Originally Posted by huhenio

Not true ... the spectacle of punishment only made the masses more resentful towards the cruelty of the whole thing, just to awaken sympathy for the punished person. Moreover, once the novely of knouting or flogging wore off, people stopped percieving the spectacle as the ceremony it was supposed to be to just be another usual spectacle. Another factor that has to be taken in consideration is that the lack of trained experts to give torment made the punishment less effective, and not even the punished was impressed after the administration of the torment.