Details regarding Jesus’ crucifixion are related sparingly by Mark in order to focus attention on the theological significance of Jesus’ death. Mark’s early readers would have known the pains and horrors of crucifixion, while we today do not. Crucifixion was a method of capital punishment in which the victim was tied or nailed to a large wooden beam and left to hang, perhaps for several days, until eventual death from exhaustion and asphyxiation (suffocation as a result of a lack of oxygen). From John 20:25 it seems clear that Jesus was nailed to the cross (see also Psalm 22:16). A nail would be driven through his hands or wrists and also through his ankles. The victim would then hang on the cross, pulling himself up to take each breath until he ran out of energy and suffocated.
Crucifixion was reserved for the lowest of the low. For people who had no rights or status. As a method of execution it was designed to humiliate and degrade as well as kill.
24 And they crucified him and divided his garments among them, casting lots for them, to decide what each should take.