Reference

Torquatus Novellius P. f. Atticus, [lower-roman 1] a native of Mediolanum, ... Pliny recounts how he won the surname Tricongius by drinking three congii [lower-roman 2] of wine at a single draught, in the presence and to the great astonishment of Tiberius. He died at Forum Julii, aged forty-three.

The Story of Tricongius. Pliny the Elder devoted an entire section of Book XIV in his encyclopaedic Natural History to the topic of drunkenness. He commented particularly on the lifestyle of one goverment official, Novellius Torquantus of Milan, who earned the surname of Tricongius (about 2.6 U.S. gallons), because of his ability to drain that

Among ourselves, too, Novellius Torquatus of Mediolanum, a man who held all the honours of the state from the prefecture to the pro-consulate, could drink off three congii at a single draught, a feat from which he obtained the surname of 'Tricongius': this he did before the eyes of the Emperor Tiberius, and to his extreme surprise and