The Silent Army of the Ancient World

Pontius was unnerved by both and settled on a third option that his father warned him corre ly, would win him no friends. He would let the army go, but force them to surrender under the yoke - a humiliating ritual in which the defeated army must pass beneath a horizontal spear lashed to two vertical spears. To the honor crazed armies of the ancient world, this humiliation was far worse than being killed on the battle field. And to the men who surrendered at codin, their humiliation would be doubled because they had never even drawn their swords. They were never given the opportunity to die gloriously in battle and take as many samnites as they could with them. It