Quintus Sertorius (121-72), a native of the little Sabine village of
Nursia under the Apennines, had joined the party of Marius, and served
under him in the campaigns against the Cimbri and Teutones. In 97 he
served in Spain, and became acquainted with the country with which his
fame is chiefly associated. In 91 he was Quaestor in Cisalpine Gaul. He
was a partisan of Marius during his troubles with Sulla, and on Sulla's
return from the East he left Rome for Spain, where he took the lead
of the Marian party. His bravery, kindness, and eloquence pleased the
Spaniards. Many Roman refugees and deserters joined him. He defeated
one of Sulla's generals, and drove out of Lusitania (Portugal) METELLUS
PIUS,(Footnote: Son of Metellus Numidicus. He received the agnomen of
Pius on account of the love which he displayed for his father, whom
he begged the people to recall from banishment in 99.) who had been
specially sent against him from Rome.
The object of Sertorius was to establish a government in Spain after the
Roman model. He formed a Senate of three hundred members, and founded at
Osca a school for native children. He was strict and severe towards his
soldiers, but kind to the people. A white fawn was his favorite pet and
constant follower. He ruled Spain for six years. In 77 he was joined by
PERPERNA a Roman officer. The same year Pompey, then a young man, was
sent to co-operate with Metellus. Sertorius proved more than a match for
both of these generals, and defeated them near Saguntum.
The position of the Romans was becoming critical, for Sertorius now
formed a league with the pirates of the Mediterranean. He also entered
into negotiations with Mithradates, and opened correspondence with the
slaves in Italy, who were rebelling.
But intrigues and jealousies arose in his camp. The outcome of these was
that he was treacherously murdered by Perperna at a banquet in 72, and
with his death fell the Marian party in Spain.
Meanwhile a dangerous enemy was threatening Italy within her own
borders. In 73 a band of gladiators, under the leadership of one of
their number, named SPARTACUS escaped from the training school at Capua
and took up a strong position on Mount Vesuvius. They were joined by
large numbers of slaves and outcasts of every description, and were soon
in a position to defeat two Praetors who were sent against them.
The next year they assumed the offensive; and Spartacus found himself at
the head of 100,000 men. Four generals sent against him were defeated;
and for two years he ravaged Italy at will, and even threatened Rome.
But intestine division showed itself in his ranks; his lieutenants grew
jealous of him, and his strength began to wane.
In 71 the command of the war was given to CRASSUS, who finished it in
six months. Spartacus fell, fighting bravely, near Brundisium. Pompey,
returning from the Sertorian war in Spain, met five thousand of those
who had escaped from the array of Spartacus. These he slew to a man.
Crassus pointed the moral of his victory by hanging, along the road from
Rome to Capua, six thousand captives whom he had taken.
Mithradates meanwhile, taking advantage of the troubles at Rome, was
again in arms, and in 74 LUCIUS LICINIUS LUCULLUS was sent against him.
Lucullus, of plebeian birth, first distinguished himself in the Social
War, where he gained the favor of Sulla, and accompanied him, as
Quaestor, in his campaign against Mithradates in 88. With Cotta he was
chosen to the consulship in 74. The province of Cilicia was assigned to
him, Bithynia to Cotta. Mithradates invaded Bithynia, defeated Cotta,
and besieged him at Chalcedon.
Lucullus, after reorganizing and disciplining his army, went to the aid
of his colleague, drove the king into Pontus, and defeated him at Cabira
in 72, and his fleet at Tenedos in 71, compelling him to take refuge
with his son-in-law, TIGRANES, King of Armenia.
Lucullus endeavored to work reforms in the administration of provincial
governments in the East. The revenues of the provinces were farmed out,
and the measures of Lucullus were intended to protect the tax-payers
against the tax-gatherers (_publicani_). His reforms met with bitter
opposition at Rome, especially from the Equites, whose chief source of
income was often this same tax-farming. Intrigues against him by persons
sent from Rome began to create dissatisfaction among his troops. He had
been a severe disciplinarian, and so it was all the easier to turn the
soldiers against him.
In 68 he won a victory over Tigranes and Mithradates, at the river
Arsanias; but his legions refused to follow him farther, and he was
obliged to lead them into winter quarters in Mesopotamia. The next year
his soldiers again mutinied, and he was replaced by Pompey.
Returning to Rome, Lucullus spent the rest of his days in retirement,
dying about 57. He was very rich, and was famed for the luxurious
dinners which he gave.
POMPEY AND CRASSUS.
The Sullan system stood for nine years, and was then overthrown, as
it had been established, by a soldier. It was the fortune of Pompey, a
favorite officer of Sulla, to cause the first violation of the laws laid
down by his general.
GNEIUS POMPEIUS MAGNUS (106-48) led a soldier's life from his boyhood to
his death. When a youth of seventeen he fought by his father's side in
the civil struggles between Marius and Sulla. He was a partisan of the
latter, and connected himself with the cause of the aristocracy. He
defeated the followers of Marius in Sicily and Africa, and in 81 was
allowed to enjoy a triumph, though still an Eques and not legally
qualified. Sulla then greeted him with the surname of Magnus, which he
ever afterwards bore. He was then sent to Spain, with what success we
have seen in the previous chapter. In 70 Pompey and MARCUS LICINIUS
CRASSUS were elected Consuls amid great enthusiasm.
Crassus (108-53), the conqueror of Spartacus, had amassed immense wealth
by speculation, mining, dealing in slaves, and other methods. Avarice is
said to have been his ruling passion, though he gave large sums to the
people for political effect.
Neither Pompey nor Crassus, according to the laws passed by Sulla, was
eligible to the consulship. The former had never been Quaestor, and was
only thirty-five years old; the latter was still Praetor, and ought to
have waited two years.
The work of Sulla was now quickly undone. The Tribunes regained
their prerogative, the veto. The control of the criminal courts was
transferred again from the Senate to the Equites, and the former body
was cleared of its most worthless members, who had been appointed by
Sulla.
For three years (70-67) after the expiration of his consulship, Pompey
remained quietly at Rome. He was then put in charge of an expedition
against the Greek pirates. From the earliest times these marauders had
been in the habit of depredating on the shores of the Mediterranean.
During the civil wars of Rome they had become much bolder, so that
the city was compelled to take an active part against them. They had
paralyzed the trade of the Mediterranean, and even the coasts of Italy
were not safe from their raids.
GABINIUS, a Tribune, proposed that Pompey should hold his command
for three years; that he should have supreme authority over all Roman
magistrates in the provinces throughout the Mediterranean, and over the
coasts for fifty miles inland. He was to have fifteen lieutenants, all
ex-praetors, two hundred ships, and all the troops he needed.
In three months the pirates were swept from the sea.
The next year (66) Pompey's powers were still further enlarged by the
MANILIAN LAW, proposed by the Tribune Manilius. By this law the entire
control of the Roman policy in the East was given to Pompey. His
appointment was violently opposed by the Senate, especially by CATULUS,
the "father of the Senate," and by the orator HORTENSIUS; but CICERO
with his first political speech (_Pro Lege Manilia_) came to Pompey's
assistance, and to him was given the command by which he became
virtually dictator in the East. His operations there were thoroughly
successful, and, though he doubtless owed much to the previous victories
of Lucullus, he showed himself an able soldier. Mithradates was obliged
to flee across the Black Sea to Panticapaeum (Kertch).
In the year 64 Pompey went to Syria, took possession of the country in
the name of Rome, and made it a province.
Next he was invited to act as judge between Hyrcanus and Aristobulus,
two aspirants to the Jewish throne. His decision was contrary to
the wishes of the people, and to enforce it he led his army against
Jerusalem, which he captured after a siege of three months. He installed
Hyrcanus on the throne on condition of an annual tribute.
Meanwhile Mithradates had returned to Pontus for the prosecution of his
old design; but so great was the terror inspired by the Roman arms, that
even his own son refused to join him. Desperate at the turn affairs had
taken, the aged monarch put an end to his own life in 63, after a reign
of fifty-seven years. With him ceased for many years all formidable
opposition to Rome in Asia.
Besides Syria, Pontus, to which Bithynia was joined, and Crete were now
made provinces. Cilicia was reorganized, and enlarged by the addition
of Pamphylia and Isauria. The three countries in Asia Minor not
yet provinces, but dependencies, were Galatia, ruled by Deiotarus;
Cappadocia, by Ariobarzanes; and Paphlagonia, by Attalus.
After an absence of nearly seven years, Pompey returned to Rome, January
1, 61, and enjoyed a well earned triumph. He was forty-five years old,
had accomplished a really great work, had founded several cities which
afterwards became centres of Greek life and civilization, and was hailed
as the conqueror of Spain, Africa, and Asia.
The rest of Pompey's life is closely connected with that of Caesar. His
wife, Julia, was Caesar's daughter, and thus far the relations between
the two men had been friendly.
Pompey's absence in the East was marked at Rome by the rise to political
importance of CAESAR and CICERO, and by the conspiracy of CATILINE.