Crucifixion in Roman Britain

There are a number of online reports about the discovery in 2017 at Fenstanton in Huntingdonshire of the remains of a man who had been crucified in the period 130-337 according to radiocarbon dating. The third or early fourth century has been suggested as a likely time for this execution to have occurred. This appears to be the first such tangible evidence from Britannia of such a punishment having been inflicted, and one of the very few examples to survive from the entire Roman world. 

The reports can be seen - if you can get beyond pay walls in several instances - from Life Science, which was the first one I read, at Thrre is considerably more detail from the Daily Telegraph at First physical evidence of Roman crucifixion in Britain unearthed in housing estate, from The Times at Roman crucifixion remains unearthed at Fenstanton housing estate, from the Mail Online at 'World's best example' of crucifixion found in Cambridgeshire, and from The Independent at Crucifixion was practised in Roman Britain, new evidence reveals, The BBC News website also has a report at First example of Roman crucifixion in UK found, and there is another from Ancient Origins at At Last! First Evidence of Roman Crucifixion in Britain Found

It is, I think, interesting that the last in that group seems to assume the executed man was somehow a victim. That says something about modern sensibilities. For all we know he was a notorious criminal who got what the Roman authorities and maybe the populace at large thought were his just desserts. Equally the fact that he received a decent burial might indicate that someone at least held him in regard. The thing is, we do not know.

This discovery has clearly attracted considerable interest which points to the continuing cultural impact on our own society of Christianity, for although thrrr is nothing st all to indicate a religious element in this man’s conviction the image of death on a cross has a place deep in our consciousness.

What is also striking is how this and other discoveries in the hinterland of the Wash have added to our knowledge of the area and of Roman Britain in general. The area around Peterborough and stretching towards Cambridge is not, perhaps, the best known area for Roman antiquities to outsiders yet it is proving a rich source of archaeological material which offers new insights into life and death in Britannia.