Plutarch: Lives of the noble Grecians and Romans
under subjection. Most of the tribes voluntarily submitted
themselves, won by the fame of his clemency and of his courage,
and, to some extent, also, he availed himself of cunning
artifices of his own devising to impose upon them and gain
influence over them. Amongst which, certainly, that of the
hind was not the least. Spanus, a countryman who lived in
those parts, meeting by chance a hind that had recently calved,
flying from the hunters, let the dam go, and pursuing the fawn,
took it, being wonderfully pleased with the rarity of the
color, which was all milk white. And as at that time Sertorius
was living in the neighborhood, and accepted gladly any
presents of fruit, fowl, or venison, that the country afforded,
and rewarded liberally those who presented them, the countryman
brought him his young hind, which he took and was well pleased
with at the first sight, but when in time he had made it so
tame and gentle that it would come when he called, and follow
him wheresoever he went, and could endure the noise and tumult
of the camp, knowing well that uncivilized people are naturally
prone to superstition, by little and little he raised it into
something preternatural, saying that it was given him by the
goddess Diana, and that it revealed to him many secrets. He
added, also, further contrivances. If he had received at any
time private intelligence that the enemies had made an
incursion into any part of the districts under his command, or
had solicited any city to revolt, he pretended that the hind
had informed him of it in his sleep, and charged him to keep
his forces in readiness. Or if again he had notice that any of
the commanders under him had got a victory, he would hide the
messengers and bring forth the hind crowned with flowers, for
joy of the good news that was to come, and would encourage them
to rejoice and sacrifice to the gods for the good account they
should soon receive of their prosperous success.
By such practices, he brought them to be more tractable and
obedient in all things; for now they thought themselves no
longer to be led by a stranger, but rather conducted by a god,
and the more so, as the facts themselves seemed to bear witness
to it, his power, contrary to all expectation or probability,
continually increasing. For with two thousand six hundred men,
whom for honor's sake he called Romans, combined with seven
hundred Africans, who landed with him when he first entered
Lusitania, together with four thousand targeteers, and seven
hundred horse of the Lusitanians themselves, he made war
against four Roman generals, who commanded a hundred and twenty
thousand foot, six thousand horse, two thousand archers and
slingers, and had cities innumerable in their power; whereas at
the first he had not above twenty cities in all. And from this
weak and slender beginning, he raised himself to the command of
large nations of men, and the possession of numerous cities;
and of the Roman commanders who were sent against him, he
overthrew Cotta in a sea-fight, in the channel near the town of
Mellaria; he routed Fufidius, the governor of Baetica, with the
loss of two thousand Romans, near the banks of the river
Baetis; Lucius Domitius, proconsul of the other province of
Spain, was overthrown by one of his lieutenants; Thoranius,
another commander sent against him by Metellus with a great
force, was slain, and Metellus, one of the greatest and most
approved Roman generals then living, by a series of defeats,
was reduced to such extremities, that Lucius Manlius came to
his assistance out of Gallia Narbonensis, and Pompey the Great,
was sent from Rome, itself, in all haste, with considerable
forces. Nor did Metellus know which way to turn himself, in a
war with such a bold and ready commander, who was continually
molesting him, and yet could not be brought to a set battle,
but by the swiftness and dexterity of his Spanish soldiery, was
enabled to shift and adapt himself to any change of
circumstances. Metellus had had experience in battles fought
by regular legions of soldiers, fully armed and drawn up in due
order into a heavy standing phalanx, admirably trained for
encountering and overpowering an enemy who came to close
combat, hand to hand, but entirely unfit for climbing among the
hills, and competing incessantly with the swift attacks and
retreats of a set of fleet mountaineers, or to endure hunger
and thirst, and live exposed like them to the wind and weather,
without fire or covering.
Besides, being now in years, and having been formerly engaged
in many fights and dangerous conflicts, he had grown inclined
to a more remiss, easy, and luxurious life, and was the less
able to contend with Sertorius, who was in the prime of his
strength and vigor, and had a body wonderfully fitted for war,
being strong, active, and temperate, continually accustomed to
endure hard labor, to take long tedious journeys, to pass many
nights together without sleep, to eat little, and to be
satisfied with very coarse fare, and who was never stained with
the least excess in wine, even when he was most at leisure.
What leisure time he allowed himself, he spent in hunting and
riding about, and so made himself thoroughly acquainted with
every passage for escape when he would fly, and for overtaking
and intercepting in pursuit, and gained a perfect knowledge of
where he could and where he could not go. Insomuch that
Metellus suffered all the inconveniences of defeat, although he
earnestly desired to fight, and Sertorius, though he refused
the field, reaped all the advantages of a conqueror. For he
hindered them from foraging, and cut them off from water; if
they advanced, he was nowhere to be found; if they stayed in
any place and encamped, he continually molested and alarmed
them; if they besieged any town, he presently appeared and
besieged them again, and put them to extremities for want of
necessaries. And thus he so wearied out the Roman army, that
when Sertorius challenged Metellus to fight singly with him,
they commended it, and cried out, it was a fair offer, a Roman
to fight against a Roman, and a general against a general; and
when Metellus refused the challenge, they reproached him.
Metellus derided and contemned this, and rightly so; for, as
Theophrastus observes, a general should die like a general, and
not like a skirmisher. But perceiving that the town of the
Langobritae, who gave great assistance to Sertorius, might
easily be taken for want of water, as there was but one well
within the walls, and the besieger would be master of the
springs and fountains in the suburbs, he advanced against the
place, expecting to carry it in two days' time, there being no
more water, and gave command to his soldiers to take five days'
provision only. Sertorius, however, resolving to send speedy
relief, ordered two thousand skins to be filled with water,
naming a considerable sum of money for the carriage of every
skin; and many Spaniards and Moors undertaking the work, he
chose out those who were the strongest and swiftest of foot,
and sent them through the mountains, with order that when they
had delivered the water, they should convey away privately all
those who would be least serviceable in the siege, that there
might be water sufficient for the defendants. As soon as
Metellus understood this, he was disturbed, as he had already
consumed most part of the necessary provisions for his army,
but he sent out Aquinus with six thousand soldiers to fetch in
fresh supplies. But Sertorius having notice of it, laid an
ambush for him, and having sent out beforehand three thousand
men to take post in a thickly wooded watercourse, with these he
attacked the rear of Aquinus in his return, while he himself,
charging him in the front, destroyed part of his army, and took
the rest prisoners, Aquinus only escaping, after the loss of
both his horse and his armor. And Metellus, being forced
shamefully to raise the siege, withdrew amidst the laughter and
contempt of the Spaniards; while Sertorius became yet more the
object of their esteem and admiration.
He was also highly honored for his introducing discipline and
good order amongst them, for he altered their furious savage
manner of fighting, and brought them to make use of the Roman
armor, taught them to keep their ranks, and observe signals and
watchwords; and out of a confused number of thieves and
robbers, he constituted a regular, well-disciplined army. He
bestowed silver and gold upon them liberally to gild and adorn
their helmets, he had their shields worked with various figures
and designs, he brought them into the mode of wearing flowered
and embroidered cloaks and coats, and by supplying money for
these purposes, and joining with them in all improvements, he
won the hearts of all. That, however, which delighted them
most, was the care that he took of their children. He sent for
all the boys of noblest parentage out of all their tribes, and
placed them in the great city of Osca, where he appointed
masters to instruct them in the Grecian and Roman learning,
that when they came to be men, they might, as he professed, be
fitted to share with him in authority, and in conducting the
government, although under this pretext he really made them
hostages. However, their fathers were wonderfully pleased to
see their children going daily to the schools in good order,
handsomely dressed in gowns edged with purple, and that
Sertorius paid for their lessons, examined them often,
distributed rewards to the most deserving, and gave them the
golden bosses to hang about their necks, which the Romans
called bullae.
There being a custom in Spain, that when a commander was slain
in battle, those who attended his person fought it out till
they all died with him, which the inhabitants of those
countries called an offering, or libation, there were few
commanders that had any considerable guard or number of
attendants; but Sertorius was followed by many thousands who
offered themselves, and vowed to spend their blood with his.
And it is told that when his army was defeated near a city in
Spain, and the enemy pressed hard upon them, the Spaniards,
with no care for themselves, but being totally solicitous to
save Sertorius, took him up on their shoulders and passed him
from one to another, till they carried him into the city, and
only when they had thus placed their general in safety,
provided afterwards each man for his own security.
Nor were the Spaniards alone ambitious to serve him, but the
Roman soldiers, also, that came out of Italy, were impatient to
be under his command; and when Perpenna Vento, who was of the
same faction with Sertorius, came into Spain with a quantity of
money and a large number of troops, and designed to make war
against Metellus on his own account, his own soldiers opposed
it, and talked continually of Sertorius, much to the
mortification of Perpenna, who was puffed up with the grandeur
of his family and his riches. And when they afterwards
received tidings that Pompey was passing the Pyrenees, they
took up their arms, laid hold on their ensigns, called upon
Perpenna to lead them to Sertorius, and threatened him that if
he refused they would go without him, and place themselves
under a commander who was able to defend himself and those that
served him. And so Perpenna was obliged to yield to their
desires, and joining Sertorius, added to his army three and
fifty cohorts.
And when now all the cities on this side of the river Ebro also
united their forces together under his command, his army grew
great, for they flocked together and flowed in upon him from
all quarters. But when they continually cried out to attack
the enemy, and were impatient of delay, their inexperienced,