Before the battle with the Latins, in which Publius Decius Mus heroically fell, sacrificing himself for the sake of the Roman victory, his colleague, the consul Titus Manlius Torquatus, showed his stern character. He strictly forbade his soldiers, on pain of death, to engage in any battle with the enemy without permission. And then one day, shortly before the battle, he sent a cavalry detachment led by his own son Titus on reconnaissance. The horsemen came across Latin horsemen led by Geminus Mescius, a noble and renowned figure for his exploits. Geminus and Titus knew each other very well, and now the Latin began to mock the Romans and their commander. In response, Titus recalled the defeat of the Latins at Lake Regillus and promised that the Roman army would soon defeat them with the help of Jupiter as punishment for violating the treaty. Geminus, continuing to mock, suggested that until the whole army appeared, they would fight him in a duel. Titus's warm heart could not stand it, and he, forgetting the orders of his father and commander, rushed into battle. At first he missed, and the enemy scratched his horse's neck. Then Titus struck Geminus's horse in the forehead with his spear, and the horse, rearing in pain, threw off its rider. While the enemy was trying to get up, Titus dealt him a fatal blow, and then removed the armor from the dead man.
Proud of his feat, the young man returned to the Roman camp and, as a sign of his valor and the glory of the son of such a man as Torquatus, laid the armor of the murdered Geminus Mescius at his feet, expecting his father’s praise. But instead of praising him, he turned away and ordered the trumpeters to sound the gathering of the entire army. When the entire army lined up, the consul declared, turning to his son, that he had violated his strictest order and put him, the consul, before a choice - to forget about the state or about his loved ones, but he, no matter how hard it was for him, chooses the state. Therefore, Manlius ordered his son to be seized and beheaded for violating the orders of the commander-in-chief. Everyone was amazed by this. The young man calmly allowed himself to be tied to a post, where his head was cut off. With this harsh act, Manlius decisively restored discipline to his army, which gave it the opportunity to win.
When, after the victory, Titus Manlius Torquatus solemnly entered Rome, only the elders came out to meet him, and the youth decisively condemned him for such a harsh punishment of his own son, who had shown valor, although he had violated the order. They say that all the people who belonged to the generation that was then young remembered what had happened all the time, avoided Torquatus and cursed him at every opportunity. Torquatus could not continue the war and resigned his consular powers. The Romans appointed a dictator in his place. Some said that he fell ill and, due to illness, could not go to the theater of military operations, while others conveyed his words that neither he could endure the vices of the people, nor the people of his severity.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru