moebius
Assistant executioner
A little more on my "mind's eye" method: the hole the upright goes in to.
Make a deep wooden box, say 18 inches deep, that's the exact size to accommodate the base of the stipes and grease the inside to help it slide in. Dig a pit, insert the box, then pack stones and soil around it so it can't move. That gives you a solid socket into which the completed cross can be erected.
The problem I have with some of the lifting pictures on here is that it's pretty hard to lift a weight over your head like that. It's fine when you've got a couple of (expensive) beefy nubian slaves to do the lifting, and only a skinny girl to be lifted. The slave victim is unlikely to be fat, but they could be pretty muscular if they're a manual worker or a gladiator, which makes them a heavy load (and one that may be thrashing around in agony too).
I have no view on which approach is more arousing, I'm just trying to get it right.
Make a deep wooden box, say 18 inches deep, that's the exact size to accommodate the base of the stipes and grease the inside to help it slide in. Dig a pit, insert the box, then pack stones and soil around it so it can't move. That gives you a solid socket into which the completed cross can be erected.
The problem I have with some of the lifting pictures on here is that it's pretty hard to lift a weight over your head like that. It's fine when you've got a couple of (expensive) beefy nubian slaves to do the lifting, and only a skinny girl to be lifted. The slave victim is unlikely to be fat, but they could be pretty muscular if they're a manual worker or a gladiator, which makes them a heavy load (and one that may be thrashing around in agony too).
I have no view on which approach is more arousing, I'm just trying to get it right.