The sovereign executed regicides with symbolic maximal torture

Evidence

And the regicide, in turn, was neither more nor less, than the total, absolute criminal since, instead of attacking, like any offender, a particular decision or wish of the sovereign power, he attacked the very principle and physical person of the prince. The ideal punishment of the regicide had to constitute the summum of all possible tortures. It would be an expression of infinite vengeance — Michel Foucault, Discipline & Punish- The Birth of the…, 108

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Punishment is designed to maximize apparent suffering while minimizing real pain. — Jeremy Bentham, The Panopticon Writings, 15; Public torture was spectacle designed to display sovereign power publicly — Michel Foucault, Discipline & Punish- The Birth of the…, 83; Routinized supplementary torture accompanied nearly all serious penalties — Michel Foucault, Discipline & Punish- The Birth of the…, 82 (+16 more)

Related

• Every crime was treated as an assault on the sovereign’s person (similarity 0.88)
• The executioner personified the sovereign’s answering violence against the criminal. (similarity 0.86)
• The punished body anchors sovereign power’s manifestation (similarity 0.85)
• Public torture was spectacle designed to display sovereign power publicly (similarity 0.85)
• Routinized supplementary torture accompanied nearly all serious penalties (similarity 0.85)
• Public execution reactivates injured sovereign power rather than restoring justice. (similarity 0.84)
• Sovereign power was recharged only through visible spectacle (similarity 0.84)
• Ritualized death faded because death escaped sovereign power’s reach (similarity 0.82)
• Execution rituals were explicitly military displays of armed justice. (similarity 0.82)
• Execution sites and torments mirrored the crime’s form and setting (similarity 0.81)
• The king’s pardoning power displayed sovereignty more fully than the execution itself. (similarity 0.81)
• Public execution functions as a political ritual of power, not mere justice. (similarity 0.80)
• Public executions taught the people that violence could be met with violence (similarity 0.80)
• Public punishment served to reconstitute the sovereign’s injured authority (similarity 0.79)
• Public punishment displayed excess rather than justice to affirm the sovereign’s unrestrained power. (similarity 0.79)

Broader Connections

• Public punishment served to reconstitute the sovereign’s injured authority #expands (0.95) — Khaled Fahmy, All the Pasha_s Men_ Mehmed Ali, his…, 675
• Subtler punishment masked sovereign power rather than making it more humane #expands (0.85)
• Modern punishment targets the soul rather than the body #expands (0.85) — Michel Foucault, Discipline & Punish- The Birth of the…, 55
• Punishment shifted from sovereign vengeance to ensuring no crime goes unpunished #contradicts (0.80)
• Public executions produced disorder rather than deterrence for the crowd #complicates (0.80) — Michel Foucault, Discipline & Punish- The Birth of the…, 118
• State power neutralized spectacle by garrisoning execution squares #qualifies (0.75) — Michel Foucault, Discipline & Punish- The Birth of the…, 120