In Antiquity and the Middle Ages, on rare occasions, sanity prevailed and to avoid unnecessary bloodshed, it was agreed that the battle in question would be decided by a duel between the champions of each side.
When Tulio Hostilio (673 – 641 BC), the third king of Rome, declared war on the city of Alba Longa It was agreed to settle the dispute through one of these fights, but in a somewhat peculiar way... triple brothers would fight for each of the sides . The Horace , in defense of Rome, and the Curiaci by Alba Longa. The beginning of the duel was very even but, little by little, the Curiacios were cornering the Romans until they killed two of them. The third of the Horacios fled and the three Curiacios, wounded in various ways, pursued him. When he already had them where he wanted them, tired and wounded, he turned around and killed them one by one.
Horacio's entry into Rome was triumphant, but something was wrong on this day of celebration... his own sister cried disconsolately . The triumphant return of his brother meant that all the Curiacios had died, no one knew that she had secretly been engaged to one of them. When her brother understood what was happening, he stabbed her saying:
This is how Roman women who mourn the enemy die.
Death of the sister of the Horacios
For the murder committed he was sentenced to death but he was able to save his life when he appealed to the people and his sentence was commuted to the sororium tigillum :wear a yoke that indicated submission to the will of another.