Torquatus
Frieze-Dennison Vergil
- the surname of T. Manlius, so called because he put on the neck-chain of a Gaul whom he slew in single combat; also, of his descendants, Quadrig. ap. Gell. 9, 13, 19; Cic. Fin. 1, 7, 23; id. Off. 3, 31, 112; Liv. 7, 10; Flor. 1, 13.—Adj.: Torquata nomina, Luc. 7, 584.
- —Hence, Torquātĭānus, a, um, of or belonging to a Torquatus, Torquatian: horti, Front. Aquaed. 5.
consul under Hadrian in A. D. 143 with Ti. Claudius Atticus Herodes. (Fasti)
[Silanus.]
a man of consular rank, slain by Commodus. He must have been one of the consules suffecti, as his name does not occur in the Fasti. (Lamprid. Commod. 7.)
The Torquati were a patrician family of the Manlia Gens. Their descent is given in the following genealogical table, which is to some extent conjectural.
STEMMA MANLIORUM TORQUATORUM.
1. T. Manlius Imperiosus Torquatus, L. F. A. N., the son of L. Manlius Capitolinus Imperiosus, dictator in B. C. 363, was a favourite hero of Roman story. He possessed the characteristic virtues of the old Romans, being a brave man, an obedient son, and a severe father; and he never allowed the feelings of nature or friendship to interfere with what he deemed his duty to his country. Manlius is said to have been dull of mind in his youth, and was brought up by his father in the closest retirement in the country. The tribune M. Pomponius availed himself of the latter circumstance, when he accused the elder Manlius in B. C. 362, on account of the cruelties he had practised in his dictatorship in the preceding year, to excite an odium against him, by representing him at the same time as a cruel and tyrannical father. As soon as the younger Manlius heard of this, he hurried to Rome, obtained admission to Pomponius early in the morning, and compelled the tribune, by threatening him with instant death if he did not take the oath, to swear that he would drop the accusation against his father. Although the elder Manlius was no favourite with the people, and had received the surname Imperiosus on account of his haughtiness, yet they were so delighted with the filial affection of the younger Manlius, that they not only forgave his violence to the tribune but elected him one of the tribunes of the soldiers in the course of the same year. In the following year, B. C. 361, according to Livy, though other accounts give different years, Manlius served under the dictator T. Quintius Pennus in the war against the Gauls, and in this campaign earned immortal glory by slaying in single combat a gigantic Gaul, who had stepped out of the ranks and challenged a Roman to fight him. From the dead body of the barbarian he took the chain (torques) which had adorned him, and placed it around his own neck ; his comrades in their rude songs gave him the surname of Torquatus, which he continued ever afterwards to bear, and which he handed down to his descendants. His fame became so great that he was appointed dictator in B. C. 353, before he had held the consulship, in order to carry on the war against the Caerites and the Etruscans. In B. C. 349 he was again raised to the dictatorship for the purpose of holding the comitia. Two years afterwards, B. C. 347, he was consul for the first time with C. Plautius Venno Hypsaeus; during which year nothing of importance occurred, except the enactment of a law de fenore. He was consul a second time in B. C. 344 with C. Marcius Rutilus, and a third time in B. C. 340 with P. Decius Mus. In his third consulship Torquatus and his colleague gained the great victory over the Latins at the foot of Vesuvius, which established for ever the supremacy of Rome over Latium. An account of this battle, which was mainly won by the self-sacrifice of Decius Mus, has been given elsewhere. [Mus, No. 1.] The name of Torquatus has become chiefly memorable in connection with this war on account of the execution of his son. Shortly before the battle, when the two armies were encamped opposite to one another, the consuls published a proclamation that no Roman should engage in single combat with a Latin on pain of death. Notwithstanding this proclamation, the young Manlius, the son of the consul, provoked by the insults of a Tusculan noble of the name of Mettius Geminus, accepted his challenge, slew his adversary, and bore the bloody spoils in triumph to his father. Death was his reward. The consul would not overlook this breach of discipline : and the unhappy youth was executed by the lictor in presence of the assembled army. This severe sentence rendered Torquatus an object of detestation among the Roman youths as long as he lived; and the recollection of his severity was preserved in after ages by the expression Manliana imperia. Two writers relate that the young Manlius was executed by his father's orders in a war with the Gauls (Sall. Cat. 52 ; Dionys. A. R. 8.79); but as we do not read of Torquatus having the command in any war against the Gauls, it is probable that he is confounded by these writers with No. 6, as Zonaras has done, who says (9.8), that No. 6 caused his son to be executed. Torquatus is not mentioned again by Livy; but according to the Fasti he was dictator for the third time in B. C. 320. Further Information
Liv. 7.4, 5, 10, 19, 26_28, 8.3_12 ; Cic. de Off. 3.31, de Fin. 1.7, 2.19, 22, Tusc. 4.22; V. Max. 6.9.1, 1.7.3, 2.7.6; Gel. 1.13; Dio Cass. Fragm. 34, p. 16, Reim.; Aurel. Vict. de Vir. Ill. 28.
2. T. Manlius Torquatus, the son of the preceding, was slain by his father's order, as is related above.
3. T. Manlius Torquatus, probably a son of No. 2, was consul B. C. 299 with M. Fulvius Paetinus. He was appointed to conduct the war against the Etruscans; but he had scarcely entered Etruria, when he was thrown from his horse, and died in consequence on the third day after. (Liv. 10.9, 11.)
4. L. Manlius Torquatus, probably a brother of No. 3, legatus of the propraetor Scipio in the great campaign of B. C. 295. (Liv. 10.26.)
5. A. Manlius Torquatus Atticus, T. F. T. N., son of No. 3, was censor B. C. 247 with A. Atilius Calatinus, consul for the first time in 244 with C. Sempronius Blaesus, and for the second time in 241 with Q. Lutatius Cerco. In his second consulship Torquatus defeated the Falisci, who had taken up arms and obtained a triumph in consequence. (Fasti Capit.; Eutrop. 2.28; Oros. 4.11; comp. Liv. Ep. 19 ; Plb. 1.65.) Pliny (Plin. Nat. 7.53. s. 54) speaks of the sudden death of a consular A. Manlius Torquatus, who may have been either the subject of this notice or No. 9.
6. T. Manlius Torquatus, T. F. T. N., son of No. 3 and brother of No. 5, was consul for the first time in B. C. 235 with C. Atilius Bulbus, in which year he conquered the Sardinians, and obtained in consequence a triumph. His first consulship was memorable from the circumstance that the temple of Janus was closed in this year, in consequence of the Romans enjoying universal peace, which is said not to have occurred before since the reign of Numa Pompilius. (Eutrop. 3.3; Liv. 23.34; Vell. 2.38; Oros. 4.12; Liv. 1.19; Plut. Num. 20.) In B. C. 231 Torquatus was elected censor with Q. Fulvius Flaccus, but was obliged to resign through some unfavourable symptom in the auspices. (Fasti Capit.) In B. C. 224 he was consul a second time with Q. Fulvius Flaccus, and along with his colleagues carried on the war with success against the Gauls in the north of Italy. These consuls were the first Roman generals who crossed the Po. (Plb. 2.31 ; Liv. Epit. 20 ; Oros. 4.13.) This Torquatus possessed the hereditary sternness and severity of his family (priscae ac nimis durae severitatis, Liv. 22.60). We accordingly find him resolutely opposing in the senate the ransom of those Romans who had been taken prisoners at the fatal battle of Cannae (B. C. 216). In the following year (B. C. 217) he was sent into Sardinia in consequence of the illness of the praetor Q. Mucius, who had the government of the province; and while in the island he carried on the war with success against the Carthaginians and the Sardinians, who had revolted at the instigation of the former people. In B. C. 212 he was a candidate for the dignity of pontifex maximus, but was defeated by P. Licinius Crassus, who was greatly his junior, and was then suing for the curule aedileship. The people wished to choose Torquatus consul for the year 210, but he refused to accept the honour. Two years afterwards (B. C. 208) he was appointed dictator for the purpose of holding the comitia and presiding at the games which had been vowed by the praetor M. Aemilius. (Liv. 22.60, 23.34, 40, 41, 25.5, 26.22, 27.33.) He died in B. C. 202. (Liv. 30.39.)
7. A. Manlius Torquatus, known only from the Fasti Capitolini as the son of No. 6 and the father of No. 8.
8. T. Manlius Torquatus, A. F. T. N., the son of No. 7, was consul B. C. 165 with Cn. Octavius. He inherited the severity of his ancestors ; of which an instance is related in the condemnation of his son, who had been adopted by D. Junius Silanus, the particulars of which are related elsewhere. [Silanus, No. 3.] He appears to be the same person as the T. Manlius Torquatus, who was elected pontiff in B. C. 170, and who was sent on an embassy to Egypt about B. C. 164 to mediate between the two Ptolemies, Philometor and Euergetes. On his return Torquatus spoke in the senate in favour of the younger brother, Euergetes. (Liv. 43.11; Plb. 31.18, 32.1.)
9. A. Manlius Torquatus, A. F. T. N., son of No. 7 and brother of No. 8, was praetor B. C. 167, when he obtained Sardinia, but was unable to go into his province, as he was retained by the senate to investigate some capital offences. He was consul in B. C. 164 with Q. Cassius Longinus (Liv. 45.16; Fasti Capit.). Respecting his death, see No. 5.
10. A. Manlius Torquatus, was propraetor of Africa, perhaps about B. C. 70, where Plancius, whom Cicero defended at a later period, served under him. (Cic. pro Planc. 11.)
11. A. Manlius Torquatus, probably son of No. 10, was praetor in B. C. 52, when he presided at the trial of Milo for bribery. On the breaking out of the civil war he espoused the side of Pompey, and after the defeat of the latter retired to Athens, where he was living in exile in B. C. 45. He was an intimate friend of Cicero, who addressed four letters to him (ad Fam. 6.1-4) while he was in exile. (Ascon. in Cic. Mil. pp. 40, 54, ed. Orelli; Cic. Att. 5.1, 4, 21, 6.1, 7.14, 9.8, de Fin. 2.22.)
12. T. Manlius Torquatus, T. F., the first cousin (frater patruelis) and father-in-law of No. 10, bore witness on behalf of Plancius in B. C. 54. He is spoken of by Cicero as an orator who came from Molo's school. (Cic. pro Planc. 11, Brut. 70.)
13. T. Manlius Torquatus, probably a son of No. 12, is spoken of by Cicero in his oration for Deiotarus, B. C. 45, as "optimus adolescens." He appears to be the same person as the Torquatus who is mentioned by Cicero two or three times in his correspondence with Atticus in that year, from which we learn that he was augur. He was quaestor of Pansa in B. C. 43. (Cic. pro Deiot. 11, ad Att. 13.20, 21, 12.17; Appian, App. BC 3.69, 76; Pseudo_Brut. ad Cic. 1.6.)
14. L. Manlius Torquatus, L. F., was consul B. C. 65 with L. Aurelius Cotta. Torquatus and Cotta obtained the consulship in consequence of the condemnation, on account of bribery, of P. Cornelius Sulla and P. Autronius Paetus, who had been already elected consuls. It is stated by Dio Cassius (36.27) that Cotta and his colleague accused the consuls elect; but it appears from Cicero (de Fin. 2.19, pro Sull. 17, 18) that this is a mistake, and that it was the younger Torquatus [No. 15] who brought the accusation against Sulla and Paetus. Before Torquatus and Cotta entered upon the consulship, the first Catilinarian conspiracy, as it is called, was formed, in which Sulla and Paetus are said to have united with Catiline for the purpose of assassinating the consuls on the 1st of January. This conspiracy, however, failed. At this time and during his consulship Torquatus was in close connection with Hortensius, and he did not consult Cicero on any matters, although the latter was then praetor, and was very intimate with the younger Torquatus. (Cic. pro Sull. 4.) Notwithstanding this attempt upon his life, Torquatus defended Catiline in the course of the same year when he was accused of extortion (de repetundis) in his province. After his consulship Torquatus obtained the province of Macedonia, where he performed some exploits; in consequence of which the senate, upon the motion of Cicero, conferred upon him the title of imperator. During Cicero's consulship, B. C. 63, he took an active part in suppressing the Catilinarian conspiracy, although he was then out of health. He also supported Cicero, when he was banished in B. C. 58, and interceded in vain on his behalf with the consul Piso. He is not mentioned again, and probably died soon afterwards. Cicero speaks of him (Brut. 68) as "elegans in dicendo, in existimando admodum prudens, toto genere perurbanus ;" and as he belonged to the aristocratical party, the orator praises his gravitas, sanctitas, and constantia. (D. C. 36.27; Sall. Cat. 18 ; Liv. Epit. 101 ; Cic. de Div. 1.12, de Leg. Agr. 2.17, pro Sull. 4, 10, 12, 29, ad Att. 12.21, in Pison. 19, 20, 31.)
15. L. Manlius Torquatus, son of No. 13, accused of bribery, in B. C. 66, the consuls elect, P. Cornelius Sulla and P. Autronius Paetus, as is related above, and thus secured the consulship for his father. He was closely connected with Cicero during the praetorship (B. C. 65) and consulship (B. C. 63) of the latter. In B. C. 62 he brought a second accusation against P. Sulla, whom he now charged with having been a party to both of Catiline's conspiracies. Sulla was defended by Hortensius and by Cicero in a speech which is still extant, and through the eloquence of his advocates, and the support of the aristocratical party, he obtained a verdict in his favour. In B. C. 54 Torquatus defended Gabinius when he was accused by Sulla. Torquatus, like his father, belonged to the aristocratical party, and accordingly opposed Caesar on the breaking out of the civil war in B. C. 49. He was praetor in that year, and was stationed at Alba with six cohorts; but on the fall of Corfinium he abandoned Alba and his soldiers went over to Caesar. He subsequently joined Pompey in Greece. In the following year (B. C. 48) he had the command of Oricum intrusted to him, but was obliged to surrender both himself and the town to Caesar, who, with his usual magnanimity, dismissed Torquatus uninjured. Torquatus, however, forthwith joined Pompey, and fought under him against Caesar at Dyrrhachium (Oros. 5.15). After the battle of Pharsalia he went to Africa, and upon the defeat of his party in that country, in B. C. 46, he attempted to escape to Spain along with Scipio and others, but was taken prisoner by P. Sittius at Hippo Regius and slain together with his companions. (Cic. pro Sull. 1, 8, 10, 12, ad Att. 4.16.11, ad Q. Fr. 3.3.2, ad Att. 7.12, 23, 9.8; Caes. Civ. 1.24, 3.11; Hirt. B. Afr. 96 ; Oros. 6.16, where he is erroneously called Titus.) Torquatus was well acquainted with Greek literature, and is praised by Cicero as a man well trained in every kind of learning. Although he expressed himself with elegance and force, he was not much of an orator. He belonged to the Epicurean school of philosophy, of which he was one of the most distinguished disciples at that time at Rome ; and he is introduced by Cicero as the advocate of that school in his dialogue De Finibus, the first book of which is called Torquatus in Cicero's letters to Atticus. (Cic. Brut. 76, de Fin. 1.5, ad Att. 13.5, 19, 32.)
16. Manlius Torquatus, the legatus of Pompey in the war against the pirates in B. C. 67 (Appian, Mithr. 95), was probably the same as one of the preceding persons, but we have no means of determining which.
17. Torquatus, to whom Horace addresses two of his poems (Carm. 4.7, Sat. 1.5), probably did not belong to the Manlia gens, but was the same person as C. Nonius Asprenas. [Nonius, No. 8.]
There are several coins bearing the name of L. Manlius Torquatus, who was the proquaestor of Sulla, as we learn from one of the coins. The specimen annexed has on the obverse the head of Rome, encircled with a torques or chain [see No. 1], and on the reverse a man riding a horse at full gallop, with the legend L. TORQVA. (Q.) EX S. C. (Eckhel, vol. v. p. 244.)
[Nonius, No. 8.]
of Mediolanum (Milan), lived in the reign of Claudius, and obtained the surname of Tricongius by drinking three congii of wine at once, that is, nearly eighteen English pints! (Plin. Nat. 14.22. s. 28.)
[Silanus, Nos. 14, 15.]
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…Ubi socordiae te atque ignaviae tradideris, nequiquam deos implores irati infestique sunt. Apud maiores nostros A. Manlius Torquatus bello Gallico filium suum, quod is contra imperium in hostem pugnaverat, necari iussit atque ille egregius adulescens inmoderatae…
Sallust, Catilina
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…hoc Catilina et Autronius circiter Nonas Decembris consilio communicato parabant in Capitolio Kalendis Ianuariis L. Cottam et L. Torquatum consules interficere, ipsi fascibus correptis Pisonem cum exercitu ad obtinendas duas Hispanias mittere. Ea re cognita rursus in…
Sallust, Catilina
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…. negavi me cuiquam negotianti dare quod idem tibi ostenderam Cn. Pompeio petenti probaram institutum meum, quid dicam Torquato de M. Laenio tuo, multis aliis ; sin praefectus vellet esse syngraphae causa, me curaturum ut exigeret…
Cicero, Epistulae ad Atticum
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…, improbos quasi perculsos. haec metuo equidem ne sint somnia, sed tamen M. Lepidum, L. Torquatum, C. Cassium tribunum pl. hi enim sunt nobiscum, id est in Formiano Philotimi litterae ad vitam…
Cicero, Epistulae ad Atticum
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…de ambitu sqq. loquens induciturin libris de finibus cf. praefat p. XIII sqq. A. Manlius Torquatus praetora. . Ciceronis amicus sqq. Mantinea C. Marius septiens consul Medea v. Q. Ennius ;…
M. Tullius Cicero, de Finibus Bonorum et Malorum
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…orae maritimae civitates occuparet. at ille expositis militibus eodem die Oricum proficiscitur. quo cum venisset, L. Torquatus, qui iussu Pompei oppido praeerat praesidiumque ibi Parthinorum habebat, conatus portis clausis oppidum defendere, cum Graecos murum…
Julius Caesar, Civil War
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…, ut mihi quidem videtur. ac fieri potest, ut errem, sed ita prorsus existimo, neque eum Torquatum, qui hoc primus cognomen invenerit, aut torquem illum hosti detraxisse, ut aliquam ex eo perciperet corpore voluptatem…
M. Tullius Cicero, de Finibus Bonorum et Malorum
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…quo breviter comprehensis gravissimis sententiis quasi oracula edidisse sapientiae dicitur, scribit his verbis, quae nota tibi profecto, Torquate, sunt quis enim vestrum non edidicit Epicuri κυρίας δόξας, id est quasi maxime ratas, quia gravissimae sint…
M. Tullius Cicero, de Finibus Bonorum et Malorum
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…, iudices, testor mihi de memet ipso tam multa dicendi necessitas quaedam imposita est ab illo. nam si Torquatus Sullam solum accusasset, ego quoque hoc tempore nihil aliud agerem nisi eum qui accusatus esset defenderem ; sed cum…
Cicero, pro Sulla
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…esse, nec vero id, dum omnia ad voluptatem doloremque referetis, efficietis umquam. Quare aliud aliquod, Torquate, hominis summum bonum reperiendum est, voluptatem bestiis concedamus, quibus vos de summo bono testibus uti soletis .…
M. Tullius Cicero, de Finibus Bonorum et Malorum
The name of a patrician family of the Manlia gens. (1) T. Manlius Imperiōsus. Torquātus, the son of L. Manlius Capitolinus Imperiosus, dictator B.C. 363, was a favourite hero of Roman story. Manlius is said to have been dull of mind in his youth, and was brought up by his father in the closest retirement in the country. In 361 he served under the dictator T. Quintius Pennus in the war against the Gauls, and in this campaign earned immortal glory by slaying in single combat a gigantic Gaul. From the dead body of the barbarian he took the chain (torques) which had adorned him, and placed it around his own neck; and from this circumstance he obtained the surname of Torquatus. He was dictator in 353, and again in 349. He was also three times consul, namely, in 347, 344, and in 340. In the last of these years Torquatus and his colleague, P. Decius Mus, gained the great victory over the Latins at the foot of Vesuvius, which established forever the supremacy of Rome over Latium. Shortly before the battle, when the two armies were encamped opposite to one another, the consuls published a proclamation that no Roman should engage in single combat with a Latin on pain of death. This command was violated by young Manlius, the consul's son, who was in consequence executed by the lictor in presence of the assembled army. This severe sentence rendered Torquatus an object of detestation among the Roman youths as long as he lived; and the recollection of his severity was preserved in after-ages by the expression Manliana imperia (Livy, iv. 5, 19-28; id. viii. 3-12; Cic. De Off. iii. 31).
(2) T. Manlius Torquātus, consul B.C. 235, when he conquered the Sardinians; censor in 231; and consul a second time in 224. He possessed the hereditary sternness and severity of his family; and we accordingly find him opposing in the Senate the ransom of those Romans who had been taken prisoners at the fatal battle of Cannae. He was dictator in 210.
(3) L. Manlius Torquātus, consul B.C. 65 with L. Aurelius Cotta. He took an active part in suppressing the Catilinarian conspiracy in 63; and he also supported Cicero when he was banished in 58.
(4) L. Manlius Torquātus, son of No. 3, belonged to the aristocratic party, and accordingly opposed Caesar on the breaking out of the Civil War in 49. He was praetor in that year, and was stationed at Alba with six cohorts. He subsequently joined Pompey in Greece, and in the following year (48) he had the command of Oricum intrusted to him; but was obliged to surrender both himself and the town to Caesar, who, however, dismissed Torquatus uninjured. After the battle of Pharsalia, Torquatus went to Africa, and upon the defeat of his party in that country in 46 he attempted to escape to Spain along with Scipio and others, but was taken prisoner by P. Sittius at Hippo Regius, and slain, together with his companions. Torquatus was well acquainted with Greek literature, and is praised by Cicero, with whom in early life he was closely connected, as a man well trained in every kind of learning.
(5) A. Manlius Torquātus, praetor in B.C. 52, when he presided at the trial of Milo for bribery. On the breaking out of the Civil War he espoused the side of Pompey, and after the defeat of the latter retired to Athens, where he was living in exile in 45. He was an intimate friend of Cicero.