On one occasion, a friend had asked for a tale of torture set in ancient Rome. I hope you enjoy this one.

After days and days of siege, the Roman army had entered the small city. Without a doubt, all its inhabitants would be punished, but for the moment, the leader of the resistance would be the one to endure an exemplary torment to serve as a warning to prevent future rebellions. The idea of the Roman garrison was to apply several painful tortures to him until he spent his last hours agonizing on a cross. And all, of course, in full view of the population.

The chosen leader was a mature man who was taken to the most central and spacious square. Completely naked, it was possible to verify that, despite his age, he still had a robust body that would resist, to his misfortune, the fatal hours that awaited him. At the end of the morning, he was tied to a column of medium height, which forced him to keep his body arched forward, an ideal posture to receive the first of the punishments: the fearsome Roman flogging. This method, so widespread throughout the world in all times, was especially cruel in the daily life of the Roman Empire. It was applied with a whip that consisted of a short handle, made of leather, and three tails, one of which ended in a flat piece of wood, the second in a small metal ball, and the third in a fine hook that dug into the body and, when withdrawing the whip, tore skin and pieces of flesh.

To flog him, as was said, the first of the multiple punishments that awaited him that afternoon and night, a young soldier of 22 years was chosen, with pronounced biceps and known for his skill in handling the whip. No one dared to even sob, and in the midst of a sepulchral silence, the young man, with his torso naked to facilitate movements, attacked with ferocity the right side of the man, which provoked a first cry of pain, but he tried not to fall to his knees in front of the column.

The operation was repeated once, twice, three times... while the earth of the square mixed with streams of blood and appreciable pieces of skin and flesh. Suddenly, the victim, who had not knelt on the ground, fell collapsed. The rebel had died. No one knew what had happened: a respiratory problem, a miscalculated blow, excessive zeal in the flogging... The fact is that the square was silent, the soldiers looked at their leaders, and the young executioner felt an overwhelming terror that ran down his spine: he would be the next to die and would not do so in a pleasant way.

The condemned man had not suffered enough, and now he had to pay for it. He knew how he was going to die. While the inhabitants of the town were led to a different square, other soldiers were preparing everything to execute their companion, who was already finishing undressing. Despite being in a situation of absolute terror, his penis, flaccid, presented a formidable appearance; he had always been a very well-endowed man.

His thick ...