Editing Quintus Sertorius (section)

=== Contrebia and Lauron ===

In the summer of that year, with Lepidus' revolt having ended, the Roman Senate recognized a greater force was needed to defeat Sertorius, as to this point all Sullan generals had been defeated or killed and Metellus had proven to be no match for him.{{sfn|Gruen|1995|p=18}}<ref name=":4" /> Both sitting consuls, however, refused to command the war against Sertorius.{{sfn|Brennan|2000|pp=425,466}} The Senate resorted to giving an extraordinary command to [[Pompey]] to crush Sertorius' rebellion.{{sfn|Plut. ''Pomp.''|loc=17}} Soon after, probably in late 77&nbsp;BC, Sertorius was joined by [[Marcus Perpenna Vento|Marcus Perperna Veiento]], with a following of Roman and Italian aristocrats and a sizeable Roman-style army of fifty-three [[Cohort (military unit)|cohorts]].{{sfn|Plut. ''Sert.''|loc=15.1}} Although initially reluctant to place himself under Sertorius, Perperna was forced to do so by his own men. With this army Sertorius was able to meet the Roman commanders in open field engagements instead of only guerrilla warfare. 
[[File:(Venice) Pompey the Great, Museo Archeologico Nazionale.jpg|thumb|Starting in 76&nbsp;BC, a young [[Pompey|Pompey the Great]] campaigned against Sertorius, but was defeated by him in the [[Battle of Lauron]].]]
Sertorius successfully sieged the native city of Contrebia in that year. Afterward, he called together representatives of the Iberian tribes, thanked them for their aid in providing arms for his troops, discussed the progress of the war and the advantages they would have if he was victorious, and then dismissed them.<ref name=":12">Livy, ''History of Rome,'' Book 91</ref>

By the 76&nbsp;BC campaigning season, Pompey had recruited a large army, some 30,000 infantry and 1,000 cavalry from his father and Sulla's veterans, its size being evidence of the threat posed by Sertorius to the Sullan Senate.{{sfn|Leach|1978|pp=44-45}} His arrival in Hispania stirred up rebellious sentiments against Sertorius in the peninsula, due to Pompey's reputation as a skilled general. Sertorius paid close attention to Pompey's movements despite his open contempt toward the younger general, who he called "Sulla's pupil".{{sfn|Plut. ''Sert.''|loc=18.4}} Sertorius was now at the height of his power, as near all of Iberia was under his control and he had several large armies throughout the peninsula with which to combat the Roman generals.{{sfn|Spann|1987|p=91}}

Sertorius, apparently, did not intend to march on Pompey or expect him to offer battle.<ref name=":12" /> He began the year with minor raids into the lands of the [[Berones]] and [[Autrigones|Autricones]], presumably wanting to set a reliable headquarters in northern Hispania.{{sfn|Leach|1978|p=46}} When Pompey marched toward [[Valencia|Valentia]], Sertorius rapidly moved south and blockaded the strategic city of Lauron in Citerior, which had recently allied itself to Pompey. Sertorius besieged the city, likely hoping to pull Pompey from Valentia by attacking a new ally of his. 

In response, Pompey made for Lauron, and saw Sertorius encamped there already, beginning the [[Battle of Lauron]]. Sertorius remarked that he would give a lesson to Pompey: that a general must look behind him rather than in front of him.{{sfn|Plut. ''Sert.''|loc=18}} Sertorius outmaneuvered Pompey during the battle, forcing him to stay in place by threatening an attack from the rear, then killed his foragers and a Pompeian legion sent to relieve the foragers. When Pompey tried to form up his entire army to save his forces, Sertorius led out his own army. Knowing he would be outflanked if he gave battle, Pompey desisted, and a third of his army was slaughtered. Sertorius let the native Lauronians go and burned down the city. He then executed an entire Roman cohort due to their attempts to plunder and ravage the Lauronians after he gave orders that they were to be unharmed. 

==== The Sertorian Senate and school at Osca ====
Sertorius, in his efforts to build a stable powerbase in Hispania, is said to have established a Senate of three hundred members drawn from Roman emigrants in Iberia.{{sfn|App. ''BCiv.''|loc=108.1, though scholars doubt the figure of 300 specifically}} He probably did not start calling it a Senate, nor did it contain a significant number of senators, until the arrival of Perperna and the Marian/Lepidan exiles in 77&nbsp;BC.{{sfnm|Konrad|1994|1p=185|Spann|1987|2p=87}} Whether the title of Senate was given to this body because it was a "government in exile" or innately due to the [[Dignitas (Roman concept)|dignitas]] of its members is not known.{{sfnm|Konrad|1994|1p=185, who argues it was not a government in exile as Sertorius lacked the power of a consul to convene a Senate and only saw himself as a proconsul. Conversely |Spann|1987|2pp=88-89, who believes it was in fact a government in exile, and that the fact that it was a 'Senate' was manifest}} It included many men, possibly one hundred or more, who were genuine senators but had fled Rome.{{sfnm|Konrad|1994|1p=184|Spann|1987|2pp=86-89}} Sertorius probably rose men of equestrian rank and other young nobles to his Senate to swell its numbers, and personally appointed proquaestors and propraetors; some men (such as [[Marcus Marius (quaestor 76 BC)|Marcus Marius]]) apparently even advanced offices in his administration.{{sfn|Brennan|2000|p=503}} How often Sertorius convened his Senate aside from the treaty he formed with Mithridates VI, and indeed whether he had the power to do so regularly, is uncertain.{{sfn|Konrad|1994|p=185}} Though the quality of the Sertorian Senate deteriorated as Sertorius' war effort failed,{{sfn|Brennan|2000|p=503}} the body was numerous and powerful enough, for a time, to challenge the authority of the Sullan Senate.{{sfn|Spann|1987|pp=89}} 

For the children of the chief native families Sertorius provided a school at Osca, his capital city, where they received a Roman education and even adopted the dress and education of Roman youths; Sertorius held exams for the children, distributed prizes, and assured them and their fathers they would eventually hold some positions of power.{{sfn|Plut. ''Sert.''|loc=14}} This followed the Roman practice of taking [[hostage]]s. Sertorius may have promised to grant these children, along with their families, [[Roman citizenship]].{{sfnm|Konrad|1994|1p=142|Spann|1987|2pp=80–81}}