The term "crucify" means to execute someone by attaching him to a cross and leaving him there to suffer and die in great pain.
* The victim was either tied or nailed to the cross. Crucified people died from blood loss or from suffocation.
* The ancient Roman Empire frequently used this method of execution to punish and kill people who were terrible criminals or who had rebelled against the authority of their government.
* The Jewish religious leaders asked the Roman governor to order his soldiers to crucify Jesus. The soldiers nailed Jesus to a cross. He suffered there for six hours, and then died.