It is first mentioned in Roman history in the year 360 B.C., when Manlius, having torn a torque of gold from the neck of a vanquished Gaul--here is evidence of its being a decoration worn by a similar race to our ancient British population _before_ being spoken of in Roman history--placed it on his own, and received, from this circumstance, the name of Torquatus. From this time the practice was adopted in the wars with the Gauls--the example set by Torquatus Manlius being frequently followed by the Roman leaders,--and the torque being adopted as a reward for military merit. “The Roman writers speak of them as worn by the Britons; and the Queen of the Iceni, Boadicea, is described by Dion Cassius as having a torquis of gold round her neck. This was the metal of which they were usually made. They consisted of a long piece of gold, twisted or spiral, doubled back in the form of a short hook at each end, and then turned into the form of a circle.” The torque was known to, and worn by, the Egyptians, the Persians, Persepolitans, the Gauls, and the Britons, as well as, later on, to the Romans, and it was very usual, as is evident by the many examples which have been found, with the Irish celts. The most usual forms will be found engraved in the catalogue of the Royal Irish Academy, the largest known example measuring five feet seven inches in length. A remarkably fine example of this type, found on the borders of Derbyshire and Staffordshire, measures three feet nine and a quarter inches. Many other varieties are found, sometimes formed of square bars of gold twisted spirally, sometimes of flat bars of the same metal twisted in a lighter manner, and sometimes, again, of more than one bar twisted together. The ends, too, are of various forms: sometimes being simply hooks, and at others swelling out into cup-shaped terminations, and at others partaking of the form of a serpent’s head, etc. A very remarkable torque, now belonging to Her Majesty, was found in 1848 in Needwood Forest, and is here engraved (fig. 322). It is formed of eight cords of gold plaited together, and weighs 1 lb. 1 oz. 7 dwts. and 10 grains. Another example of a different character, from Ireland, is here given (fig. 323). [Illustration: Fig. 322.] [Illustration: Fig. 323. _Side View_] It is safer, perhaps, although there is no doubt that torques were worn by the Romans, to assign them to the British period than to that of their conquerors. Much, however, necessarily depends on the remains found with them, and the locality where discovered.