crūdēlĭtas, ātis, f. [crudelis], harshness, severity, cruelty, barbarity (in good prose and very freq.): crudelitas est atrocitas animi in exigendis poenis, Sen. Clem. 2, 4, 1: crudelitas est inclinatio ad asperiora, id. ib. 2, 4, 3: ista in nostros homines crudelitas, Cic. Verr. 2, 5, 88, § 150; id. Off. 2, 8, 27; 3, 11, 46; id. Sest. 65, 135; id. Phil. 11, 3, 8; id. Rep. 1, 3, 5; Caes. B. G. 7, 77; Sall. C. 51, 14; Nep. Alcib. 4, 4; Liv. 3, 53, 7; 42, 8, 5 et saep.; Prud. Perieg. 2291 al.: in meo inimico crudelitatem exprompsisti tuam, Cic. Mil. 13, 33: crudelitatem exercere in vivo, id. Phil. 11, 3, 8.