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The command in Further Spain was held by Lucius Fufidius, who through his absolute devotion to Sulla well tried amidst the proscriptions had risen from a subaltern to be propraetor; he was totally defeated on the Baetis; 2000 Romans covered the field of battle.
But though so feeble and insignificant at first, he not only subdued great nations, and took many cities, but of the generals who were opposed to him he defeated Cotta in a naval engagement in the channel near Mellaria; he put to flight Fufidius, the governor of Bætica, on the banks of the Bætis, with the slaughter of two thousand of his Roman soldiers; Lucius Domitius, proconsul of the other Iberia, was defeated by his quæstor; Thoranius, another of the commanders of Metellus, who was sent with a force, he destroyed; and on Metellus himself, the greatest man among the Romans in his day, and of the highest repute, he inflicted several discomfitures, and brought him to such straits, that Lucius Manlius came from Narbo, in Gaul, to his relief, and Pompeius Magnus was hastily despatched from Rome with an army; for Metellus was perplexed at having to deal with a daring man, who evaded all fighting in the open field, and could adapt himself to any circumstances by reason of the light and easy equipment and activity of his Iberian army; he who had been disciplined in regular battles fought by men in full armour and commanded a heavy immovable mass of men, who were excellently trained to thrust against their enemies, when they came to close quarters, and to strike them down, but unable to traverse mountains, to be kept always on the alert by the continual pursuing and retreating of light active men, and to endure hunger like them, and to live under the open sky without fire or tent.
But the Institution of Cyrus, by Xenophon, is read by every one; which, though an excellent performance of the kind, is much less adapted to our manners and form of government, and not superior in merit to the honest simplicity of Scaurus. Fufidius himself was likewise a tolerable pleader.
This advantage, which it is not easy to acquire by art, he derived entirely from nature: though you know that even here we have some precepts to assist us. We have several of his Orations still extant, and three books inscribed to L. Fufidius containing the History of his own Life, which, though a very useful work, is scarcely read by any body.
Messengers in all haste summoned the governor of the adjoining province of the Ebro, Marcus Domitius Calvinus, to check the farther advance of the Sertorians; and there soon appeared also the experienced general Quintus Metellus, sent by Sulla to relieve the incapable Fufidius in southern Spain. But they did not succeed in mastering the revolt.
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.
The command in Further Spain was held by Lucius Fufidius, who through his absolute devotion to Sulla well tried amidst the proscriptions had risen from a subaltern to be propraetor; he was totally defeated on the Baetis; 2000 Romans covered the field of battle.
Fufidius, wealthy in lands, wealthy in money put out at interest, is afraid of having the character of a rake and spendthrift. This fellow deducts 5 per cent. You can hardly believe how little a friend he is to himself: insomuch that the father, whom Terence's comedy introduces as living miserable after he had caused his son to run away from him, did not torment himself worse than he.
Messengers in all haste summoned the governor of the adjoining province of the Ebro, Marcus Domitius Calvinus, to check the farther advance of the Sertorians; and there soon appeared also the experienced general Quintus Metellus, sent by Sulla to relieve the incapable Fufidius in southern Spain. But they did not succeed in mastering the revolt.
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