This painting is a Weltlandschaft, a freely composed panoramic landscape common in 16th-century north European art. In the distance, Rome can be seen. Livy records that the Gauls had advanced on the city and challenged its bravest man to single combat with one of their warriors. Titus Manlius accepted the challenge and won the duel, fought on the bridge in the foreground. Afterwards, he hung the defeated Gaul’s torque (neck ring) round his neck, earning him the nickname Torquatus, “the torqued one”.