Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology (1870) - Volume 3.djvu/803

Rh SERTORIUS. to have some security for their fidelity, he esta- blished a school at Huesca (Osca), in Aragon, for the education of their children in Greek and Roman learning. The position chosen for his school shows that the north-east of Spain was under the authority of Sertorius, and probably his power was acknowledged in every part of the peninsula which had ever felt the Roman arms. Some time in B.C. 77 Pompeius was appointed by the senate to command in Spain. Pompeius was only an eques ; but in reply to the question in the senate if an eques should be sent as proconsul, L. Philippus wittily replied, not " pro consule," but " pro consulibus." Pompeius was entrusted with equal authority with Metellus, an unwise measure, which bred jealousy between the com- manders. Pompeius left Italy in b c. 76, with thirty thousand infantry and a thousand cavalry, and he crossed tlie Alps between the sources of the Po and the Rhone, as Appian states {Bell. Civ. i. 109). He entered Spain, and advanced to the Ebro (Ibe- rus) without meeting resistance. {Ep. Pomp, Frag. SallusL lib, iii.) He probably marched near the coast, and advanced into Valencia to relieve Lauro, on the Xucar ( Sucro) which Sertorius was besieg- ing. But Pompeius was out-manoeuvred by his opponent, and compelled to retire with the loss of a legion. Frontinus (Strata^, ii. 5), following the authority of Livius, makes the loss of Pompeius much larger. Appian (i. 109) gives an instance of the severity of Sertorius on this occasion : he put to death a whole Roman cohort of his own troops, on the ground of the men being addicted to unna- tural practices. Pompeius wintered north of the Ebro, a fact which shows the advantage that Ser- torius had gained. The winter camp of Sertorius was also not far from the Iberus at Aelia Castra. Appian says that both Metellus and Pompeius wintered near the Pyrenees, and Sertorius and Perperna in Lusitania. (Compare Drumann, Pom- peins, p. 364.) In the spring of b. c. 75 Perperna was sent by Sertorius, with a large force, to the mouth of the Iberus, to watch Pompeius. In Baetica, or Further Spain, L. Hirtuleius had to observe the movements of Metellus. Sertorius ascended the Ebro, and laid waste the country as far as Calahorra ( Cala- guris Nassica). Contrebia was the place at which M. Insteius, who was ordered to reinforce the cavalry, and the rest of the commanders, were to meet him. Hirtuleius, contrary to the instnictions of Ser- torius, fought a battle with Metellus at Italica near Seville, in which he was totally defeated. After the victory Metellus advanced northwards against Sertorius. Hirtuleius rallied his troops, and followed Metellus ; but in a second battle near Segovia he was again defeated, and lost his life. Pompeius, though he had received no reinforce- ments from Rome, marched southward to oppose Herennius and Perperna, who had joined their forces ; and he gave them a signal defeat near Va- lencia on the Guadavial (Turia) : Herennius lost his life, and according to Plutarch {Pompeius., 18), ten thousand men fell on that side. To prevent the junction of Pompeius and Me- tellus, Sertorius advanced to the river Xucar ; but Pompeius had no wish to join Metellus: he aspired to the glory of finishing the war himself. Sertorius met his enemy on the river, and, with his usual .^gacity, deferred the combat till the evening, be- SERTORIUS. 791 cause whether Pompeius was conquered or vic- torious, his movements after the battle during the dark, and in an unknown country, must be im- peded. The loss was great on both sides: the camp of Sertorius was plundered ; and Pompeius, who was wounded, only escaped by quitting his costly-caparisoned horse, the capture of which amused the Moors who were in pursuit of him. It may have been in this battle that Sertorius stabbed the man who brought him news of the defeat of Hirtuleius (Frontinus, Stratag. ii. 7), to prevent his soldiers being discouraged by the in- telligence. On the following day Sertorius was ready to fight again ; but observing that Metellus was near, he broke up his order of battle, and marched off, saying, " If that old woman had not come up, I would have given this boy a good drubbing, by way of lesson, and have sent him back to Rome." (Plut. Sertor. 19.) The fawn of Sertorius had been lost in the confusion, but he got it again by offering a great reward to the finder. His men were encouraged by the reappearance of this animal, which was supposed to be a favourable omen, and Sertorius led them against the united forces of Metellus and Pompeius, which were encamped at Murviedro, on the site of Saguntum. Pompeius was compelled to retreat with the loss of six thousand men ; Sertorius lost three thousand. The division of Metellus defeated that of Perperna, which lost above five thousand men. (Appian, i. 110.) The winter was now coming on. Sertorius, according to his fashion, gave the greater part of his troops leave to disperse, and appointed, as their rendezvous, Clunia, a town among the Arevaci, not far from the Douro. (Drumann, p. 369.) Metellus and Pompeius separated • Metellus wintered between the Ebro and the Pyrenees ; Plutarch {Sertor.- 21) says that he wintered in Gallia, which is probably a mistake. Pompeius wintered among the Vaccaei. If the position of Clunia is well fixed, Pompeius must have wintered to the rear of Sertorius, which is very improbable. Owing to the want of precision, in Plutarch's narrative, and the defective state of other authorities, the movements of the hostile armies cannot be ascertained. Pompeius wrote to the senate, in urgent terms, for men and supplies. He said, that if they did not come, he and his army must leave Spain, and Sertorius would come after them. {Frag. Hist. Sallust. lib. iii.) The letter reached Rome before the end of the year b. c. 75, but nothing was done upon it until the following year. The last battle had procured Metellus the title of Imperator, and he was as proud of it ,as any silly child would have been. He was received in Nearer Spain with flattering entertainments, and all the pomp of rejoicings after victory. Pompeius was better employed in looking after his troops. In B. c. 74 he received from Italy money and two legions, for v/hich he was indebted as much to the jealousy of his enemies at Rome as to his friends. The consul L. Lucullus was afraid that if Pompeius returned from Spain, he would get the command in the war against Mithridates, king of Pontus. Mithridates now sent proposals to Sertorius to form an alliance, and they were accepted with some modifications. The terms are stated by Plutarch {Sertor. 24): Metellus had already- offered a great reward for the head of Sertorius, a 3 B 4