Sertorius had served under Marius (1) against the northern barbarians (102-101 BC), under Didius (1) against the Celtiberians (95 BC), and in the Social War when he lost an eye. As praetor in 83 BC he supported Marius (1) against their mutual enemy Sulla. Sertorius had criticised the Marians for failing to take adequate precautions against Sulla, so he was now conveniently dispatched to Citerior as its governor for 82 BC.
| Battle: Baetis River | Sertorius/Lucius Fufidius | 80 |
| Battle: Anas River | Hirtuleius/Domitius (5) Calvinus | 79 |
| Battle: Lacobriga | Sertorius/Caecilius (11) Metellus Pius | 78 |
| Battle: Ilerda | Hirtuleius/Lucius Manlius (14) | 78 |
| Battle: Valentia | Pompeius (5)/Perperna+Herennius (1) | 76 |
| Battle: Lauron | Sertorius/Pompeius (5) Magnus | 76 |
| Battle: Italica | Caecilius (11) Metellus/Hirtuleius | 76 |
| Battle: Segovia | Caecilius (11) Metellus/Hirtuleius | 75 |
| Battle: Sucro River | Pompeius (5)+Caecilius (11)/Sertorius | 75 |
| Battle: Turia River | Pompeius (5)+Caecilius (11)/Sertorius | 75 |
| Battle: Calagurris | Sertorius/Pompeius (5)+Caecilius (11) | 74 |
In November, Rome fell to the Sullan forces and in the following spring Sulla sent 02Annius Luscus to deal with Sertorius, who sent an army of six thousand men under 05Julius Salinator to defend the passes through the Pyrenees. Salinator was murdered and Annius advanced unopposed into Spain, forcing Sertorius to flee to North Africa.
In 81 BC Sertorius besieged the Mauretanian king Ascalis in his capital at Tingis (=Tangier). Sulla’s general Paccianus attempted to relieve Ascalis but he was defeated by Sertorius, who went on to occupy the city. Learning of Sertorius’ successes, the Lusitanians sent envoys to invite him to lead them in a rebellion against Rome.
Sertorius accepted the offer and in 80 BC he sailed for Spain. At this time the straits between Africa and Spain were guarded by a Roman squadron commanded by (Gaius?) 05Aurelius Cotta but Sertorius fought his way through and landed at Baelo, west of Tarifa on the coast of southern Spain. There, he took command of a growing number of tribal rebels who he allegedly impressed with his use of a tame ‘magic’ fawn which he said the goddess Diana had sent him.
Lucius Fufidius (Ulterior) made for the Baetis River to prevent Sertorius from reaching Lusitania. When the two sides met in battle, the Sullan army was crushed. Fufidius survived but he had lost two thousand men along with the greater part of southern Spain. Messages were sent to 05Domitius Calvinus (Citerior), to check the further advance of Sertorius; and in 79 BC the experienced 11Caecilius Metellus Pius (cos.80 BC) was sent to relieve Fufidius in southern Spain.
After setting up his base at Metellinum (=Medellin, central-west), Metellus was ready to attack Sertorius from the north and sent his legate 02Thorius Balbus to help Calvinus cross to Ulterior and attack Sertorius from the south. But this combination collapsed when Calvinus was defeated and killed by Sertorius’ lieutenant Hirtuleius at the Anas (=Guadiana) River. Thorius was dealt with in a like manner by Sertorius.
Metellus ventured out from Metellinum in three directions: north to Castra Caecilia (=Caceres), west to Caeciliana (near Lisbon) and southwest to Lacobriga (=Lagos) where he suffered a defeat by Sertorius in 78 BC. Hirtuleius had continued eastwards towards Citerior and Lucius Manlius (14), the governor of Gallia Narbonensis, who had crossed the Pyrenees to help Quintus Calidius, the new governor of Citerior (78 BC), was heavily defeated by Hirtuleius in the northeast near Ilerda and had to return his province.
Plutarch mentions that Sertorius forced the surrender of the Characitani beyond the Tagus by throwing up a mound of ashes in front of the caves where they lived and when these were disturbed by the onrush of the cavalry, the northeast wind sent so much dust into the mouth of the caves that the enemy could not endure it.
In 77 BC many of Lepidus’ supporters flocked to Spain to join Sertorius. He was now at the upper Ebro; Hirtuleius was facing Metellus in Ulterior; and Sertorius’ two commanders, 04Perperna Vento and Gaius Herennius (1), held the lower Ebro. In the summer Pompey crossed the Pyrenees and wintered in northeast Spain. Early in the spring Pompey forced the Ebro and defeated Perperna and Herennius at Valentia, just south of Saguntum. Pompey then moved southwest to where Sertorius was besieging Lauron (near Malaga). In the struggle that followed Pompey was completely outmanoeuvred. Meanwhile, Metellus had defeated Hirtuleius at Italica (near Seville). The next year Hirtuleius, who was trying to prevent the junction of the two opposing armies, was defeated again by Metellus near Segovia (near Madrid).
Pompey met with Sertorius at the Sucro. On the left of the Roman line, Pompey’s legate Afranius beat back the enemy and took Sertorius’ camp; on the right, however, Pompey was wounded and his troops were defeated by Sertorius, who turned on Afranius and drove him back in turn. When Metellus’ army arrived, Sertorius’ army dispersed to the mountains.
After some manoeuvring another battle was fought at the Turia River (discharges near Valentia). After a long struggle, Sertorius finally defeated Pompey and his cavalry, while Metellus broke Perperna’s infantry. The result was favourable to the Sullans, and Sertorius’ army again dispersed.
In 74 BC the Pompey and Metellus, now convinced of the futility of fighting for the plain of Valentia against the Sertorian forces, changed their strategy. They delivered a combined attack against the Celtiberian highlands and applied themselves to siege warfare. Metellus captured such strongholds as Bilbilis (central-northeast) and Segobriga (central-east), while Pompey was busy around the headwaters of the Douro (central-north). But Sertorius forced Pompey to abandon his siege at Palantia (=Pallencia, central-north), and at the end of the year before Calagurris (=Calahorra, near Bilbao), the key to the upper Ebro, he defeated Pompey and Metellus with the loss of three thousand.
In 72 BC Sertorius’ Italian officers invited him to a banquet and murdered him. Perperna assumed command but he was quickly defeated and killed by Pompey, who brought the war to an end in the following year. Sertorians who surrendered to him were given safe conduct to start life anew in Sicily or Africa, and some were placed at Lugdunum Convenarum (=St Bertrand de Comminges), a new settlement just north of the Pyrenees. A further foundation was Pompaelo (=Pamplona).
For some time Pompey had been following the recent precedent of granting Roman citizenship to certain Spaniards who had been loyal to him. In 72 BC these grants were ratified by the lex Gellia Cornelia passed by that year’s consuls 01Gellius Poplicola and 41Cornelius Lentulus. In 71 BC Pompey returned to Rome and a triumph, though he had never actually defeated Sertorius in battle.
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