Why did the Romans put Jesus' clothes on him again, just to take it off later? (Matt.27:31; Jn. 19:23) Was nakedness not allowed on temple ground?

Why did the Romans put Jesus' clothes on him again, just to take it off later? (Matt.27:31; Jn. 19:23)?

It was customary for the Romans to strip the condemned naked prior to being scourged. Once scourged, the victim was normally lead to the place of crucifixion with no clothes covering his body.

However, it is not impossible that the customary process could have been altered due to some regional issues in which the Roman authorities found themselves.

Being in Palestine, Rome would have had to deal with the local religious traditions and views of the Jewish people; and thus they amended their process of execution by crucifixion.

It would seem that the Jewish people had a greater value on human modesty than did the Romans. For we can recall how in Genesis 9:20–23, Shem and Japheth took a robe, and putting it on their backs went in with their faces turned away, and put it over their father so that they might not see him unclothed because of the Drunkenness of Noah.

²⁰ In those days Noah became a farmer, and he made a vine-garden. ²¹ And he took of the wine of it and was overcome by drink; and he was uncovered in his tent. ²² And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw his father unclothed, and gave news of it to his two brothers outside. ²³ And Shem and Japheth took a robe, and putting it on their backs went in with their faces turned away, and put it over their father so that they might not see him unclothed.

Process of crucifixion

Crucifixion was typically carried out by specialized teams, consisting of a commanding centurion and his soldiers. First, the condemned would be stripped naked and scourged. This would cause the person to lose a large amount of blood, and approach a state of shock. The convict then usually had to carry the horizontal beam (patibulum in Latin) to the place of execution, but not necessarily the whole cross.

During the death march, the prisoner, probably still nude after the scourging (1), would be led through the most crowded streets bearing a titulus – a sign board proclaiming the prisoner's name and crime. Upon arrival at the place of execution, selected to be especially public, the convict would be stripped of any remaining clothing, then nailed to the cross naked. If the crucifixion took place in an established place of execution, the vertical beam (stipes) might be permanently embedded in the ground. In this case, the condemned person's wrists would first be nailed to the patibulum, and then he or she would be hoisted off the ground with ropes to hang from the elevated patibulum while it was fastened to the stipes. Next the feet or ankles would be nailed to the upright stake. The 'nails' were tapered iron spikes approximately 5 to 7 inches (13 to 18 cm) long, with a square shaft 3⁄8 inch (10 mm) across. The titulus would also be fastened to the cross to notify onlookers of the person's name and crime as they hung on the cross, further maximizing the public impact.

There may have been considerable variation in the position in which prisoners were nailed to their crosses and how their bodies were supported while they died. Seneca the Younger recounts: "I see crosses there, not just of one kind but made in many different ways: some have their victims with head down to the ground; some impale their private parts; others stretch out their arms on the gibbet." One source claims that for Jews (apparently not for others), a man would be crucified with his back to the cross as is traditionally depicted, while a woman would be nailed facing her cross, probably with her back to onlookers, or at least with the stipes providing some semblance of modesty if viewed from the front. Such concessions were "unique" and not made outside a Jewish context. Several sources mention some sort of seat fastened to the stipes to help support the person's body, thereby prolonging the person's suffering and humiliation by preventing the asphyxiation caused by hanging without support. Justin Martyr calls the seat a cornu, or "horn," leading some scholars to believe it may have had a pointed shape designed to torment the crucified person. This would be consistent with Seneca's observation of victims with their private parts impaled.

In Roman-style crucifixion, the condemned could take up to a few days to die, but death was sometimes hastened by human action. "The attending Roman guards could leave the site only after the victim had died, and were known to precipitate death by means of deliberate fracturing of the tibia and/or fibula, spear stab wounds into the heart, sharp blows to the front of the chest, or a smoking fire built at the foot of the cross to asphyxiate the victim." The Romans sometimes broke the prisoner's legs to hasten death and usually forbade burial. On the other hand, the person was often deliberately kept alive as long as possible to prolong their suffering and humiliation, so as to provide the maximum deterrent effect. Corpses of the crucified were typically left on the crosses to decompose and be eaten by animals. - Crucifixion

Nevertheless some think the condemned were given back their clothing after the scourging. Thomas Macall Fallow believed that the person would be given back his or her clothing following the scourging.(1911). "Cross and Crucifixion". In Chisholm, Hugh (ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica. 7 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 506.

The following sources may be of interest for some in this subject matter:

• "They should cover their shame”: Attitudes towards Nudity in Greco-Roman Judaism
• Body Image: What are We Ashamed of?
• A doctor at Calvary : the Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ as described by a surgeon by Pierre. Barbet; P. J. Smith