This explanation he accompanied by the appearance of a four-dimensional image directly in the space in front of the pulpit of the object being described – the very whip.
– The Romans had no legal limit on the number of blows to be inflicted, but the Jews in this case adopted a more humane law: no more than forty blows could be inflicted. In order to keep this rule, i.e. not to violate it, the Pharisees who were watching the scourging, fearing to break the law (everything was reduced to religious dogma) if by chance they made a mistake in counting, limited the number of blows to thirty-nine. The Romans, however, did not adhere to the exact count, so they beat the Jews as much as they thought necessary. I apologize for my tolerance, if it is absent.
This statement puzzled the listeners, but the meaning was clear: Rangit did not mean the absence, but the presence of such tolerance.
– Carrying the cross on his shoulders to the place of execution was not a special punishment for Christ, – having said this, he pointed his finger at himself and… smiled, which was obviously out of place, but the above-mentioned "tolerance" left no mystery in understanding the manners of the demonstrated artificial intelligence.
Rather, it was a clue as to how and why he passed the Turing test, because a non-artificial intelligence, i.e. a human being, could have spoken out and shown manners more inoffensive. So these were semantic reflections of inner emotions: he realized that his image expressed more satire than the taboo of satire towards the person in whom he appeared.
– Before this humiliating procedure, the condemned person was subjected to another excision, which was also the lot of all convicts: the criminal was scourged completely undressed – I spoke above about the number of blows – after the condemned person was dressed again and… then what we call "the way of the cross". Please forgive me if you find anything sarcastic in my manner of presentation. No, not at all. Although, I confess, I do not understand yet… – he made a gesture – he waved his open palm into the hall – yet, I emphasize, the high matter of human spirituality. It is in the part of logic. For me, or rather, for my logic it is strange, why people do not grieve much about thousands of executed before Christ and thousands after by this method – if I go into details of victims for faith, the count will go to millions – people do not grieve much.
As if Jesus had fallen silent, gazing intently at the audience.
– There were resurrected ones, too," he added, watching the reaction of his listeners, turning his head slightly toward Ruthra. – What am I trying to say? Basically, I'm only expressing my reasoning, and the rest is partially known to everyone. So I will continue with a clever expression on my face," he smiled at the audience after what he had said, which caused some of the listeners to smile back. – The cross consisted of two main parts – a horizontal beam (patibulum) and a vertical part (staticulum). The condemned carried only this crossbar. And that – not everyone could carry it, not that the whole cross, which actually in the assembly was never and. I remind the rule of the number of blows in scourging, that is the absence of this rule in the Romans. Plus they mocked it…sorry again, made fun of it. If the word "mocked" is acceptable to you, then I'll put it this way…" Rangit hesitated a little, "in general, it's not so important. The fact is… at least until we in the mission check," he stopped talking again, looking around the audience, "yes, yes, I'll apologize again… and a hundred more times, but I won't stop doubting. So, having undergone a cruel scourging, Christ, of course, could not carry the cross, that is, this crossbar, so… with your permission – I will quote the Holy Scripture: "And when they led Him away, they seized a certain Simon of Cyrene, who was coming from the field, and laid the cross on him, that he should carry it after Jesus" (Luke 23:26). After the cross or its parts were fastened on the back of Christ, he, as well as everyone in principle, was accompanied on the way to the place of execution by an armed guard of Roman soldiers under the command of a centurion. One of the legionaries walked in front and carried a tablet (titulus) on which was written the name of the condemned and his crime. This was the usual rule. From the very beginning of the execution procedure, and scourging was part of this program, the condemned man was under constant surveillance by the guards.
Rangit took pause again, shaking his head meaningfully, he said:
– Believe me, there were reasons for that.
This caused a smile with a touch of sarcasm, because he claimed it as if he himself was a real witness of the events described. However, the audience liked his character and nodded in response.
– So, the guards kept a close watch on the condemned and his attendants, sometimes many not only relatives but also idle gawkers gathered. The guards were present until they were fully convinced that the condemned had died.
Rangit paced the room again, head bowed slightly, looking thoughtful. He glanced once more at Ruthra, as if he had received tacit approval, and continued:
– A little about the cross itself. The Romans used different kinds of crosses for crucifixion. T-shaped, X-shaped, and the traditional Catholic crucifix. Or rather, the shape of the cross, which was taken as a basis for Catholicism. This type of cross is most accurate as the version on which Jesus was crucified according to the tradition of Matthew. He writes the following: "And they put an inscription over His head, signifying His guilt, 'This is Jesus, King of the Jews'" (Matthew 27:37). Here the evangelist speaks of the tablet on which the Savior's accusation was written. But it is quite obvious that in order to place such a plaque over the head of Christ, it is necessary that the main vertical column should have a continuation above, above the cross bar, i.e. it is necessary that the cross should be four-pointed, and not three-pointed tied (in the form of the letter T), and also not knocked down (in the form of the letter X). After arriving at the place of crucifixion, the condemned man was stripped naked and his clothes were given to the soldiers guarding the cross. In Judea, however, going along with the religious conviction of the Jews (Gen. 9:22-23; Lev. 18:6-19; 20:17; Hos. 2:3), the Romans left the condemned with a loincloth (Mishnah. Sanhedrin. 6:3; Tosefta. Sanhedrin. 9:6). The condemned person was then placed on the cross. The fixation of the body of the crucified person could be done in different ways. The legs of the crucified person were bent at the knees and nailed to the statikulum or fixed with ropes. The condemned could also be crucified on crosses already dug into the ground. The soldiers used ropes to lift the body of the condemned, and those who remained below helped them. When the crucified man was raised to the proper height, he was tied by his hands to the patibulum with ropes, and then two iron nails were placed on his wrists, which were driven into the wood with a hammer. The soldiers standing below at this time tied or nailed the feet of the condemned man to the statikulum. For this purpose they either folded them in such a way that one foot covered the other, and then one nail was driven through both feet at once, or each foot was nailed separately. Whether the feet of Jesus Christ were nailed with one or two nails is not known. Some Fathers of the Christian Church (St. Gregory Nazianzin, Egyptian Bishop Nonnus) pointed to one nail, while others (St. Gregory of Tours, Cyprian) speak of four nails – two for the hands and two for the feet. The iconography of the Orthodox Church adopted the second tradition, while the Roman Catholic Church adopted the first. Different devices were used to keep the crucified person on the cross. Sometimes a small ledge–or scoot–was used, which was placed between the condemned man's legs. To increase the suffering of the executed person, the ledge was sometimes made pointed. Traditional Christian iconography and painting depict the crucified