Lets first look at the Romans, one of the first articles from Google is: https://owlcation.com/humanities/roman-executions-why-the-romans-executed-people https:

Lets first look at the Romans, one of the first articles from Google is: https://owlcation.com/humanities/roman-executions-why-the-romans-executed-people https://owlcation.com/humanities/roman-executions-why-the-ro... As you can see there were two types of crimes that got brutal death penalty, the main one being rising up against the state which got crucifixion. This is what allegedly happened to Jesus as he called himself king of the Jews. Second major crime was standing up to your family head, which got you thrown into a river in a sack with some animals. Your father however could kill you or a slave without penalty. Same in England, the main penalties were high treason (rising up against the king/queen) and little treason (rising up against father/husband). I was going to link to a hardcore history but it is behind a paywall now and not exactly scholarly science.