THE TWO THIEVES. - Wicked criminals (ἀγώτατα) crucified with Jesus, "one on the right and one on the left" (Mt. 27:38; Mk. 15:27; Lk. 23:33; Jn. 19:18). They are called ἀγώτατα (Mt. 27:38, 44; Mk. 15:27), i.e., "thieves" and "murderers," or κακώργον (Lk. 23:33, 39), "evildoers," who did not abstain from bloodshed for the sake of robbery. The punishment to which they were condemned bears witness to the gravity of their crimes. They were very likely also fastened to the cross with nails and underwent the *crucifragium*: that is, their arms and legs were broken with an iron bar to hasten their death.
One of them—very probably only one—reviled Jesus on the cross, while the other rebuked his companion and commended himself to the Saviour (v. DISMAS), obtaining a promise of reward (Lk. 23:39–43).
The apocryphal Gospels claim to know more: they tell us that their names were Dismas and Gestas, or Duma and Tito, or Mata and Ioca, or Zoathan and Chammatha; the first pair of names prevailed in usage. They are said to have been leaders of a band of robbers; the one who became the good thief had benefited the Holy Family during the flight into Egypt, thereby earning from that time a promise of reward that was fulfilled later with his conversion on the cross; his place on Calvary would have been to the right of Jesus.