Patricide

Patricide

In the time of the Romans, the punishment for patricide was to be sewn up in a sack that had a monkey,
snake, rooster, and dog inside, and then to be thrown in a river. Each of the animals in the bag had some
specific meaning to them, and being sewn up in a sack and tossed into the river also had a specific function
to the murderer. Thus this punishment became the proper way to punish the guilty.
In the Roman era, patricide had become a major problem, so it was decided that for whomever
held a title in Rome, there would be a meeting to discuss how to get rid of the problem and punish
appropriately. The title holders decided that the best way to punish the young men, and to stop them from
thinking of committing the sin, was to make them die, as well as make them feel everything their father
had, and to regret their crime. This decision then became the chosen consequence for the crime of
patricide.
The significance of the animals was to torture the perpetrator in a particular way for his crime. The
importance of the snake was that the snake was evil, dating back to the Garden of Eden, where it posed as
the Devil and deceived Eve. While the victim was alive, the snake would be there to remind him of the
ultimate sin-the deception of one’s own father. The rooster is primarily known for his crowing, and thus
his crows would remind the sinner of his guilt, so that he couldn’t escape from what he did. The dog’s
function in the sack would be to howl, ...

Patricide

Login

Join