XIV. By such acts as these Sertorius gained the admiration and love of the barbarians; and, by introducing among them the Roman armour, and discipline, and signals, he took away the frantic and brutal part of their courage, and transformed them from a huge band of robbers into an efficient regular army. Besides, he employed gold and silver unsparingly for the decoration of their helmets, and he ornamented their shields, and accustomed them to the use of flowered cloaks and tunics, and, by supplying them with money for such purposes, and entering into a kind of honourable rivalry with them, he made himself popular. But they were most gained by what he did for their children. The youths of noblest birth he collected from the several nations at Osca,[144] a large city, and set over them teachers of Greek and Roman learning; and thus he really had them as hostages under the show of educating them, as if he intended to give them a share in the government and the administration when they attained to man's estate. The fathers were wonderfully pleased at seeing their children dressed in robes with purple borders, and going so orderly to the schools of Sertorius, who paid for their education, and often had examinations into their proficiency, and gave rewards to the deserving, and presented them with golden ornaments for the neck, which the Romans call "bullæ."[145] It was an Iberian usage for those whose station was about the commander to die with him when he fell in battle, which the barbarians in those parts express by a term equivalent to the Greek "devotion."[146] Now only a few shield-bearers and companions followed the rest of the commanders; but many thousands followed Sertorius, and were devoted to die with him. It is said that, when the army of Sertorius was routed near a certain city and the enemy was pressing on them, the Iberians, careless about themselves, saved Sertorius, and, raising him on their shoulders, every one vying with the rest helped him to the walls; and when their general was secure they then betook themselves to flight, each as well as he could.
XV. Sertorius was not beloved by the Iberians only, but also by the soldiers of Italy, who served with him. When Perpenna Vento,[147] who belonged to the same party as Sertorius, had arrived in Iberia with much money and a large force, and had determined to carry on war against Metellus on his own account, his soldiers were dissatisfied, and there was much talk in the camp about Sertorius, to the great annoyance of Perpenna, who was proud of his noble family and his wealth. However, when the soldiers heard that Pompeius was crossing the Pyrenees, taking their arms and pulling up the standards, they assailed Perpenna with loud cries, and bade him lead them to Sertorius; if he did not, they threatened to leave him, and go of themselves to a man who was able to take care of himself and others too. Perpenna yielded, and led them to join the troops of Sertorius, to the number of fifty-three cohorts.
XVI. All the nations within the Iber river[148] were now joining Sertorius at once, and he was powerful in numbers; for they were continually flocking and crowding to him from all quarters. But he was troubled by the loose discipline and self-confidence of the barbarians, who called on him to attack the enemy, and were impatient of delay, and he attempted to pacify them with reasons. Seeing, however, that they were discontented, and were unwisely pressing him with their demands, he let them have their way, and winked at their engaging with the enemy, in so far as not to be completely crushed, but to get some hard knocks, which he hoped would render them more tractable for the future. Things turning out as he expected, Sertorius came to their aid when they were flying, and brought them back safe to the camp. However, as he wished also to cheer their spirits, a few days after this adventure he had all the army assembled, and introduced before them two horses,[149] one very weak and rather old, the other of a large size and strong, with a tail remarkable for the thickness and beauty of the hair. There stood by the side of the weak horse a tall strong man, and by the side of the strong horse a little man of mean appearance. On a signal given to them, the strong man began to pull the tail of the horse with all his might towards him, as if he would tear it off; the weak man began to pluck out the hairs from the tail of the strong horse one by one. Now the strong man, after no small labour to himself to no purpose, and causing much mirth to the spectators, at last gave up; but the weak man in a trice, and with no trouble, bared the tail of all its hairs. On which Sertorius getting up, said, "You see, fellow allies, that perseverance will do more than strength, and that many things which cannot be compassed all at once, yield to continued efforts; for endurance is invincible, and it is thus that time in its course assails and vanquishes every power, being a favourable helper to those who with consideration watch the opportunities that it offers, but the greatest of enemies to those who hurry out of season." By contriving from time to time such means as these for pacifying the barbarians, he managed his opportunities as he chose.
XVII. His adventure with the people called Charicatani[150] was not less admired than any of his military exploits. The Charicatani are a people who live beyond the river Tagonius: they do not dwell in cities or villages; but there is a large lofty hill, which contains caves and hollows in the rocks, looking to the north. The whole of the country at the foot of the hill consists of a clayey mud and of light earth, easily broken in pieces, which is not strong enough to bear a man's tread; and if it is only slightly touched will spread all about, like unslaked lime or ashes. Whenever the barbarians through fear of war hid themselves in their caves, and, collecting all their plunder there kept quiet, they could not be taken by any force; and now, seeing that Sertorius had retired before Metellus, and had encamped near the hill, they despised him as being beaten, on which Sertorius, whether in passion or not wishing to appear to be flying from the enemy, at daybreak rode up to the place and examined it. But he found the mountain unassailable on all sides; and while he was perplexing himself to no purpose and uttering idle threats, he saw a great quantity of dust from this light earth carried by the wind against the barbarians; for the caves are turned, as I have said, to the north, and the wind which blows from that quarter (some call it "caecias") prevails most, and is the strongest of all the winds in those parts, being generated in wet plains and snow-covered mountains; and at that time particularly, it being the height of summer, it was strong, and maintained by the melting of the ice in the sub-arctic regions, and it blew most pleasantly both on the barbarians and their flocks, and refreshed them. Now, Sertorius, thinking on all these things, and also getting information from the country people, ordered his soldiers to take up some of the light ashy earth, and bringing it right opposite to the hill to make a heap of it there; which the barbarians thought to be intended as a mound for the purpose of getting at them, and they mocked him. Sertorius kept his soldiers thus employed till nightfall, when he led them away. At daybreak a gentle breeze at first began to blow, which stirred up the lightest part of the earth that had been heaped together, and scattered it about like chaff; but when the caecias began to blow strong, as the sun got higher, and the hills were all covered with dust, the soldiers got on the heap of earth and stirred it up to the bottom, and broke the clods; and some also rode their horses up and down through the earth, kicking up the light particles and raising them so as to be caught by the wind, which receiving all the earth that was broken and stirred up, drove it against the dwellings of the barbarians, whose doors were open to the caecias. The barbarians, having only the single opening to breathe through, upon which the wind fell, had their vision quickly obscured, and they were speedily overpowered by a suffocating difficulty of breathing, by reason of respiring a thick atmosphere filled with dust. Accordingly, after holding out with difficulty for two days, they surrendered on the third, and thus added not so much to the power as to the reputation of Sertorius, who had taken by stratagem a place that was impregnable to arms.
XVIII. Now, as long as Sertorius had to oppose Metellus, he was generally considered to owe his success to the old age and natural tardiness of Metellus, who was no match for a daring man, at the head of a force more like a band of robbers than a regular army. But when Pompeius had crossed the Pyrenees, and Sertorius had met him in the field, and he and Pompeius had mutually offered one another every opportunity for a display of generalship, and Sertorius had the advantage in stratagem and caution, his fame was noised abroad as far as Rome, and he was considered the most able general of his age in the conduct of a war: for the reputation of Pompeius was no small one; but at that time particularly he was enjoying the highest repute by reason of his distinguished exploits in the cause of Sulla, for which Sulla gave him the name of Magnus, which means Great, and Pompeius obtained triumphal honours before he had a beard. All this made many of the cities which were subject to Sertorius turn their eyes towards Pompeius, and feel inclined to pass over to him; but their intentions were checked by the loss at Lauron,[151] which happened contrary to all expectation. Sertorius was besieging this town, when Pompeius came with all his force to relieve it. There was a hill, well situated for enabling an enemy to act against the place, which Sertorius made an effort to seize, and Pompeius to prevent its being occupied. Sertorius succeeded in getting possession of the hill, on which Pompeius made his troops stop, and was well pleased at what had happened, thinking that Sertorius was hemmed in between the city and his own army; and he sent a message to the people in Lauron, bidding them be of good cheer, and to keep to their walls and look on while Sertorius was blockaded. Sertorius smiled when he heard of this, and said he would teach Sulla's pupil (for so he contemptuously called Pompeius) that a general should look behind him rather than before. As he said this he pointed out to his men, who were thus blockaded, that there were six thousand heavy armed soldiers, whom he had left in the encampment, which he had quitted before he seized the hill, in order that if Pompeius should turn against them, the soldiers in camp might attack him in the rear. And Pompeius too saw this when it was too late, and he did not venture to attack Sertorius for fear of being surrounded; and though he could not for shame leave the citizens in their danger, he was obliged to sit there and see them ruined before his eyes; for the barbarians in despair surrendered. Sertorius spared their lives, and let them all go; but he burnt the city, not for revenge or because he was cruel, for of all commanders Sertorius appears to have least given way to passion; but he did it to shame and humble the admirers of Pompeius, and that the barbarians might say that Pompeius did not help his allies, though he was close at hand, and all but warmed with the flames of their city.