Thanks to the 2nd-century AD satirist Lucian, we know about the gruesome torture device known as the “Brass Bull of Perilaus,” or the “Bull of Phalaris.”

Crafted by the sculptor Perilaus between 570–560 BC at the request of the tyrant Phalaris of Acragas (modern Agrigento, Sicily), the bull was made entirely of brass and large enough to hold a man inside.

When a fire was lit beneath it, the 𝘷𝘪𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘮 would be roasted alive. A system of acoustic tubes transformed their screams into sounds resembling a bull’s bellowing, making the execution both horrific and theatrical.