The Romans used a variety of instruments. The crux simplex or âsimple crossâ, the upright pole was the simplest of these. The crux compacta was any form of more complex cross, such as the crux commissa, sometimes known as a âTauâ cross because of its resemblance to the Greek letter Tau (âTâ); the related crox immissa or t-shaped cross is the one most of us are familiar with. The Romans also used an X-shaped cross known as a cross decussataâmost famous as being the instrument used to crucify St. Andrew the Apostle according to ancient Christian tradition.
Letâs be clear: Regardless of shape, regardless of whether a simplex or a compacta, itâs still a cross. These are all forms of the Roman crux.
No, itâs highly unlikely that the instrument used on which Jesus died was a crux simplex. The Gospels are clear that Jesus carried His cross to the place of execution. The Romans were known for a lot of things, but one thing they were known for was their efficiency. Golgatha was a spot intentionally used and reused for public execution, the simple cross or pole would be a permanent fixture. Jesus carrying His cross indicates that He carried the cross-beam to the place of execution. Jesus, on the cross-beam, would then be hoisted up and affixed to the upright pole.
Crucifixion usually did take several days to kill a person. Obviously a lot of factors would play into this. In the Gospel of John we read that there was a desire to not have bodies still hanging on the crosses during the Sabbath, and so they started breaking the legs of the condemned to expedite their death (broken legs = canât push up to catch a breath)âbut Jesus was already dead, confirmed by the piercing of His abdomen with a spear. Jesus died quickly, and that was unusual. The others being crucified (we have no idea how many were crucified that day, we are only told of the two next to Jesus, there could have been more we donât know) and they had their legs broken so they would die before the evening.
The breaking of the legs was to speed up the dying. But it was common to let the crucified suffer for days.
Thereâs really no reason to think that Jesus was crucified on a crux simplexâeither a crux commissa or crux immissa fits the details of the Gospels best.
The crux commissa was incredibly common. Ancient writers when talking about the stauros (Greek: âcrossâ) they compared it to the Greek letter Tau. Thereâs even an ancient satirical play in which the letters of the alphabet condemn the letter Tau for being in the form of a stauros, an instrument of fear, death, and horror. When Pagans mocked Christians, they depicted Jesus as a donkey-faced man hung on a Tau-shaped cross. When early Christians talk about the cross, they mention the Tau-shape of the cross.
At the end of the day the shape of Jesusâ cross doesnât affect our theology. We preach Christ crucified, foolishness to the Greeks and a stumbling block to the Jews. And God took what was foolish to demonstrate His wisdom, taking what was weak and shameful to display His power. And so we boast in nothing save Godâs mercy and the cross of Jesus Christ by which He loved me, a sinner.
But for the sake of accuracy: No, a crux simplex is very unlikely to have been what Jesus was crucified on. It is more likely that Jesus was crucified, as said already, with a cross-beam.