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However, it is possible that topes were used to provide the actual support of the body and nails were run thorugh the palms for torture only. I was thinking about this the other day and I would think the leverage provided by the ropes as fulcrum would make it even more painful when the victim pushed himself up to be able to inhale.
In general, I would think that there wasn't one prescribed way to crucify, and that sadism and creativity may have provided a number of different ways to make the death slow, humiliating, and agonizing.
true for 't'='r' such that "topes" = "ropes".