Pompey vs Setorius !

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2-Istoria ramane pasiunea mea nr -1.

“If the old woman had not made an appearance, I'd have thrashed the boy and packed him off to Rome.”

Pompey raised a force of 30,000 legionaries and 1,000 cavalry, and then subdued rebellious tribes in the Alps and southern Gaul as he marched on Hispania. His bloody campaign saw his men enter Iberia in Spring 76 BC, leading to the defection of some Celtiberian tribes and inspiring the abandoned legions of Metellus Pius. He immediately moved to lift a siege, only to be defeated by the renegade Sertorius, a serious blow to his prestige.

After a year of licking his wounds, Pompey defeated one of Sertorius’ adjutants, whiel Metellus returned and defeated another one. Now Pompey was keen to defeat Sertorius alone, rather than sharing the glory with Metellus, while Sertorius wanted an engagement so he did not face two armies simultaneously. Thus Pompey and Sertorius clashed at the Battle of Surco, with Pompey’s right wing initially pushing back Sertorius’ left. Alerted to the danger, Sertorius rode to the left and rallied his men, who in turned pushed Pompey’s forces back. Pompey himself was almost captured when he was thrown from his horse, though Sertorius’ legionaries were more concerned with catching such a fine stallion rather than seeing who its owner was. Pompey’s left then broke through into Sertorius’ camp, though they were then set upon by the legionaries from Sertorius’ left. They may have been routed, though at this point a small force under the adjutant of Metellus attacked Sertorius’ rear, and it was clear his army was only a day’s march away – if Pompey had waited but a day, they would have trapped Sertorius betwixt their two armies. Sertorius thus thought it prudent to flee, while Pompey had made his way back to his own camp. Sertorius later remarked of Metellus: “If the old woman had not made an appearance, I'd have thrashed the boy and packed him off to Rome.”

Pompey and Metellus gave chase, engaging Sertorius at the Battle of Saguntum. Sertorius commanded against Pompey until learning of the death of his adjutant facing Metellus, and thus moved to command there instead. He pushed hard to take out the commander, and succeeded in wounding him when he was hit by a javelin. This only enraged his legionaries though, whose retreat turned into a frenzied attack to avoid the shame of abandoning their commander. Metellus complacently decided to rest his men at camp, which Sertorius chose to attack at night, only for Pompey to set on his rear and force a retreat. Sertorius then made for a mountain stronghold and resumed his guerrilla campaign, leading Pompey and Metellus to split their force, the later wintering in Gaul. Pompey by this stage had invested most of his own fortune into the indecisive war, and wrote to the Senate demanding recompense. Fearing he would abandon his post to pursue the new campaign in the east, the Consul Lucullus had the money sent to him. Pompey was now committed to Hispania until Sertorius could be decisively defeated.

Mithridates VI had fought a second war against the rogue general Murena, who Sulla had not supported as the Pontic king was not violating his treaty. After an incursion into Cappadocia and then Pontus, on what he believed to be the Senate’s mandate, Mithridates defeated the Roman and saw numerous cities in Asia Minor declare again for Pontus. Throughout this period the Romans had been plagued by pirates based off the southern coast of Asia Minor, with only sporadic responses against them. One such response saw Rome annex Cilicia as a province, antagonising Mithridates as the republic edged closer to Pontus. When King Nicomedes IV died in 74 BC, he bequeathed his kingdom to Rome – a serious affront to Mithridates VI, who immediately set out to annex the Hellespont kingdom for Pontus.

This new war with the republic saw Mithridates enter an alliance with Sertorius, looking to overwhelm Rome from both east and west. With Pompey in Hispania, both Consuls Lucullus and Cotta went to Asia to confront the king. Mithridates marched quickly, defeating Cotta at the Battle of Chalcedon, killing and capturing over half of his six legions, and following that up with a naval attack to break into the harbour and sink the Roman fleet. Mithridates took numerous cities in the region, and when Lucullus learnt of Cotta’s defeat, he had to urge his men to engage the king rather than just raiding the rich Kingdom of Pontus. When the two armies met they were reluctant to engage, Lucullus daunted by Mithridates’ force, which may have been as many as 300,000 men strong.

The king’s fortunes changed when he attempted to besiege the city of Cyzicus, only for Lucullus to arrive and erect fortifications for a counter siege, trapping the Pontic army betwixt his legions and the city walls. When Mithridates attempted to send his wounded and cavalry away, Lucullus was able to ambush them in the middle of a snowstorm on both sides of a river crossing. With the siege failed and Mithridates retreating, Lucullus caught his force and inflicted a crushing victory at the River Granicus. Of the force that had set out from Pontus with 300,000 men, only 20,000 returned.

An emboldened Senate also sent a further two legions to Hispania at this time. As the war dragged on, dissatisfaction grew in Sertorius’ camp, and he foiled a number of assassination attempts and plots to overthrow him. This led to many of his Roman supporters to defect to Metellus, and Sertorius began to place Celtiberians in his key bodyguard positions due to his mistrust of Romans – now it was only his skill as a commander preventing his men from deserting en masse. More towns defected to Rome as Sertorius descended into a life of decadence, becoming cruel and ill tempered. Sertorius’ adjutant Perpenna had become increasingly disillusioned, not wanting to join him in the first place having fled to Hispania with the remnants of Lepidus’ army. Moving to fulfil his ambition, and with their disloyalty being rewarded by the Romans, Sertorius was murdered by Perpenna in 73 BC.

Metellus now left Pompey to confront Perpenna, who was eager fot battle as feared he did not carry the level of troop loyalty that Sertorius had. He was ambushed by Pompey on the march, who set traps and feigned retreats to encircle small numbers of legionaries, and was utterly defeated. Perpenna was caught hiding in a bush, where he offered Pompey letters indicting those senators in Rome who had supported Sertorius. Fearing this would trigger more civil war, Pompey executed Perpenna and burnt the letters without reading them. He spent some time organising the now pacified provinces of Hispania, erecting a triumphal arch on the Pyrenees saying he had brought 876 towns into the Roman fold. Now Pompey’s attention turned east, to Mithridates, but before he could head to Asia, a certain gladiator was threatening the destruction of Rome herself.