Phrase used in Horace Book III Ode IX. The yoke has of connotations of subservience; in some ancient cultures it was traditional to force a defeated enemy to pass beneath a symbolic yoke of spears or swords. A remnant of this tradition is the saber arch seen at some military weddings. The yoke may be a metaphor for something oppressive or burdensome, such as imperialism, or for a link or bond between two people, such as marriage. The yoke is frequently used metaphorically in the Bible, first in Genesis regarding Esau.