The Brazen Bull - The worst punishment ever created

Hello and welcome to an article on the worst punishment in the history of humanity. While other forms of torture include – claws that rip flesh or cudgels that smash bones – this particular instrument of horrifyingly inhumane torture was cooked up by some very creative Folks.

It would be inconceivable to endure this treatment, but hey, I'm not going to claim it's any worse than having your guts nibbled on by starving rats, so it wouldn't be worse than just about any other sort of torture.

However, this punishment was also slow, making hanging or head-chopping look extremely lenient in comparison. The Greeks were the ones who first developed this method of execution. It went by a number of names and was also referred to as the bronze bull and the Sicilian bull. But how do we even have any knowledge of it? One explanation is that it was discussed in a publication known as the "Bibliotheca historica," which is Latin for "Historical Library." It is made up of numerous works authored by the Greek historian Diodorus Siculus. In these books you’ll find his version of the history of the world, from what went down in ancient Egypt to the leader Alexander the Great. Quite a lot of it is still intact, but some parts from the series are missing or in fragments.

In one of those books Mr. Siculus wrote about the brazen bull and this is what he said. The guy who invented it was an inventor by trade and he was named Perillos of Athens. It’s said before he built this thing, somewhere between 570 and 554 BC, he actually pitched the idea. He was what you might call a creative technologist of the past looking for some funding. He got that funding from a man named Phalaris, the tyrant of Acragas. Given his frightening title you won’t be surprised to hear that this man was said to be rather cruel. In some accounts of his life it’s written that he enjoyed torture and even went as low as to eat children. We should say that the Encyclopedia Britannica cites research that says he wasn’t as cruel as some people have written.

Whatever the case, it seems he commissioned the building of the brazen bull.

So, how did one perish in the brazen bull? It was undoubtedly a creation of an imaginatively inventive but cruel mind. It was claimed to be the same size as a bull, but made of bronze, with a doorway through which a man could pass. Then a fire was built underneath the bull, roasting the man to death. What's more, it was designed such that when the guy shrieked in pain, his screams would come through pipes inside the bull that had been intentionally twisted, giving the appearance of an animal in misery to onlookers. For someone like the tyrant of Acragas, this may have been the most enjoyable part. Through holes in the bull’s nose, the smoke would escape. But, the nose was full of incense to mask the putrid smell of the burning bodies. The remaining bones would then be turned to bracelets, as the story goes.

When the idea was pitched by Perillos it’s said he said this to the tyrant Phalaris, “The occupant will shriek and roar in unremitting agony; and his cries will come to you through the pipes as the tenderest, most pathetic, most melodious of bellowings. Your victim will be punished, and you will enjoy the music.” When the bull was finished, Phalaris told the inventor to get inside the thing to test out the sound, but some sources say he lit the fire and the inventor died there. Others say he pulled him out but then killed him by pushing him over a cliff. It seems for all his hard work Perrillos was killed, but perhaps not because Phalaris didn’t want to pay.

Even though Phalaris is said to have been keen on cruelty, it’s written that he said this to Perrilos after hearing about the execution method, “His words revolted me. I loathed the thought of such ingenious cruelty, and resolved to punish the artificer in kind. I said to him, ‘If your art can really produce this effect, get inside yourself, and pretend to roar; and we will see whether the pipes will make such music as you describe’.” By the way, it’s written that on his downfall Phalaris was also killed inside the bull.

So that's the inventor and commissioner both killed at their own hands in a way. Word of the brazen bull was passed down and histories were written and they link the device with these two men, the inventor and the tyrant. But the history of the bull doesn’t stop there…

The Romans it’s said had a taste for the brazen bull, they wouldnt have many scruples about roasting a man to death and enjoying his screams.

We might look at the story of a man named Saint Eustace. It’s said he became a martyr after being killed in the second century. The Romans were punishing many Christians before they themselves converted to Christianity under the emperor Constantine, but that was in the fourth century AD. Before that a lot of Christian blood was spilled, and it seems a few Christians also got cooked to death inside a bronze animal.

Saint Eustace was said to have been one of them. Before he converted to Christianity he had served under a Roman emperor, but he saw the

light so to speak when he had a vision one day which involved a stag and a crucifix. Christians might tell you that this man then lost everything, which was one of those tests of God. He lost his cash; his servants and his wife and kids were taken away from him by of all

things a lion and a wolf. Yet his faith remained strong throughout.

There are a few different stories as to what happened to this man, but some people will tell you he got his wealth back as well as his family, but in the end he, his wife and his children were all roasted to death in the brazen bull on the orders of emperor Hadrian. I looked at some Christian sources and they seem to back that up, although they don’t

all say his family got the treatment, too. I also found this piece of Christian history, written in the 1800s. It seems to suggest that when Eustace and his family got roasted they died, but some

miracles did happen. This is from that text: “The holy martyrs, by Divine power, remained alive for three days, praising and blessing the great Giver of life and death. At last, when their voices ceased, the bull was opened, and all four were found without life, but also without any injury to their bodies or garments.”

It is recorded that other Christians from this era, including a man by the name of St. Attipas, followed a similar path. He is described as having been "dragged to the temple of Artemis, where they hurled him into a burning, red-hot copper or brazen metal bull where they customarily put their offerings to the idols to drive demons out of their own people in a fit of wrath. He fervently pleaded with God to save his soul, increase the Christians' faith, and pardon those who were causing him this suffering. Then he left quietly, as if he had dozed off. It's important to note that some individuals don't trust these tales and view them more as legends than truth.

It’s not for us to say what is true or not, but most serious historians will at least tell you that the stories from the bull’s surprising beginnings in Greece to Christian

martyrs not feeling any pain while being roasted are hard to verify.

What is very much true is that stories of the brazen bull have been passed down through the ages and those manuscripts can still be read today. By the way, while you might see a brazen bull in a museum in the world, it won’t be the real thing, only a depiction of one.

Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed!