Send under the yoke

Medallion depicting the Romans being sent under the yoke by the Samnites (Pseudo-Melioli, c. 1500)
Illustration by Tancredi Scarpelli of the Romans being sent under the yoke.

To send (an enemy) under the yoke (sub iugum mittere)[1] was a practice in ancient Italy whereby defeated enemies were made to pass beneath a yoke constructed of spears either to humiliate them or to remove blood guilt.

  1. ^ Caesar, Gal. 1.12, 1.7; cf. Lewis & Short, A Latin Dictionary, s.v. iugum.