The spectacular use of the culprit’s body as a deterrent or as a site of retribution, however, had its own limitations. After all, the body of the culprit can sustain only a limited amount of pain that may or may not be an effective deterrent to others from committing a similar offense. Furthermore, for this kind of deterrence to work the spectacle had to be massive and the audience great, hence the public hangings in big squares and important gathering places in urban centers. This, again, had its limitations, since only a limited number of people could be present at any one moment to watch the spectacle.

Builds on: "Public punishment reasserted the sovereign's momentarily injured authority."

Khaled Fahmy, All the Pasha_s Men_ Mehmed…, loc. 688