14. Snake Pit
One of the oldest forms of torture and execution, snake pits were a very common form of capital punishment.
Convicts were cast into a deep pit with venomous snakes, dying after the irritated and poorly fed snakes attacked them.
Several famous leaders have been said to die this way, including Ragnar Lodbrok, the Viking warlord, and Gunnar the king of Burgundy.
Some variation on the traditional snake pit is being thrown into a small pool of water containing water snakes.
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