This manuscript illustration from the National Library of the Netherlands was created by an unknown 14th-century artist. Although the artwork visually depicts late medieval knights in suits of plate armor, the subject of the artwork is much more ancient in origin. Medieval knightly art style aside, the illustration actually harkens back to the ancient Roman Republic, and re-creates a tale that supposedly occurred in the 4th century BCE.
Around the year 361 BCE, the city of Rome received disturbing intelligence reports that a Gallic army was loitering along the Via Salaria (Salt Road), at a position where the road bridged over the Anio river. At that time, the Romans were extra cautious and vigilant, because the city of Rome had been recently pillaged sometime between 390 and 386 BCE by a similar rogue Gallic army. With the sack of Rome still fresh in their memories, the Romans reportedly decided at that time to appoint a dictator to quickly mobilize an army and preemptively confront the Gallic warband before it could do any harm.
Among the Romans mobilized for that showdown with the Gauls was a young man named Titus Manlius, who was the son of a former dictator. He speedily marched with the Roman army to the Anio river, where the Romans set up camp across from the Gauls. The tale of what happened next was preserved in two main sources, the History of Rome by Livy (c. 59 BCE-17 CE), as well as the Attic Nights by Aulus Cornelius Gellius (whose source in this case was the 1st century BCE annalist, Claudius Quadrigarius). As the story was a centuries-old legend even in the time of these ancient Roman historians, their accounts naturally differed in certain details. Yet, the core elements of the story aligned in both versions of the tale.
Camped at opposite ends of a bridge over the Anio, the Gallic and Roman forces became firmly entrenched and at a standstill. The two sides launched small skirmishes, testing the strength of the other side, but both armies knew a large-scale assault across the bridge would be costly for the attacker. With no end to the standoff in sight, one of the leading fighters within the Gallic army proposed a legendary solution to decide the fate of the battle—a duel. Both accounts of the incident agreed that the Gallic champion was the one who initially made the proposal. This mysterious Gaul was unfortunately left unnamed in both versions of the story. The Roman champion, however, as the artwork title gives away, was none other than Titus Manlius.
In the Roman accounts of the duel, the fight between the Roman and Gallic champions was presented like a David and Goliath story. To use Livy’s description, the challenger was “a Gaul of enormous size” (History of Rome, 7.9), whereas Titus Manlius was a man with “a moderate physique for a soldier and was nothing special to look at…” (History of Rome, 7.10). The two were also quite different in the way they went into battle. Titus Manlius reportedly took a practical approach, gearing himself with equipment such as a common infantryman’s shield, as well as a sword designed like those used in the Iberian Peninsula. The Gaul, in contrast, was said to have been decked out in jewelry and ornamentation.
Our ancient sources disagreed, however, about just how much gold the Gallic champion wore during the duel. Aulus Cornelius Gellius, citing the annals of Claudius Quadrigarius, claimed, “a Gaul came forward, who was naked except for a shield and two swords and the ornament of a neck-chain and bracelets…” (Attic Nights, IX.13). Livy, on the other hand, drastically increased the Gallic warrior’s splendor, claiming he was “resplendent in multi-coloured clothing and painted armor inlaid with gold” (History of Rome, 7.10). Whatever the case, whether the Gaul wore gold only as jewelry, or if he brought a set of gilded armor to the duel, it evidently left an impression on the Roman observers.
In addition to his accessories, the Gallic champion’s behavior also stood out to the Romans. In both versions of the tale, the Gallic warrior was presented as a figure who was quite loud, occupying himself before the duel by flinging insults at the Romans or shouting out war songs. Most memorable of all, however, was an incident where the Gallic champion stuck out his tongue at the Roman army—a curious move that was preserved in both accounts of the story. In the version preserved by Gellius, it was the episode of the tongue-wagging that inspired Titus Manlius to accept the duel.
By all accounts, the Gallic champion was the stronger of the two fighters. Yet, quick-thinking Titus Manlius, like any successful underdog, had a brain that could find a route to victory despite unfavorable odds. Rather than rely on mere strength and brute force, he developed a much simpler, but bold, strategy to use speed, mobility, and agility to his advantage in the duel. Simply put, his game plan was to close the distance between him and his opponent as quickly as possible, hoping to slip in between the Gallic warrior’s sword and shield. Once this was accomplished, all he had to do was keep stabbing with his sword until the Gallic warrior was dead.
According to Livy’s account, Titus Manlius only had to charge forward once, as he managed to tackle and stab the Gallic champion in the same series of movements. In the version of Aulus Cornelius Gellius, however, Titus had to successfully pull off the move at least twice, closing the gap and stabbing the Gallic champion in different locations each time. Whatever the case, the strategy worked and Titus Manlius emerged victorious.
After the duel was over, Titus Manlius, was known to have looted the body of his opponent, taking the gold ornamentation that the Gallic warrior had worn into battle. It is this action that the medieval illustration re-creates. Titus Manlius’ conduct while removing the loot, however, was another area of dispute among the storytellers. In Livy’s account, Titus “spared the corpse of any abuse, despoiling it only of a torque, which, blood-spattered as it was, he put on his own neck” (History of Rome, 7.10). In the alternative account, however, the victor of the duel was much more aggressive in the way he obtained the neck ornament. Aulus Cornelius Gellius’s account stated, “he cut off his head, tore off his neck-chain, and put it, covered with blood as it was, around his own neck” (Attic Nights, IX.13). Given that the fallen knight in the illustration still has his helmeted head on his shoulders, the artwork seems to follow the account of Livy. This act of acquiring the golden torque is, according to legend, how the Roman hero acquired the Torquatus addition to his name, Titus Manlius Torquatus.
Written by C. Keith Hansley
Sources:
- The History of Rome by Livy, translated by Betty Radice. New York: Penguin Classics, 1982.
- https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Gellius/9*.html#ref64
- https://www.europeana.eu/en/item/9200122/BibliographicResource_1000056087696
