The Brazen Bull was a torture contraption invented by Perilaus of Athens in the 6th century BC and offered to Phalaris, Tyrant of Agrigentum, as a gift. It was a completely hollow brass bull that had enough room inside to fit a person. Once the person was inside the bull, a fire would be lit beneath him in order to roast him to death.
In the head of the bull, Perilaus designed a tubing system that amplified the screams of the victim and made them sound like the roar of the bull. Perilaus described to Phalaris that “[the victims’] screams will come to you through the pipes as the most tender, most pathetic, and most melodious of bellowing.”
Phalaris was so disgusted by this description that he tricked Perilaus into entering the bull. He told him that the he wished for Perilaus to prove that he device did exactly that, by going inside and pretending to roar. Once Perilaus was in, he ordered his servants to light the fire. Perilaus’s body was roasted to a crisp and then thrown off of a cliff.