There dwelt in Rome a certain Lucius Manlius, of the kindred of that
Manlius that thrust down the Gauls from the Capitol, and men gave him
the surname of Imperious by reason of the haughtiness of his temper.
This Manlius was made dictator for this one purpose, that he might drive
a nail into the wall of the temple of Jupiter. For it had been a custom
in old time that whoever was chief magistrate at Rome should drive a
nail in this place on the fifteenth day of the month September, to the
end that the number of the year might thus be marked, there being in
those days but small use of letters and figures; and this nail was
driven into the wall that looks towards the temple of Minerva, because
Minerva is the goddess of numbers. But in the days of Manlius this
custom had been long since forgotten; and when it chanced that a
pestilence came upon the city and nothing else availed to stay it (for
besides other things stage players were brought from Etruria to make
a show that might appease the anger of the gods), certain old men
remembered that in former years such plagues had been stayed by the
appointing of a dictator to drive in a nail. This Manlius then was thus
appointed; but when he had done his office he conceived the purpose of
carrying on war against the Hernici, and would have levied an army but
that the tribunes of the Commons hindered him.
In the beginning of the next year one of the tribunes, Pomponius by
name, brought Manlius to trial, bringing sundry accusations against him.
For in the levy that he sought to make he had dealt cruelly with them
that answered not to their names, causing some to be beaten with rods
and casting others into prison. His surname also was proof sufficient
that he was of such a temper as could not be endured in a free state.
"And this temper," said the tribune, "he had shown not to strangers
only, but even to those that are of his own blood. His own son, a young
man uncondemned of any crime, he has banished from the city and from
his home, forbidding him to have any converse with his fellows, and
compelling him to work after the fashion of a slave. And for what fault
in the young man, think ye, that he hath done this thing? Because he is
not eloquent or ready of speech. But should not a father, if there be
any natural kindness in him, seek to apply remedies to such defects
rather than to punish them? Even the brute beasts, if their offspring
chance to be ill-shaped, are the more careful to nourish and cherish it.
But this Manlius has rather increased the affliction of his son, and
made his wits yet slower than they were, extinguishing such natural
power as he may have by causing him to dwell among the beasts of the
field."
This accusation stirred great anger against the father in all men save
only in the son himself. For when the young man knew that an accusation
had been made against his father on his account he was much troubled.
And that both gods and men might know that he desired to give help to
his father rather than to the enemies of his father, he conceived a plan
which indeed ill became a citizen and one who would be obedient to the
laws, yet still was to be commended for its piety. Girding himself with
a knife he came, none knowing his purpose, early in the morning to the
city, and went straightway from the gate to the house of Pomponius the
tribune. Then he said to the porter, "I must needs speak forthwith with
your master. Tell him that Titus Manlius, son of Lucius Manlius, seeks
him." The tribune, thinking that the young man had come full of
anger against his father, to bring, it might be, some new accusation,
commanded that he should be brought into his chamber. When they had
greeted one another Manlius said, "I have somewhat to say to thee
which thou must hear alone." So the tribune bade all that were present
withdraw themselves. This being done Manlius drew his dagger, and
standing over the bed, threatened that he would run him through
therewith unless he should swear in words that he would himself dictate
that he would never hold a meeting of the Commons before which to bring
his father to judgment. The tribune, fearing the steel which glittered
before his eyes, and knowing that the young man was not only of
exceeding strength but also of a very fierce and savage temper, and
being himself without arms, sware as he was bidden, and afterwards told
what had taken place, showing that he had given up his purpose under
compulsion. The people took it ill that they could not sit in judgment
on a man of so cruel a temper; nevertheless they commended the son for
his piety; and all the more because the harshness of his father had not
extinguished in him his natural affection. The father indeed escaped
not, being brought to trial, and the son reaped from the matter this
reward, that in the following year, when the people for the first time,
for so it chanced to happen, chose their tribune in the army, he was so
chosen, having the second place among six; and this though he had
done nothing either at home or abroad which might commend him to their
favour.
In the year following there was a war with the Gauls, who had pitched
their camp three miles only from Rome on the other side of the river
Anio. A certain Quinctius Pennus, being made dictator, gathered a great
army and encamped on the near side of the river. Now between the two
armies there was a bridge, which neither the one nor the other would
break down, lest they should seem to fear the enemy. For this bridge
many battles were fought; and it could not be told, so equal was the
strength on either side, to whom it belonged. At a certain day there
came forth a Gaul of exceeding great stature and stood upon the bridge,
crying with a loud voice, "Hear now, ye men of Rome, let the bravest
man that ye have among you come forth, and let him fight with me; and
according as I shall prevail over him, or he prevail over me, so shall
we know whether Gauls or Romans are the better in war."
For a long time there was silence among the Roman people, for they were
ashamed to refuse the battle, yet were loath to take the very first
place in this great peril. Then Titus Manlius, the son of Lucius, came
forth, and said to the Dictator, "I would never fight out of my due
place in the host without thy bidding, not even though I should see
victory clearly assured. But now, if thou wilt suffer me, I would gladly
show to that brute beast that shows himself so confidently before the
standards of the enemy that I am of the name of Manlius and of the
kindred of him that drave down the Gauls from the Capitol." To him the
Dictator made answer, "Thou doest well, Manlius, with thy valour and thy
piety, both towards thy country and thy father. Go thou and show, the
Gods helping thee, that a Roman cannot be conquered." Then his comrades
armed the youth, giving him the long shield of a foot soldier and a
Spanish sword, which, for its shortness, was well suited for fighting in
close combat. Then they led him forward against the Gaul; and even noted
how, for scorn of his enemy, the barbarian thrust out his tongue. So the
two stood together between the armies, being ill matched, if one would
judge by the appearance. The Gaul, indeed, was of exceedingly great
stature, and was clad in a garment of many colours, and his arms were
painted and inlaid with gold. As for the Roman, he was of the middle
stature, such as is commonly to be seen among soldiers, his bearing
being without pride, and his arms fitted for use rather than for show.
He used no song of defiance, nor leaping from the ground, nor idle
shaking of his arms; but kept his courage and wrath silent within his
heart, nor showed his fierceness till the combat itself should need
it. So they stood, and the two armies regarded them with hope and fear.
First the Gaul, being like to some great mass that was ready to crush
everything under it, thrusting forward his shield on his left arm, dealt
a great blow on the armour of Manlius with his sword, striking with the
edge (for the swords of the Gauls had no points), but harming him not,
though the sound of it was great. But the Roman, first thrusting aside
the shield of the enemy with his own shield, ran in close upon him, so
that the man could not strike him--his sword being over long--and so
driving his sword pointwise from beneath, smote him twice in the belly
and in the groin, so that he fell his whole length upon the ground. And
as he lay, he stripped from his body, to which he did no other harm,
a chain of twisted gold that the man wore, and threw it, covered with
blood as it was, about his own neck. Meanwhile the Gauls stood still for
fear and wonder; but the Romans running forth with joy from their ranks
to meet their champion, so led him to the Dictator. From this deed Titus
Manlius was called "Manlius of the Twisted Chain;" and this name he
handed down to his descendants after him.
About twenty years after this deed there was a great war between the
Romans and the Latins (for the Latins demanded that one consul should
always be of their nation, and, this being denied to them, made war
against Rome) and this same Manlius was consul. Now it was needful that
there should be discipline of the strictest sort in the army; and also,
because the Latins spake the same tongue as did the Romans, and had
their arms and all other things that appertained to war the same, the
Consuls issued a decree that no man should fight with the enemy, save
only at his post in the army.
Now it chanced that Titus Manlius, son of the Consul, being captain of a
squadron of horsemen, rode so far with his squadron (the horsemen being
sent out in all directions to spy out the country) that he was scarce
the length of a spear's throw from the camp of the enemy, at a certain
part where the horsemen of Tusculum had their station. The leader of
these horsemen was Metius, a certain man of noble birth and renowned
among his countrymen for his valour. This Metius, seeing the Roman
horsemen, and Manlius the Consul's son riding in the front, and knowing
him who he was (for indeed all the men of note in the two armies were
known to each other), cried out, "Are ye minded, ye men of Rome, being
but one squadron, to do battle with the Latins and their allies? What
are the Consuls doing, and their two armies?" To this Manlius made
answer, "They will come in due time; aye, one that is mightier than
they, even Jupiter, will come also: Jupiter, who is witness to the
treaties which ye have broken. If at the Lake Regillus we fought with
you till ye were weary, so here also we will give you such entertainment
as ye shall little like." Then said Metius, "Art thou willing, then, in
the meanwhile, while the day on which ye will make so mighty a stir is
yet coming, to fight here with me, that from the issue of our meeting
all men may know by how much a Latin horseman is better than a horseman
of the Romans?" Thereupon anger, or shame that he should seem to shrink
from such combat, or, it may be, the will of fate, that none may escape,
stirred the young man's haughty spirit, so that, taking no account of
his father's commands or of the decree of the Consuls, he thrust himself
headlong into a combat in which it mattered but little whether he was
vanquished or no. The other horsemen removed themselves far off to look
at the combat, leaving a space of clear ground for the two, who,
driving their horses over the plain, met in the midst with their spears
levelled. The spear of Metius crossed the horse's neck of Manlius, and
the spear of Manlius passed above the head of the Latin. After this they
wheeled their horses about, and Manlius, rising first to deal a second
blow, smote the horse of the Latin between the ears; and when the horse
felt the wound he reared himself upon his hind legs and shook off his
rider; and when the man, sorely shaken by so grievous a fall, would have
raised himself by help of his shield and spear, the Roman smote him with
his spear in the throat, so that the point came out through his ribs,
making him fast to the earth. Then Manlius gathered the spoils from the
dead man, and rode back to the camp, his squadron following him with
great joy. Being come to the camp, he went to the general's tent,
knowing not what fate awaited him or whether he had earned praise or
punishment. Then he said to his father, "I desired that all men should
know that I am truly thy son; and therefore, having been challenged to
combat, I fought, and now bring back these spoils from the enemy whom I
slew." But the Consul, so soon as he heard these words, turning his
face from his son, commanded that the bugle should be sounded and the
soldiers called to an assembly. And when the men had come together in
great numbers, he said, "Titus Manlius, thou hast had no respect to
the authority of the Consuls or to the dignity of thy father, and,
disobeying our decree, hast fought with the enemy elsewhere than in
thy place, loosening thereby, so far as in thee lay, that military
discipline by which up to this time the commonwealth of Rome hath stood
and been established. And me thou hast brought into these straits, that
I must forget either the commonwealth or myself and my own kindred.
Rather, therefore, will we suffer ourselves for our own fault than
suffer the commonwealth to suffer for us at so great a loss to itself.
Truly we two shall be a warning, sad indeed yet wholesome, to our youth
in time to come. As for myself, I am truly troubled, not only by that
love for my children which is natural to all men, but also by the valour
which, led astray by a false appearance of glory, thou hast shown
this day. Nevertheless, seeing that the Consuls' power must either be
established for ever by thy death or abolished for ever by thy escape,
I judge that thou thyself also, if there is aught of my blood in thee,
wilt not refuse to die, and so establish again that military discipline
which thou hast weakened by thy misdoing. Go, lictor, bind him to the
stake."
All that were present in the assembly stood stricken with terror at
so cruel a command, and stood silent, but rather from fear than from
obedience, each seeming to see the axe made ready against himself. Thus
were they overwhelmed with astonishment, and stood holding their peace.
But when the young man's head was smitten off and the blood was seen
to pour forth, then, recovering themselves, they cried aloud and spared
neither lamentations nor curses. Afterwards for the young man they made
a soldiers funeral with all the zeal that they could show, covering his
body with the spoils of war and burning it on a pile in a place without
the rampart of the camp. From that day, when men would speak of some
savage command or exercising of power, they are wont to call it a
"Manlian rule." As for Titus Manlius the father, when he came back in
triumph to Rome (for the Romans were victorious in the war, as will be
told hereafter) the elders only went forth to meet him; the young men,
both then and ever afterwards, so long as he lived, turned from him with
hatred and curses.