Brazen bull

The Brazen bull, bronze bull or Sicillian bull, or occasionally Bull of Phalaris was an apparatus, shaped like a bull used to cook people alive. The bull is said to have been invented by Perilaus of Athens to please the tyrant of Sicily, Phalaris, although the inventor was the first it was used on. The bull is said to have had a door to one side, through which the condemned would be shoved and then locked in. A fire would be lit under the bull and the victim was roasted alive as the metal was heated. A special system of pipes in the head of the bull acoustically converted the screams of victims into the sounds of an actual bull. Some scholars and historians question whether the Brazen bull even existed or was simply made up as a form of propaganda.