Peg,

"but we do it today, in modern, civilized society, in multitudes," interesting statement but please clarify it please, the last execution in the UK was in the sixties.

"And most people believe Roman-style and medieval style public executions were also horrific", they were horrific, read any contempory account and it is not at all nice, eviseration, dismemberment and burning.

I have also read items on pro death penalty websites where the killing of murderers has given a sense of justice, closure or revenge to the famalies, not an attractive thought to some but we are all different and our response to such an emotive issue will vary equally.

Stuart