Tollit ille cruces? Della presunta abolizione costantiniana della crocifissione

This essay deals with the issue of the abolition of the crucifixion in the Roman Empire between the fourth and fifth century AD. The majority of the scholars affirms that Constantine the Great abolished this kind of summum supplicium. Yet, this paper intends to supersede the above-mentioned stance through a new interpretation of the sources relating to the question of the abolition of the crucifixion in the Roman Empire and also in the light of the absence of any explicit imperial constitutions mentioning such a legal provision in the Codex Theodosianus. This work actually demonstrates that the punishment of crucifixion was never abolished either by Constantine the Great or any other roman emperors, but rather fell into disuse from the beginning of the fifth century AD.