To keep these replicas as “real” and historical as possible, these flagrums are handmade and will each have their own uniquenesses. The photos show a sample but variations may occur in the handle, the straps and the ends. Each flagrum includes 9 ends.
More Details about Roman Scourging
The Roman scourge, also called the “flagrum” or “flagellum” was a short whip made of three or more leather straps connected to a handle. The leather straps were knotted with a metal and sometimes sharp bones (such as the knucklebone of a sheep). The flagrum would sometimes contain a hook at the end and was given the terrifying name “scorpion.” Scourging would quickly remove the flesh, leaving skin hanging like ribbons and sometimes even exposing the internal organs. It was a powerful weapon of torture and a brutal punishment carried out by professionally trained soldiers where the victim would be stripped naked, tied or shackled to a sturdy column or between two columns. Two soldiers would then beat the victim continuously. According to Jewish law, you could not beat someone more than 40 times, so the Jews always stopped at 39 lest they miscount and accidentally sin. The Romans, however, had no such law. This punishment was not so much about the number of lashes as it was about beating the person within “a step” of death and then backing off.
The church historian Eusebius of Caesarea recounts with vivid, horrible detail a scene of scourging. He says, “For they say that the bystanders were struck with amazement when they saw them lacerated with scourges even to the innermost veins and arteries, so that the hidden inward parts of the body, both their bowels and their members, were exposed to view” (Ecclesiastical History, Book 4, chap. 15).
Jesus endured this tortured. John 19:1 says, “So Pilate then took Jesus, and flogged him.”
“and He Himself brought our sins in His body up on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live for righteousness; by His wounds you were healed” (1 Peter 2:24).
Learn more about the Roman Flagrum and Jesus’ Scourging – Click HERE.
