Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology (1870) - Volume 3.djvu/802

Rh '90 SERTORIUS. tions to oppose him. But their means and mea- sures were ineffectual against so wily an enemy. The consul Norbanus was defeated ; and the army of the other consul, L. Scipio, being gained over by Sulla, though Q. Sertorius had warned Scipio of the danger of a negotiation with Sulla, he withdrew into Etniria. His remonstrances also had no effect in b. c. 82 with the consuls Carbo and the younger Marius, and in order to get rid of liim, they suggested that he should undertake the administration of the province of Further Spain. Julius Exsuperantius (c. 8) is the sole authority for this fact, though he does not state the whole affair correctly. Appian {Bell. Civ. i. 86, 108) makes Sertorius go to Spain in B, c. 83, before the consulship of Carbo and the younger Marius. With few men and little money, Sertorius made his way through Gaul, and bought a free passage over the Pyrenees from the barbarians (Pint. Sertor. 6). In Spain he set about forming an army of Roman settlers and Spaniards, providing munitions of war and building ships. Sulla sent C. Annius Luscus into Spain to oppose Sertorius, with the title of proconsul, who was followed by his quaestors, L. Fabius and Q. Tarquitius, They found the passages of the Pyrenees occupied by Julius Salinator, the legate of Sertorius, and they could not make any way until Salinator was treacherously murdered. The road into Spain being opened, the troops of Luscus advanced with- out meeting with resistance, and Sertorius em- barking at Carthago Nova (Cartagena) set sail for Mauritania. Here he was attacked by the barbarians, and after some loss he put to sea again, and being joined by some Cilician pirates, he drove the Roman garrison from the Pityussae Islands (Yvica and Formontera). His light ships were now attacked by the fleet of Luscus ; and harassed by stormy weather, he sailed for the Straits of Gibraltar, and finally landed at the mouth of the Guadalquivr. Here he met with some seamen who had visited the Atlantic Islands (Madeira and Porto Santo, or, as some suppose, the Canaries), and from their description of this happy region he " was seized with a strong desire to dwell in the islands, and to live in quiet, free from tyranny and never-ending wars." But the Cilician pirates left him ; and, to satisfy his men and keep them employed, he went over again to Mauritania, to help the people against their king, whom he defeated. He also defeated Paccianus, whom Sulla had sent against him ; and lie took Tingis (Tangier), in which the Moorish king was. This African campaign of Sertorius was in the north- west part of Marocco. Being strengthened by the addition of the forces of Paccianus, and having acquired some fame by his success in Africa, Sertorius was invited by the Lusitaiii, who were exposed to the invasion of the Romans, to become their leader. He crossed over to the peninsula at the call with about two thou- sand six hundred men, of whom about one third were Libyans ; and he soon got together an army, which for some years successfully opposed all the power of Rome, Plutarcli says that he also availed himself of the superstitious character of the people among whom he was, to strengthen his authority over them. A fawn was brought to him by one of the natives as a present, which soon became so tjime as to accompany him in his walks, aud attend him on SERTORIUS. all occasions. Plutarch's life of Sertorius is written something in the style of a^romance ; but his story of the fawn, and of the use which Sertorius made of it, contains nothing improbable, if we consider the character of the man and his circumstances. The story of the fawn is also supported by the testimony of Frontinus {Stratag. i. 11. § 13). His first exploit was the defeat of Cotta, the legate of Luscus, in a sea-fight in or near the Straits of Gibraltar (Plut. Sertor. 12). In B. c. 80, Sulla sent L. Domitius Ahenobarbus to take the command against Sertorius in Nearer Spain, and Fufidius in Further Spain. Fufidius was defeated by Sertorius with great loss on the banks of the Guadalquivr. Sertorius was now strengthened by the accession of many Romans who had been proscribed by Sulla ; and this not only added to his consideration, but brought him many good officers. The dictator Sulla appointed, as go- vernor of Spain for the following year, b. c. 79, his colleague in the consulship, Q. Metellus Pius, the son of Numidicus. Metellus was about fifty years of age, inactive and fond of ease, and no match for a younger soldier, who was never weary and never off his guard. The kind of warfare which Metellus had to carry on was new to his men and to himself. He could not bring the enemy to any decisive battle, and yet the enemy let him have no rest. In a country without roads, which was so well known to Sertorius, he could not move with safety, and he never knew when he might not expect an attack. In the meantime, Domitius and his legate Thorius had pushed forward to the banks of the Guadiana ; but in their attempt to cross the river they were routed by L, Hirtuleius, the quaestor of Sertorius, and both the generals were killed. (Florus, iii. 22.) Two Roman armies were defeated by the ge- nerals of Sertorius in the north-east of Spain ; L. Valerius Praeconinus was routed on the Segre (Sicoris) in Catalonia, and L. Manilius, the pro- consul of Gallia Narbonensis, was routed, and with difficulty escaped to Lerida (Ilerda) on the Segre with the loss of his baggage (Caesar, Bell. Gull. iii. 20 ; Orosius, v. 23.) Metellus was still harassed by the guerilla warfare of Sertorius (Plut. Sertoi: 13): he also received a challenge to a single combat from Sertorius, which, as Plutarch observes, he wisely declined. Metellus made an attempt to take the town of the Langobritae (Langobriga or Lacobriga, a place of uncertain position), which had only one well of water witliin the walls. He expected to take the town in two days ; but Sertorius supplied the place with water by means of skins, which were carried into the town by Spanish and Moorish volunteers. C. Aquinius, who was sent by Metellus to forage, fell into an ambuscade, and Metellus at last was com- pelled to retire. In the year B. c. 77 Sertorius was joined by M. Perperna, one of the legates of M. Lepidus. Perperna fled before the generals of Sulla, and came to Spain with some troops and several senators and nobles. His men compelled Perperna to take the command under Sertorius ; Plutarch says that Perperna had fifty-three cohorts with him. {Sertor. 15.) To give some show of form to his formidable power, Sertorius established a senate of three hundred, into which no provincial was admitted ; but to soothe the more distinguished Spaniards, and