[Text-only version] [XIII.] Titus Mānlius Torquātus
Titus Mānlius ob ingeniī et linguae tarditātem ā patre rūs[8]
relēgātus erat. Quī cum audīvisset patrī[9] diem dictam esse ā
Pompōniō, tribūnō plēbis, cēpit cōnsilium rudis quidem et agrestis
animī,[10] sed pietāte laudābile. Cultrō succinctus māne in
[5] urbem atque ā portā cōnfēstim ad[11] Pompōnium pergit:
intrōductus[12] cultrum stringit et super lectum Pompōniī stāns sē eum
trānsfīxūrum minātur, nisi ab inceptā accūsātiōne dēsistat.[13] Pavidus
tribūnus, quīppe[1] quī cerneret ferrum ante oculōs micāns, accūsātiōnem
dīmīsit. Ea rēs adulēscentī[2] eō[3] māiōrī[4] fuit honōrī
[10] quod animum ēius acerbitās paterna ā pietāte nōn āvertisset,
ideōque eōdem annō tribūnus mīlitum factus est.
Cum posteā Gallī[5] ad tertium[6] lapidem trāns Aniēnem fluvium
castra posuissent, exercitus Rōmānus ab urbe profectus in citeriōre
MĪLIĀRIUM rīpā fluviī cōnstitit. Pōns in mediō[7] erat: tunc Gallus
B.C.
361. [15] eximiā corporis māgnitūdine in vacuum pontem
prōcessit et quam[8] māximā vōce potuit “Quem
nunc” inquit “Rōma fortissimum habet, is prōcēdat[9]
agedum ad pūgnam, ut ēventus certāminis nostrī
ostendat utra gēns bellō sit melior.” Diū inter
[20] prīmōrēs iuvenum Rōmānōrum silentium fuit. Tum
Titus Mānlius ex statiōne ad imperātōrem pergit:
“Iniussū[10] tuō,” inquit, “imperātor, extrā ōrdinem
numquam pūgnāverim,[11] nōn sī certam victōriam
videam[11]; sī tū permittis, volō ego illī bēluae ostendere mē ex eā
[25] familiā ortum esse, quae Gallōrum āgmen ex rūpe Tarpēiā dēiēcit.”[12]
Cuī imperātor “Macte[1] virtūte,” inquit “Tite Mānlī, estō: perge
et nōmen Rōmānum invictum praestā.”
Armant deinde iuvenem aequālēs: scūtum capit, Hispānō[2]
cingitur[3] gladiō, ad propiōrem[4] pūgnam habilī. Exspectābat eum
GLADIUS [30] Gallus stolidē laetus et linguam ab inrīsū exserēns.
Ubi cōnstitēre[5] inter duās aciēs, Gallus ēnsem cum
ingentī sonitū in arma Mānliī dēiēcit. Mānlius vērō
inter corpus et arma Gallī sēsē īnsinuāns ūnō[6] alterōque
īctū ventrem trānsfōdit et in spatium ingēns
[35] ruentem porrēxit hostem; iacentī[7] torquem dētrāxit,
quem cruōre respersum[8] collō[9] circumdedit[10] suō.
Dēfīxerat pavor[11] cum admīrātiōne Gallōs; Rōmānī
alacrēs obviam mīlitī suō prōgrediuntur et grātulantēs
laudantēsque ad imperātōrem perdūcunt. Mānlius
[40] inde Torquātī cōgnōmen accēpit.
Īdem Mānlius, posteā cōnsul factus bellō Latīnō,
ut dīsciplīnam mīlitārem restitueret, ēdīxit nē[12] quis
extrā ōrdinem in hostēs pūgnāret. T. Mānlius,[13]
cōnsulis fīlius, cum propius forte ad statiōnem hostium
[45] accessisset, is, quī Latīnō equitātuī praeerat, ubi cōnsulis fīlium
āgnōvit,[14] “Vīsne” inquit “congredī mēcum, ut singulāris certāminis
ēventū cernātur, quantum eques Latīnus Rōmānō praestet?”
Mōvit ferōcem animum iuvenis seu īra seu dētrēctandī[15]
certāminis pudor. Itaque oblītus[1] imperiī[2] paternī in certāmen
[50] ruit et Latīnum[3] ex equō excussum trānsfīxit spoliīsque lēctīs
