Modern life may be difficult, but we generally have it easy compared to the folks who lived in the ancient world. Besides the lack of technology and the constant fear of conquest from neighboring tribes, ancient man had to contend with a plethora of barbaric practices that would be considered detestable by today’s standards but were perfectly acceptable in their time.
Out of all the rituals come five cruel customs that stand head and shoulders above the rest. From infant killing to lottery stoning, this list details some of the darkest practices of our early ancestors.
5. Lifetime servitude as a slave
The first item on the list is not unusual since it is still practiced today, albeit not as rampantly or as exposed as it was back then. In the ancient world, being a slave meant having to surrender your decisions to your master who owned you as a form of property. Masters usually did not have their slaves’ best interests at heart, and many slaves ultimately met their untimely demise as a result of being overworked. Slaves were not allowed to wander off, and attempting to escape resulted in a brutal beating that was allowed by law. Sometimes, a slave who belonged to a kind master would be given decent food and lodging, but the majority weren’t quite so lucky.
Those unfortunate enough to find themselves bound to slavery had limited options to escape their fate. One possible way was to wait it out and be granted freedom by the master after a certain amount of time passed, but this was not guaranteed in most societies. The more clever slaves developed their personal talents so that they would eventually become an indispensable part of the household or community. This status granted them a more comfortable lifestyle since their masters could no longer treat them harshly for fear of losing them. In many instances, slaves who gained the respect and admiration of their masters were also freed. One famous example of a slave who bucked the social trend was Joseph, son of Jacob, whose exploits are detailed in the Old Testament. Joseph peacefully freed himself from the shackles of slavery through discipline and study until he became Pharaoh’s right-hand man, a feat that was almost impossible given his conditions. This tale, however, is the exception rather than the norm.
If you ever thought that climbing the corporate ladder was hard, think about the plight of slaves and you might end up loving your job.
4. Environmental exposure of unwanted infants
Way before abortion clinics were created, people had few options for getting rid of unwanted infants. Since terminating the fetus when it was still inside the mother’s belly was too risky to perform in the ancient world, pregnant women were forced to complete the full nine months and give birth to a baby boy or girl before going ahead with the dirty deed.
Actively killing infants, however, was considered a crime in most ancient societies, so people had to find a loophole in the system. One such way was through environmental exposure: the infant was left alone on the doorstep of the wilderness and had to fend for itself. Of course, there was no way a baby could survive such an ordeal, so death was practically guaranteed. Ancient law turned a blind eye to this practice because technically, the parents didn’t murder their child; it was Mother Nature’s fault.
This passive way of slaying children was commonplace in ancient societies and wasn’t viewed as a heinous act. In fact, parents would resort to exposing their babies to the elements for the most superficial reasons, such as wanting a boy over a girl and vice versa.
While pro-life and pro-choice groups are debating endlessly in modern times, the situation was completely different and much darker back then.
3. Death by lottery
In a time where warfare was rampant, those in command of the ancient Roman army needed to find ways to prevent mutiny and desertion of soldiers from their vast empire. When these acts did occur, officers found it necessary to execute the offenders as an example to the remaining battalions. It was impractical and even detrimental, however, to kill off large numbers of men, so the practice of decimation was created.
Decimation, which comes from the Latin word “decem” meaning “ten,” was a process whereby a large number of warriors facing execution would draw lots. One-tenth of these lots were different from the rest, and whoever picked them up would become part of an unlucky group that would be killed in place of the others. To make the practice even more barbaric, the remaining soldiers who picked up the “safe” lots were forced to become the executioners of their peers, oftentimes using crude killing methods such as clubbing or stoning. Afterward, they would be pardoned and welcomed back into the formation.
Modern instances of decimation are rare, but the practice is still far from over. Famous cases occurred after the Battle of Breitenfeld during the Thirty Years’ War, and several other isolated incidents happened during the Stalingrad defense in World War II where Russian soldiers were forbidden to retreat.
In light of the practice of decimation, Shirley Jackson’s story “The Lottery” doesn’t seem entirely fictional after all.
2. The festival of diamastigosis
Polytheism and ancient Greece were closely intertwined, so the rituals performed by religious groups and cults were also widely practiced by the common populace. Oftentimes, these customs were nonlethal, but not so in the case of diamastigosis, a ceremony performed during the festival of the goddess Artemis Orthia in the ancient Spartan villages.
The event involved several Spartan teenagers, renowned for their hardiness due to the strict military lifestyle of Spartan society, having to brave a series of prolonged flogging. Flogging continued until the blood from their wounds gushed and spilled over an altar dedicated to Artemis, who was said to have had a taste for the life-giving liquid and required it as a form of sacrifice.
Unfortunately, despite the famed robustness of Spartan youths, most could not cope with the constant whipping and eventually keeled over and died. This wasn’t seen as a cause for concern by spectators. In fact, dying in this manner only meant that the boys were unfit for military service and useless to Spartan society. After the Roman conquest, the practice eventually degenerated into a slugfest where young gladiators would fight to the death for the enjoyment of the viewing audience.
Everyone knows that modern boot camp training is hard, but at least participants make it out alive. The Spartan army novices weren’t so lucky.
1. Buried alive but soon to be dead
Out of all the human fears, being buried alive is probably at the top of everyone’s list. This practice, whether intentional or accidental, dates back to the ancient world and still manages to give everyone the shivers in this day and age. The first few accounts involved a couple of dead Egyptian pharaohs whose slaves were also buried together with them, purportedly so that they could continue serving their master in the afterlife. Thankfully, this practice was not widespread since the ancient Egyptians quickly found out that slaves were more useful around the house rather than inside a sarcophagus, so they used figurines and dolls called “ushabti” instead, believing that they would be brought to life in the next world to attend to the pharaohs.
Live burials, however, were not limited to these incidents. In ancient Rome and China, Christian martyrs and other enemies of the state were buried alive as a form of execution. In more recent times, Japanese soldiers during World War II buried Chinese civilians during the Nanking Massacre (grim photographs are available that document this event), and the Khmer Rouge used this as one of many methods of execution in the Killing Fields.
Society’s fear of premature burial is so common that savvy businessmen capitalized on this opportunity by selling coffins equipped with escape hatches to the paranoid public. Some inventors also created caskets with a mechanism on the inside that, when activated, gave off an alarm to alert those on the surface that the person buried is still alive.
Dark practices then and now
Today, most of these practices are banned or universally decried by the international community. Some form of these barbaric customs, however, still exists, especially in communities that are isolated from the rest of the world or in war-torn nations where human brutality rears its ugly head. We can only hope that we don’t find ourselves on the receiving end of any of these nefarious rituals.
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