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13 points

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brazen_bull

"The brazen bull … was an alleged torture and execution device designed in ancient Greece. … The bull was said to be hollow and made entirely out of bronze with a door in one side. According to legends, the brazen bull was designed in the form and size of an actual bull and had an acoustic apparatus that converted screams into the sound of a bull. The condemned were locked inside the device, and a fire was set under it, heating the metal until the person inside was roasted to death.

“Stories allege after finishing construction on the execution device, Perilaus said to Phalaris: “His screams will come to you through the pipes as the tenderest, most pathetic, most melodious of bellowings.” Perilaus believed he would receive a reward for his invention. Instead, Phalaris, who was disgusted by these words, ordered its horn sound system to be tested by Perilaus himself, tricking him into getting in the bull. When Perilaus entered, he was immediately locked in and the fire was set, so that Phalaris could hear the sound of his screams. Before Perilaus could die, Phalaris opened the door and took him away. After freeing him from the bull, Phalaris is then said to have taken Perilaus to the top of a hill and thrown him off, killing him. Phalaris himself is claimed to have been killed in the brazen bull when he was overthrown by Telemachus, the ancestor of Theron.”

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11 points

"The brazen bull … was an alleged torture and execution device designed in ancient Greece

There’s zero evidence that was ever used tho…

A lot of the “terrible tortures of the past” are bullshit because the people that came next wanted to look civilized compared to the past.

I think for this one, someone found a bronze bull that could fit a person inside and some pipes. It’s way more likely the person in there just played the pipes like horns

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4 points

Well sure, but if it was real it would be a horrifying way to die. I imagine akin to being burned at the stake in a way.

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