person
Titus Manlius Torquatus
T. Torquatus
also: Titus Torquatus
Young man before whom Deiotarus's slave confessed to being bribed (Pro Deiotaro §32).
Reading notes
- On the Ends of Good and Evil §1.23 the Torquatus who first won that cognomen — tearing the torc from an enemy's neck
T. Manlius Torquatus earned the surname by stripping the gold torc (neck-ring) from a slain Gallic champion. The exemplum shows ancestral valor done for honor, not pleasure.
- On Duties §3.112 killed the Gaul who had challenged him to single combat
Titus Manlius won his surname Torquatus by killing a giant Gaul in single combat at the Anio and stripping his neck-ring (torques). The same man, indulgent to his father, later executed his own son for disobedience.
- Tusculan Disputations §4.49 that famous Torquatus, who won this cognomen
Titus Manlius Torquatus, who in 361 BC slew a Gaul in single combat and stripped off his neck-ring (torques), thereby gaining the cognomen Torquatus. Cicero denies that he acted in anger.