Titus Manlius Torquatus (235 BC)
Encyclopedia
Titus Manlius Torquatus, son of Titus (or Titus Manlius T. f. Torquatus), was Roman Republican
consul
235 BC
and 224 BC
, censor
231 BC
, and dictator
208 BC
.
had been chosen consul in 480 BC
, four years after the first Fabius had become consul. Prominent consuls in the family included the early 4th century consul Marcus Manlius T.f. Capitolinus (whose career was marked by his gens banning the use of the praenomen Marcus thereafter), and the 4th century consul Titus Manlius L.f. Imperiosus Torquatus
. Titus was descended from this last consul, notable not only for his military successes but also for executing his own son for an impetuous breach of military discipline. It is not clear if the consul Aulus Manlius Titus f. Torquatus Atticus was Titus's elder brother.
, recently acquired from the Carthaginians. After this war, the temple of Janus
was shut for the second time in Roman history (Livy
1. 9), meaning that Rome was at peace, not war. He was then elected censor with Quintus Fulvius Flaccus
in 231 BC
, and apparently did not complete the lustrum (ritual cleansing of the Roman state), because new censors were elected in 230 BC
. (Torquatus might have fallen out with his colleague and resigned, or the omens might have been considered inauspicious, forcing both censors to resign). In 224 BC
, he was elected consul again, this time with his censorial colleague Flaccus
.
In 216 BC
, as one of the most senior senators then living, he successfully opposed the ransoming of the Romans taken prisoners at the Battle of Cannae
, on the grounds that they had made no effort to break out of the Carthaginian lines.
In 215 BC
he was sent to Sardinia, after the illness of Quintus Mucius Scaevola and defeated a Carthaginian attempt
under Hasdrubal the Bald to regain possession of the island.
However, he also suffered a number of reverses. In 212 BC
, he and Flaccus contested for the position of Pontifex Maximus
(chief priest of Rome), and lost to a younger and less distinguished man Publius Licinius Crassus
. It is unclear from Livy's account if Licinius Crassus benefited from the inevitable division of votes between the two ex-censors, or whether he was always ahead.
In 210 BC, he was the oldest living patrician senator who had been censor earliest, but he was not chosen Princeps Senatus
. The censor Publius Sempronius Tuditanus
preferred that the honor go to the most distinguished senior senator, who was in his view, Quintus Fabius Maximus Verrucoses Cunctator
, a man who had been first consul in 233 BC
and censor in 230 BC
. The other censor Marcus Cornelius Cethegus
preferred to go by the mos maiorum, but the choice was Tuditanus's to make.
It is not clear when Torquatus died, but he was probably not living in 202 BC
when Scipio defeated Hannibal at Zama
.
The speech powerfully influenced the Senate, and convinced the political elite not to ransom Roman soldiers who had not had the courage to break out unlike Tuditanus
.
Roman Republic
The Roman Republic was the period of the ancient Roman civilization where the government operated as a republic. It began with the overthrow of the Roman monarchy, traditionally dated around 508 BC, and its replacement by a government headed by two consuls, elected annually by the citizens and...
consul
Consul
Consul was the highest elected office of the Roman Republic and an appointive office under the Empire. The title was also used in other city states and also revived in modern states, notably in the First French Republic...
235 BC
235 BC
Year 235 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Torquatus and Bulbus...
and 224 BC
224 BC
Year 224 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Torquatus and Flaccus...
, censor
Censor (ancient Rome)
The censor was an officer in ancient Rome who was responsible for maintaining the census, supervising public morality, and overseeing certain aspects of the government's finances....
231 BC
231 BC
Year 231 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Matho and Maso...
, and dictator
Roman dictator
In the Roman Republic, the dictator , was an extraordinary magistrate with the absolute authority to perform tasks beyond the authority of the ordinary magistrate . The office of dictator was a legal innovation originally named Magister Populi , i.e...
208 BC
208 BC
Year 208 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Marcellus and Crispinus...
.
Family background
The Manlii were one of the oldest and most distinguished patrician gentes in the Roman Republic. One Gnaeus Manlius CincinnatusGnaeus Manlius Cincinnatus
Gnaeus Manlius P. f. Cincinnatus was the first of the patrician gens Manlia to obtain the consulship, which he held in 480 B.C., together with Marcus Fabius Vibulanus....
had been chosen consul in 480 BC
480 BC
Year 480 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Vibulanus and Cincinnatus...
, four years after the first Fabius had become consul. Prominent consuls in the family included the early 4th century consul Marcus Manlius T.f. Capitolinus (whose career was marked by his gens banning the use of the praenomen Marcus thereafter), and the 4th century consul Titus Manlius L.f. Imperiosus Torquatus
Titus Manlius Torquatus (347 BC)
Titus Manlius Imperiosus Torquatus held three consulships of republican Rome and was also three times Roman Dictator.His father Lucius was appointed dictator in 363 BC in order to fulfill religious duties, but instead undertook preparations for war...
. Titus was descended from this last consul, notable not only for his military successes but also for executing his own son for an impetuous breach of military discipline. It is not clear if the consul Aulus Manlius Titus f. Torquatus Atticus was Titus's elder brother.
Political career
In his first consulship in 235 BC, with Gaius Atilius A.f. Bulbus as his co-consul, he subjugated SardiniaSardinia
Sardinia is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea . It is an autonomous region of Italy, and the nearest land masses are the French island of Corsica, the Italian Peninsula, Sicily, Tunisia and the Spanish Balearic Islands.The name Sardinia is from the pre-Roman noun *sard[],...
, recently acquired from the Carthaginians. After this war, the temple of Janus
Janus (mythology)
In ancient Roman religion and mythology, Janus is the god of beginnings and transitions, thence also of gates, doors, doorways, endings and time. He is usually a two-faced god since he looks to the future and the past...
was shut for the second time in Roman history (Livy
Livy
Titus Livius — known as Livy in English — was a Roman historian who wrote a monumental history of Rome and the Roman people. Ab Urbe Condita Libri, "Chapters from the Foundation of the City," covering the period from the earliest legends of Rome well before the traditional foundation in 753 BC...
1. 9), meaning that Rome was at peace, not war. He was then elected censor with Quintus Fulvius Flaccus
Quintus Fulvius Flaccus
Quintus Fulvius Flaccus, son of Marcus Fulvius Flaccus , Quintus was consul in 237 BC, fighting the Gauls in northern Italy. He was censor in 231 BC, again consul in 224 BC, when he subdued the Boii...
in 231 BC
231 BC
Year 231 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Matho and Maso...
, and apparently did not complete the lustrum (ritual cleansing of the Roman state), because new censors were elected in 230 BC
230 BC
Year 230 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Barbula and Pera...
. (Torquatus might have fallen out with his colleague and resigned, or the omens might have been considered inauspicious, forcing both censors to resign). In 224 BC
224 BC
Year 224 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Torquatus and Flaccus...
, he was elected consul again, this time with his censorial colleague Flaccus
Quintus Fulvius Flaccus
Quintus Fulvius Flaccus, son of Marcus Fulvius Flaccus , Quintus was consul in 237 BC, fighting the Gauls in northern Italy. He was censor in 231 BC, again consul in 224 BC, when he subdued the Boii...
.
In 216 BC
216 BC
Year 216 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Varro and Paullus...
, as one of the most senior senators then living, he successfully opposed the ransoming of the Romans taken prisoners at the Battle of Cannae
Battle of Cannae
The Battle of Cannae was a major battle of the Second Punic War, which took place on August 2, 216 BC near the town of Cannae in Apulia in southeast Italy. The army of Carthage under Hannibal decisively defeated a numerically superior army of the Roman Republic under command of the consuls Lucius...
, on the grounds that they had made no effort to break out of the Carthaginian lines.
In 215 BC
215 BC
Year 215 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Albinus/Marcellus/Verrucosus and Gracchus...
he was sent to Sardinia, after the illness of Quintus Mucius Scaevola and defeated a Carthaginian attempt
Battle of Cornus
The Battle of Cornus, or Caralis took place when a Carthaginian army sailed to Sardinia in support of a Sardinian revolt against Roman rule. The army, led by Hasdrubal the Bald, fought a similar size Roman army under Praetor Titus Manlius Torquatus in the Fall of 215 BC somewhere between Cornus and...
under Hasdrubal the Bald to regain possession of the island.
However, he also suffered a number of reverses. In 212 BC
212 BC
Year 212 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Flaccus and Pulcher...
, he and Flaccus contested for the position of Pontifex Maximus
Pontifex Maximus
The Pontifex Maximus was the high priest of the College of Pontiffs in ancient Rome. This was the most important position in the ancient Roman religion, open only to patricians until 254 BC, when a plebeian first occupied this post...
(chief priest of Rome), and lost to a younger and less distinguished man Publius Licinius Crassus
Publius Licinius Crassus Dives (consul 205 BC)
Publius Licinius Crassus Dives Pontifex Maximus was consul in 205 BC with Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus ; he was also Pontifex Maximus since 213 or 212 BC , and held several other important positions. Licinius Crassus is mentioned several times in Livy's Histories...
. It is unclear from Livy's account if Licinius Crassus benefited from the inevitable division of votes between the two ex-censors, or whether he was always ahead.
In 210 BC, he was the oldest living patrician senator who had been censor earliest, but he was not chosen Princeps Senatus
Princeps senatus
The princeps senatus was the first member by precedence of the Roman Senate. Although officially out of the cursus honorum and owning no imperium, this office brought enormous prestige to the senator holding it.-Overview:...
. The censor Publius Sempronius Tuditanus
Publius Sempronius Tuditanus
Publius Sempronius C.f. Tuditanus was a Roman Republican consul and censor, best known for leading about 600 men to safety at Cannae in August, 216 BC.-Tuditanus at Cannae:...
preferred that the honor go to the most distinguished senior senator, who was in his view, Quintus Fabius Maximus Verrucoses Cunctator
Fabius Maximus
Quintus Fabius Maximus Verrucosus Cunctator was a Roman politician and general, born in Rome around 280 BC and died in Rome in 203 BC. He was Roman Consul five times and was twice Dictator in 221 and again in 217 BC. He reached the office of Roman Censor in 230 BC...
, a man who had been first consul in 233 BC
233 BC
Year 233 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Verrucosus and Matho...
and censor in 230 BC
230 BC
Year 230 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Barbula and Pera...
. The other censor Marcus Cornelius Cethegus
Marcus Cornelius Cethegus
Marcus Cornelius Cethegus was a Roman Republican consul and censor during the Second Punic War, best known as a political ally of his kinsman Scipio Africanus.-Political career:...
preferred to go by the mos maiorum, but the choice was Tuditanus's to make.
It is not clear when Torquatus died, but he was probably not living in 202 BC
202 BC
Year 202 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Geminus and Nero...
when Scipio defeated Hannibal at Zama
Battle of Zama
The Battle of Zama, fought around October 19, 202 BC, marked the final and decisive end of the Second Punic War. A Roman army led by Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus defeated a Carthaginian force led by the legendary commander Hannibal...
.
Torquatus's speech on the Roman prisoners
Livy reproduces the gist of Torquatus's powerful speech in Book 22.60, of which only the first part is reproduced here:- Titus Manlius Torquatus, a man of primitive, and, as some considered, over-rigorous severity, being asked his opinion, is reported thus to have spoken: "Had the deputies confined themselves to making a request, in behalf of those who are in the hands of the enemy, that they might be ransomed, I should have briefly given my opinion, without inveighing against any one. For what else would have been necessary but to admonish you, that you ought to adhere to the custom handed down from your ancestors, a precedent indispensable to military discipline. But now, since they have almost boasted of having surrendered themselves to the enemy, and have claimed to be preferred, not only to those who were captured by the enemy in the field, but to those also who came to Venusia and Canusium, and even to the consul Terentius himself; I will not suffer you to remain in ignorance of things which were done there. And I could wish that what I am about to bring before you, were stated at Canusium, before the army itself, the best witness of every man's cowardice or valour; or at least that one person, Publius Sempronius, were here, whom had they followed as their leader, they would this day have been soldiers in the Roman camp, and not prisoners in the power of the enemy...."
The speech powerfully influenced the Senate, and convinced the political elite not to ransom Roman soldiers who had not had the courage to break out unlike Tuditanus
Publius Sempronius Tuditanus
Publius Sempronius C.f. Tuditanus was a Roman Republican consul and censor, best known for leading about 600 men to safety at Cannae in August, 216 BC.-Tuditanus at Cannae:...
.