Was it a practice in Rome, or earlier, to require the condemned one to carry their cross? Or is this a Christian symbol of later origin? Is there any reference to the carrying the cross in pre-Christian literature?
Apparently a comment was removed, or something.
But to clarify, though there are mentions of this in 1st-century literature (Plutarch and the Callirhoe novel), and many mentions later, yet it seems there is nothing about this from any source earlier than the 1st century AD. Or am I missing some earlier reference to it? There are many earlier references to crucifixions.