Acts 16:24

the inner prison Necessarily a place dark and without ventilation, and hence foul and loathsome; perhaps underground, like the Tullianum at Rome (Varr. L. L. v. § 161; Lev. 29:22).

their feet fast in the stocks The stocks (lit. wood) was a means of additional security and additional torture. The feet Passed through holes and held secure made rest almost impossible. The instrument was of early use (cp. Job 13:27; Job 33:11), and the Greeks, as well as ourselves, had also the pillory, and had it made with five apertures for head, hands and feet (Aristoph. Eq. 1049).