“Generally speaking, Roman Citizens were not sentenced to capital punishment if

–“Generally speaking, Roman Citizens were not sentenced to capital punishment if they murdered another Roman Citizen of equal status,but were more often fined or exiled, and if they were executed they were beheaded, which was regarded as a more honourable way to die. If a Roman Citizen killed a slave or any person of lesser status then there was no punishment at all. Protecting the status and position of the Roman Citizens was considered to be a paramount concern and to be stripped of that status was one of the worst punishments imaginable, especially as then you could be subjected to one of the more inventive methods of Roman execution. So public executions were generally events put on to execute slaves who had run away, prisoners of war, common criminals and army deserters, and were regarded as great spectacles and a form or entertainment. The early Christians were also often publicly executed because of their refusal to worship or make sacrifices to the Roman gods or the Emperor. There were special areas set aside in Roman towns for public executions, usually outside the town gates, and also in the same arena where the gladiatorial games took place.”—

RESTITUTION