Another symbol which has been connected with the cross is the ansated cross (crux ansata) of the an- cient Egj-ptians Jf. wrongly called the "ansated key of the Nile". \ It often appears as a symbolic sign in the hands of the goddess Sekhet. From the earliest times also it appears among the hieroglyphic signs symbolic of life or of the living, and was trans- literated into Greek as 'Awr; (Ansa). But the meaning of this sign is very obscure (De Morgan, Recherches sur les origines de I'Egypte, 1896-98); perhaps it was originally, like the swastika, an astro- nomical sign. The ansated cross is found on many and various monuments of Egypt (Prisse d'Avennes, L'art Egyptian, 404). In later times the Egj'ptian Christians (Copts), attracted by its form, and perhaps by its symbolism, adopted it as the emblem of the cross (Gayet, "Les monuments coptes du Mus^e de Boulaq" in "Memoires de la mission fran^aise du Caire", VIII, fasc. Ill, 1889, p. 18, pi. XXXI-XXXII and LXX-LXXI). (For further information regarding the resemblance between the cross and the oldest sym- bolic signs see G. de Mortillet, "Le signe de la croix avant le christianisme", Paris, 1866; Letronne, "La croix ans^e ^gyptienne" in "Memoires de I'academie des inscriptions", XVI, pt. II, 1846,p. 236-84; L. Miil- ler, "Ueber Sterne, Kreuze und ICranze als religiose Symbole der alten Kulturvolker", Copenhagen, 186.5; W. W. Blake, "The Cross, Ancient and Modern", New York, 1888; Ansault, "M^-moire .sur le culte de la croix avant J6sus-Christ ", Paris, 1891.) We may add that some have claimed to find the cross on Grecian monuments in the letter X (chi), which, some- times in conjunction with P (rho), represented on coins the initial letters of the Greek word xp"""^", "gold", or other words indicative of the value of the coin, or the name of the coiner (Madden, "History of Jewish Coinage", London, 1864, 83-87; Eckhel, "Doctrina nummorum", VIII, 89; F. X. Kraus, " Real-Encyklopadiederchristlichen Alterthiimer", II, 224-225). We shall return, later on, to these letters.
In the bronze age we meet in different parts of
Europe a more accurate representation of the cross,
as conceived in Christian art, and in this shape it was
soon widely diffused. This more precise characteriza-
tion coincides with a corresponding general change in
customs and beliefs. The cross is now met with, in
various forms, on many objects: fibulas, cinctures,
earthenware fragments, and on the bottom of drinking
vessels. De Mortillet is of opinion that such use of
the sign was not merely ornamental, but rather a sym-
bol of consecration, especially in the case of objects
pertaining to burial. In the proto-Etniscan cemetery
of Golasccca every tomb has a vase with a cross en-
graved on it. True crosses of more or less artistic
design have been found in TirjTis, at Mycenae, in
Crete, and on a fibula from Vulci. These pre-Chris-
tian figures of the crass have misled many writers to
see in them tTiT^es and symbols of the manner in
which Jesus Christ wa.s to expiate our sins. Such
inferences are unwarranted, being contrary to tlie
just rules of criticism and to the exact interpretation
of ancient monimients.
(2) The Cross as an Instrument of Punishment in the Ancient World. — The crucifixion of Uving persons I was not practised among the Hebrews; capital pun- ishment among them consisted in being stoned to j death, e. g. the protomartyr Stephen (Acts, vii, 57, ' 58). But when Palestine became Roman territory the cross was introduced as a form of punishment, more particularly for those who could not prove their Roman citizenship; later on it was reserved for thieves and malefactors (Josephus, Antiq., XX, vi, 2; Bell. Jud., II, xii, 6; XIV, 9; V, xi, 1). Though not infrequent in the East, it was but rarely that the Greeks made use of it. It is mentioned by Demos- thenes (c. Mid.) and by Plato (Rep., II, 5; also Gorgias). The stake and the gibbet were more com- mon, the criminal being suspended on them or bound to them, but not nailed. Certain Greeks who had befriended the Carthaginians were crucified near Motya by order of Dionysius of Syracuse (Diodor. Sic, XIV, 53). Both in "Greece and in the East the cross was a customary punishment of brigands ( Her- mann, Grundsatze imd Anwendung des Straf- rechts, Gottingen, 1885, S3). It was at Rome, how- ever, that from early republican times the cross was most frequently iised as an instrument of punishment, and amid circumstances of great severity and even cruelty. It was particularly the punishment for slaves found guilty of any serious crime. Hence in two places (Pro Cluent., 66; I Philipp., ii), Cicero calls it simply "servile supplicium" — the punishment of slaves — more explicitly (In Verr., 66), "servi- tutis extremum summumque supplicium" — the final and most terrible punishment of slaves. Htischke, however (Die Multa), does not admit that it was originally a servile pimishment. It was inflicted also, as Cicero tells us (XIII Phil., xii; Verr., V, xxvii), on ^ pro\'incials con\icted of brigandage. It is certain, >*< however, that it was absolutely forbidden to inflict ■ this degrading and infamous punishment on a Roman "f citizen (Cic, Verr. Act., I, 5; II, 3, 5; III, 2, 24, 26 Jl IV, 10 sqq.; V, 28, 52, 61, 66); moreover, an illegal mo application of this punishment would have constituted * 'i a violation of the leges sacratcc. Concerning a slave W the master might act in one of two ways; he mighl te condemn the slave arbitrarily (Horace, Sat. iii "H Juvenal, Sat. vi, 219), or he might turn him over t< tJi the triumvir capitalis, a magistrate whose duty it wal >»is] to look after capital puni.'ihment. ""si
The legal imnumity of the Roman citizen was some ^ft; what mollified when the poorer citizens (httmiliores %". were declared s\ibject to the punishment of the cros fepn (Paul., "Sent.", V, x.xii, 1 ; Sueton., "Galba", ix; Quin »L" til., VIII, iv"). The puni.shment of the cross was regu ifft larly inflicted forsuch grave crimes as highway robbei^ Hke and piracy (Petron., Ixxii; Flor., Ill, xix), for publi Rlu accusation of his master by a slave (detatio Jomini/lmt!
