There's a certain irony isn't there that modern people instantly recognize in a situation like this? The european outcasts, malefactors and lawbreakers were treated the same way as jesus christ. And it reassured those who had witnessed it that they had done a good deed. They had paved the way to eternal life for a soul seemingly beyond redemption. But if our saviour died in one of these hideous public torture executions, should we really be doing this to other people? None the less, this is kind of what makes history fun and we as people interesting. You just can't make this stuff up.