Quintus Sertorius was from the Sabine town of Nussa. His father died while Sertorius was still quite young, and he was brought up by his mother, Rhea, who, apparently, he adored. In 105 BC the Cimbri and Teutones tribes invaded Roman Gaul (at that time Northern Italy, and Provence in France). The first Roman army sent against them was heavily defeated. Sertorius lost his horse and was wounded but he managed to swim to safety over the Rhone. When another army was sent out under Marius (102), Sertorius volunteered to go in disguise to mingle with the enemy as a spy. His mission was successful and he returned to report to Marius.

In 97, Sertorius served as military tribune in Spain. He gained public recognition when he recaptured the city of Castulo the same night as it was taken from a negligent Roman garrison, and then went on to capture the neighbouring city of Oritana, which had helped in the initial defeat of the Roman garrison.

When Sertorius returned to Rome he was elected quaestor and served in Cisalpine Gaul (i.e., Northern Italy). Matters were coming to a head over the Romans? refusal to extend citizenship rights to their Italian allies, and it was during the war over this (90-88) that Sertorius received the wound which cost him one of his eyes.

Sertorius stood for election as tribune but failed to win, and he blamed Sulla for this, so he naturally allied himself with the Marians in the dispute over whether Sulla or Marius should be sent out to fight against Mithridates in the East. After Sulla had successfully gained the command and Marius had gone into exile, the two consuls, Octavius, who was pro-Sulla, and Cinna, who was pro-Marius, fell out. Sertorius followed Cinna when he was driven out of Rome by Octavius, who had Merula appointed as consul to replace Cinna (87).

Marius came back from exile in Africa to join the forces Cinna was raising in Italy. They divided their army into three parts commanded by Marius, Cinna, and Sertorius, and laid siege to Rome. In the reign of terror Marius and Cinna instigated after they won their way into the city, Sertorius is said to have done his best to moderate their lust for vengeance. Marius had enrolled slaves among his forces, and they were particularly known for their brutality, which no-one dared do anything to counter until Sertorius defeated and killed them in their camp (86).

When Sulla arrived back from the East (82), another round of fighting ensued. During a truce for negotiations between Lucius Scipio (one of the commanders opposing Sulla now that Marius and Cinna were dead) and Sulla, Sertorius was sent on a mission to apprise the consul Norbanus of what was happening. On the way he captured the pro-Sullan town of Suessa, which meant Scipio had to return the hostages Sulla had provided for the truce.

The negotiations were actually a ploy, and Sulla used the opportunity to persuade Scipio's army to come over to him. Sertorius decided the position of the anti-Sullan forces in Italy was hopeless, and made his way to Spain to take up his propraetorship and form an alternative power base.

Once he had gained control of Rome, Sulla sent Caius Annius to dislodge Sertorius from Spain. The commander of the advance guard Sertorius had posted at the Pyrenees was assassinated, thus leaving Sertorius vulnerable to Annius' advance. Sertorius abandoned Spain and sailed over to N. Africa but after the men from his fleet were attacked and defeated while they were replenishing their water supplies, Sertorius tried to return to Spain. After a sea battle against Annius, Sertorius retreated to the 'Atlantic Islands', which may be Madeira or the Canaries.

Sertorius would have been quite happy to settle in the Atlantic Islands but the Cilician pirates who had been helping him sailed off to Mauretania, now Morocco, to help restore Ascalis, a local prince, to the throne. Sertorius sent some of his followers to help those fighting against Ascalis. Ascalis also received help from Roman troops sent by Sulla under Paccianus, who Sertorius defeated. Paccianus was killed in the battle, and his men joined Sertorius. The city of Tingis (now Tangier), where Ascalis had taken refuge, surrendered.

After Sertorius captured Tingis, the Lusitanians asked him to lead them in their struggle against the occupying Roman forces in Spain. He crossed over into Spain with 2600 Romans and 700 soldiers from North Africa. Some 4000 foot-soldiers and 700 horsemen from the locals joined Sertorius' forces. One of Sertorius' attractions for them was his pet white fawn, which he claimed was a gift from the goddess Diana, saying that the information he actually received from spies was revealed to him by the fawn.

Sertorius Sources

Original Sources:
Plutarch's Life of Sertorius
Plutarch's Comparison between Sertorius and Eumenes
Appian is the source for the incident at Suessa

Secondary Sources:
(www.ancientcoinmarket.com/mt/mtarticle1/1.html) This numismatic site has a good account of Sertorius illustrated with a map and drawings of coins issued by Sertorius in Spain.
This Spanish language site has a good account of Sertorius' time in Spain, though I'm not sure what point the pictures are meant to be illustrating. The above article is a slightly adapted version of two articles that first appeared at http://www.suite101.com/welcome.cfm/ancient_biographies on 6 April 2004 and 20 April 2004.

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