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A brazen bull as depicted by Hans Burgkmair the Elder.

The brazen bull is an execution/torture device designed in ancient Greece. Image File history File links Question_book-3. ... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 449 × 599 pixelsFull resolution (670 × 894 pixel, file size: 138 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) File historyClick on a date/time to view the file as it appeared at that time. ... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 449 × 599 pixelsFull resolution (670 × 894 pixel, file size: 138 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) File historyClick on a date/time to view the file as it appeared at that time. ... Altarpiece by Burgkmair. ... The term ancient Greece refers to the period of Greek history in Classical Antiquity, lasting ca. ...

Perillos of Athens, a brass-founder[1], proposed to Phalaris, Tyrant of Agrigentum, the invention of a new means for executing criminals; accordingly, he cast a brazen bull, made totally of brass, hollow, with a door in the side. The condemned was shut up in the bull and a fire was set under it, heating the metal until it became "yellow hot" and causing the person inside to quickly roast to death. So that 'nothing unseemly might spoil his feasting', Phalaris commanded that the bull be designed in such a way that its smoke rose in spicy clouds of incense. The head of the ox was designed with a complex system of tubes and stops so that the prisoner's screams were converted into sounds like the bellowing of an infuriated bull. It is also said that when the bull was reopened, the scorched bones of the remains shone like jewels and were made into bracelets. This article is about the capital of Greece. ... For the genus of grass, see Phalaris (grass). ... Map of central Mediterranean Sea, showing location of Agrigentum (modern Agrigento). ... Brass is the term used for alloys of copper and zinc in a solid solution. ... For general information about the genus, including other species of cattle, see Bos. ... “Brazen” redirects here. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ...

Phalaris commended the invention, and ordered its horn sound system to be tested by Perillos himself. When Perillos entered, he was immediately locked in, and the fire was set, so that Phalaris could hear the sound of his screams.

Before Perillos could die, Phalaris opened the door and took him away. Perillos believed he would receive a reward for his invention; instead, after freeing him from the bull, Phalaris threw him from the top of a hill, killing him. Phalaris himself is said to have been killed in the brazen bull when he was overthrown by Telemachus.

The Romans were recorded as having used this torture device to kill some Christian martyrs, notably Saint Eustace, who, according to Christian tradition, was roasted in a brazen bull with his wife and children by the Emperor Hadrian, and Saint Antipas, Bishop of Pergamum during the persecutions of Emperor Domitian, and the first martyr in Asia Minor, roasted to death in a brazen bull in c.92; his tomb became a site of supposed miracles. Topics in Christianity Movements · Denominations · Other religions Ecumenism · Preaching · Prayer Music · Liturgy · Calendar Symbols · Art · Criticism Important figures Apostle Paul · Church Fathers Constantine · Athanasius · Augustine Anselm · Aquinas · Palamas · Luther Calvin · Wesley Arius · Marcion of Sinope Archbishop of Canterbury · Catholic Pope Coptic Pope · Ecumenical Patriarch Christianity Portal This box:      Christianity is... Historically, a martyr is a person who dies for his or her religious faith. ... On a wing of the Paumgartner Altarpiece, Albrecht Dürer painted Lukas Paumgartner with the banner of his patron St Eustace, in the contemporary armor of a landsknecht. ... Publius Aelius Traianus Hadrianus (January 24, 76 –– July 10, 138), known as Hadrian in English, was emperor of Rome from 117 A.D. to 138 A.D., as well as a Stoic and Epicurean philosopher. ... Saint Antipas is referred to in the Book of Revelation as the faithful martyr of Pergamos. ... Titus Flavius Domitianus (24 October 51 – 18 September 96), commonly known as Domitian, was a Roman Emperor of the gens Flavia. ...

Another Christian martyr, Saint Pelagia of Tarsus, is said to have been burned in a brazen bull in 287 by the Emperor Diocletian. Saint Pelagia is an Antiochene saint, a virgin of fifteen years, who chose death by a leap from the housetop rather than dishonour, is mentioned by Ambrose (De virg. ... Events Diocletian and Maximian become Roman Consuls Births Deaths Categories: 287 ... Gaius Aurelius Valerius Diocletianus (c. ...

According to Will Tobim, roasting inside a brazen bull was the most common method of torture known to the Greeks. According to the usual definition, this was a method of execution, rather than torture: since it was generally fatal, it was not much use for interrogation. For other uses, see Torture (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Torture (disambiguation). ...

The satirist Lucian, in the 2nd century A.D., is said to have given the first detailed description of the creation and use of the Brazen Bull. Lucian. ...

External links

• Phalaris. nndb.com. Retrieved on 2007-06-12.