This term has come down through the generations, and to us it means to carry that which has no benefit or purpose and it can actually causes harm. However, to the Romans, the term referred to practice of strapping a dead body to a criminal. They were forced to live out there last few weeks in a walking punishment by carrying a maggot infested corpse strapped to their bare back. During the process of decomposition, it slowly leaked poisons into the criminal, making them sicker and sicker until they finally died a very slow, painful, stench-filled death.