“The consuls were the first to be sent, little more than half-clothed, under the yoke, then each in the order of his rank was exposed to the same disgrace, and finally, the legionaries one after another. Around them stood the enemy fully armed, reviling and jeering at them; swords were pointed at most of them, and when they offended their victors by showing their indignation and resentment too plainly some were wounded and even killed. Thus were they marched under the yoke.” (Livy’s History of Rome, Book 9)

 

A medallion showing the Romans being sent under the Yoke by the Samnites (Source: Wikipedia)

 

“When the oaths had been taken, Pontius opened a passage from the defile, and having fixed two spears in the ground and laid another across the top, caused the Romans to go under it as they passed out, one by one.” (Appian, Samnite History, 1.6) 

 

 

This was considered a supreme act of humiliation to the Romans, who had been stripped half naked, their weapons and cloaks seized and made to pass under the yoke. For many it was a fate worse than death. It was made all the worse by the fact they had not even drawn their weapons nor engaged the enemy in combat. They had literally been subjugated. 

 

Interestingly, the word ‘subjugate’ may derive from this event as it comes from the Latin, subjugatus and the verb subjugare (Sub, “under” + jugum, “yoke”)  literally, “bring under the yoke”. Like an actual yoke, which is fastened to the necks of two oxen to keep them under control for work (which are otherwise too large and powerful to control), so defeated soldiers were brought against their will under the yoke, and made to submit to an enemy. 

 

A yoke attached to oxen

After this act of humiliation and subjugation the Romans were allowed to depart as was agreed beforehand. Upon their arrival in Capua, where they were welcomed by consoling friendly allies, the Roman soldiers were not able to lift their despondent heads and greet their welcoming allies in the face. 

 

Of the army it was later reported to older Senators that they seemed, “to be much more gloomy and depressed than the day before; the column moved along so silently that they might have been dumb; the Roman mettle was cowed; they had lost their spirit with their arms….their necks were bowed as if they were still beneath the yoke” (Livy’s History of Rome, Book 9). 

 

This victory by Samnites was so complete, the Historian Livy noted that it even exceeded that won by the Gauls, for the Samnites captured both the Romans and their courage. He relates:

 

“The Samnites had won not only a glorious victory but a lasting one; they had not only captured Rome as the Gauls had done before them, but, what was a still more warlike exploit, they had captured the Roman courage and hardihood.” (Livy’s History of Rome, Book 9)

 

 

Not long afterwards the Romans were able to exact the same humiliation upon the Samnites, having them in turn pass under the yoke. The shocking defeat and its memory, like the earlier one visited by the Gauls, served to provide the Romans with the resolve to never again suffer such a defeat at the hands of an enemy. And so it was to prove. The Samnites were soon conquered and absorbed by the Romans, while the Gauls would eventually meet the same fate centuries later.

 

Sources:

Appian, Samnite History, Horace White ed. 

Livy, The History of Rome, Vol.2, Translation Rev. Canon Roberts, Everyman’s Library, Published by J. M. Dent & Sons, Ltd., London, 1905

Websites:

http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/battles_caudine_forks.html

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/yoke

http://penelope.uchicago.edu/~grout/encyclopaedia_romana/miscellanea/trivia/yoke2.html

http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0230%3Atext%3DSam.

https://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/pass+under+the+yoke