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New Episodes of World of Wonder's Machines of Malice to Premiere

Friday, September 11, 2009 01:21 PM

Monday night, September 14, is the premiere of World of Wonder's newest batch of Machines of Malice episodes airing at 10PM Eastern on the Discovery Channel. (Text by Nick Perlmuter; click pics to enlarge)

HELL ON WHEELS: (Above left) Monday's episode deconstructs the ingenious technology applied to some of Ancient Rome's most dreaded mechanisms. Specifically for this episode, the WOW crew physically built and tested the Roman Empire's "Crank Wheel." As it turns out, this execution device was part of arena spectacles and could kill a person in a couple of really unpleasant ways.

THE ORIGINAL SUPERCROSS: (Above right) Ancient Rome was all about super-sizing and super-charging existing execution machinery.

CRUSHING EMBRACE: (Below left) If you liked Sideways, you might find this Roman death device from the Tuscan wine region a bit distasteful.

THE TIES THAT BIND: (Below right) The series physically tests a bizarre execution device referenced in ancient Greek and Roman mythology.