Sertorius

Sertorius, QUINTUS (d. 72 B.C.). an able Roman statesman and general, born at the Sabine village of Nursia. He served under Marius in the victory over the Teutones at Aquae Sextiae (102 B.C.), and joined that statesman as leader of the democratic party against Sulla (88), although he disapproved of his personal character. He was not responsible for the carnage wronght by Marins and Cinna in 87, but showed his desire to check it by putting to death several hundred blood-stained slaves. On the return of Sulla from the East in 83, he withdrew to Spain, where he maintained the Marian cause in a desultory but vigorous fashion, taking part in the Mediterranean expeditions of the Cilician pirates and conducting a successful campaign in Mauretania. It was his aim to establish a strong government in Spain and to introduce the Roman type of civilisation, among the natives, and by his statesmanlike and equitable rule he won the confidence both of the Spaniards proper and of their westerly neighbours. the Lusitani. He was assassinated at a banquet through the instrumentality of his subordinate and rival Perperna.