Symbol of Osiris The scourge, or
flail, and the
crook are the two symbols of power and domination depicted in the hands of
Osiris in Egyptian monuments. The shape of the flail or scourge is unchanged throughout history. However, when a scourge is described as a 'flail' as depicted in Egyptian mythology, it may be referring to use as an agricultural instrument. A flail's intended use was to
thresh wheat, not to implement corporal punishment. However, it is now speculated to have been neither a whip nor a flail, but instead to be a symbolic representation of a
device for collecting labdanum.
Use by the priests of Cybele The priests of
Cybele scourged themselves and others. Such stripes were considered sacred.
Flagellation of Jesus and other Roman uses Hard material can be affixed to multiple thongs to give a flesh-tearing "bite". A scourge with these additions is called a scorpion. is Latin for a Roman and is referred to in the Bible:
1 Kings 12:11: "...My father scourged you with whips; I will scourge you with scorpions" said Rehoboam, referring to increased conscription and taxation beyond Solomon's. The name testifies to the pain caused by the
arachnid. Testifying to its frequent Roman application is the existence of the Latin words 'carrying a whip' and 'often-lashed slave'. According to the
Gospel of John,
Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor of
Judaea, ordered
Jesus to be scourged before his
crucifixion. Josephus records the scourging of
Jesus ben Ananias, a Jew who repeatedly prophesized
Jerusalem's impending destruction; after each lash, he declared "Woe to the Jerusalemites" and was ultimately released by procurator
Albinus (r. 62–64 AD), who considered him a madman. In 66 AD, during the events leading up to the
First Jewish–Roman War, Roman authorities under procurator
Florus scourged and crucified many inhabitants of Jerusalem, including women and children. and
Socrates Scholasticus tells us that, instead of being excommunicated, offending young monks were scourged. (See the sixth-century rules of
St. Cæsarius of Arles for nuns, and of
St. Aurelian of Arles.) Thenceforth scourging is frequently mentioned in monastic rules and councils as an enforcer of discipline. Its use as a punishment was general in the seventh century in all monasteries of the severe
Columban rule.
Use for punishment in canon law Canon law (
Decree of Gratian,
Decretals of Gregory IX) recognized it as a punishment for ecclesiastics; even as late as the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, it appears in ecclesiastical legislation as a punishment for
blasphemy,
concubinage and
simony. Scourging as a means of
penance and
mortification is publicly exemplified in the tenth and eleventh centuries by the lives of
St. Dominic Loricatus and
St. Peter Damian (died 1072). The latter wrote a special treatise in praise of self-flagellation; though blamed by some contemporaries for excess of zeal, his example and the high esteem in which he was held did much to popularize the voluntary use of a small scourge known as a
discipline, as a means of mortification and penance.
Flagellants and use by royalty for self-discipline From then on the practice appeared in most medieval religious orders and associations. The fourteenth-century
Flagellants were named for their self-flagellation; King
Louis IX of France and
Elisabeth of Hungary also made private use of the "discipline". ==Metaphorical Usage==