Quintus Sertorius

Lore & Background

Sertorius first became prominent during the Cimbrian War fighting under Gaius Marius, and then served Rome in the Social War. After Lucius Cornelius Sulla blocked Sertorius' attempt at the plebeian tribunate c. 88 BC, Sertorius joined with Cinna and Marius in the civil war of 87 BC. He led in the assault on Rome and restrained the reprisals that followed. During Cinna's repeated consulships he was elected praetor, likely in 85 or 84 BC. He criticised Gnaeus Papirius Carbo and other Marians' leadership of the anti-Sullan forces during the civil war with Sulla and was, late in the war, given command of Hispania.

In late 82 BC Sertorius was proscribed by Sulla and forced from his province. However, he soon returned in early 80 BC, taking in and leading many Marian and Cinnan exiles in a prolonged war, representing himself as a Roman proconsul resisting the Sullan regime at Rome. He gathered support from other Roman exiles and the native Iberian tribes – in part by using his tamed white fawn to claim he had divine favour – and employed irregular and guerrilla warfare to repeatedly defeat commanders sent from Rome to subdue him. He allied with Mithridates VI of Pontus and Cilician pirates in his struggle against the Roman government. At the height of his power, Sertorius controlled nearly all of Hispania.

Reader's Guide

Sertorius sustained his anti-Sullan resistance for many years, despite substantial efforts to subdue him by the Sullan regime and its generals Quintus Caecilius Metellus Pius and Pompey. After defeating Pompey in 76 BC at the Battle of Lauron, he suffered repeated setbacks in later years. By 73 BC his allies had lost confidence in his leadership; his lieutenant Marcus Perperna Veiento assassinated him in 73 or 72 BC. His cause fell in defeat to Pompey shortly thereafter. The Greek biographer and essayist Plutarch chose Sertorius as the focus of one of his biographies in Parallel Lives, where he was paired with Eumenes of Cardia, one of the post-Alexandrine Diadochi. Sertorius' significance lies in his ability to maintain a decade-long rebellion against the central Roman government, using guerrilla tactics and alliances with local tribes and external powers. His career illustrates the fragility of the Sullan settlement and the capacity of a skilled commander to challenge Rome from the periphery.

Did You Know?

• Sertorius used a tamed white fawn to claim he had divine favour, helping him gather support from native Iberian tribes.
• He escaped the Battle of Arausio in 105 BC by swimming across the Rhone while wounded, still carrying his weapons and armour.
• During his military tribunate in Hispania, Sertorius killed all native men of military age in Castulo after a revolt, then tricked a neighboring town into opening its gates by having his men wear the armor of the slain.
• Sertorius was paired with Eumenes of Cardia in Plutarch's Parallel Lives.