 Yet when Simon carries the patibulum to Golgotha, the crossbar is then hoisted to the stake to make the traditional crucifix shape.Schröter (1997) notes that the lack of references in ancient sources, aside from Plautus ("The Charcoal Woman" 2 and "The Braggart Warrior" 2.4.6-7) and Plutarch ("Moralia" 554AB), to "bearing the cross" implies that a criminal carrying his own patibulum was not very common.James B. Torrance in the article "Cross" in the "New Bible Dictionary" writes that the Greek word for "cross" (stauros; verb stauroō; Lat.