Torquatus belonged to the
patrician gens
Manlii, one of the oldest Roman houses. He was
proquaestor in Asia under
Lucius Cornelius Sulla in 84 BC, for whom he issued gold and silver coinage. He returned to
Rome with Sulla in 82 BC where he fought at the
Battle of the Colline Gate. He was elected
Praetor by 68 BC, and was possibly a
legate under
Pompey before taking up his new post of
propraetor of the Roman province of
Asia in 67 BC. In 66 BC, Torquatus stood for election as
Roman consul, but was defeated by
Publius Cornelius Sulla and
Publius Autronius Paetus. However, Torquatus and
Lucius Aurelius Cotta accused the consul designates for the following year of bribery in connection with the elections; they were condemned under the
Lex Acilia Calpurnia, and Cotta and Torquatus elected in their places. This, allegedly, led to the so-called
First Catilinian Conspiracy where
Catiline, together with Gnaeus Calpurnius Piso, Autronius, and Sulla, conspired to murder the new consuls on 1 January 65 BC, when they were due to enter office. Autronius and Sulla were to install themselves as consuls, while Piso was to take possession of the provinces of
Hispania. The plot failed when the Senate became suspicious and issued bodyguards to the incoming consuls. However, during Catiline's trial for corruption when he was governor of
Africa in 65 BC, he was supported by Torquatus, and an investigation undertaken by the consul into the circumstances of the aborted plot was inconclusive. In 64 BC, Torquatus obtained
Macedonia as his allotted proconsular province and while there was awarded the title of
Imperator by the
Senate on the recommendation of
Cicero when Cicero reported Torquatus's achievements to the Senate. By the autumn of 63 BC he was back in Rome. He took an active part in suppressing the
Second Catilinarian conspiracy late that year, and he also supported Cicero when Cicero was banished in 58 BC. Torquatus was married to a woman from Asculum. He had at least one son,
Lucius Manlius Torquatus who died during
Caesar's Civil War. He may also have had a daughter who married
Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus. ==See also==