Editing Quintus Sertorius (section)

=== Pacification of Castulo ===
During his service, Sertorius was posted to the Roman-controlled [[Oretani]] ([[Iberians|Iberian]]) town of [[Castulo]]. The local Roman garrison was hated by the natives for their lack of discipline and constant drinking, and Sertorius either arrived too late to stop their impropriety or was unable to.{{sfn|Konrad|1994|p=51}} The natives invited a neighbouring tribe to free the town of the garrison, and they successfully killed many of the Roman soldiers. Sertorius escaped and gathered the other surviving soldiers, who still had their weapons.{{sfn|Spann|1987|p=20}}{{sfn|Konrad|1994|p=51}} He secured the unguarded exits of the town, and then led his men inside, killing all native men of military age irrespective of participation in the revolt.{{sfn|Spann|1987|p=20}} Once he learned some attackers had come from a neighbouring town, he had his men wear the armour of the slain natives and led them there. Probably arriving at dawn, the town opened the gates for Sertorius and his men, convinced they were their warriors returning with loot from the slain Roman garrison.{{sfn|Konrad|1994|p=51}} Sertorius then killed many of the towns' inhabitants and sold the rest into slavery.{{sfn|Spann|1987|p=20}} 

Later in Hispania during his revolt, Sertorius did not quarter his soldiers in native cities, "noting the stupidity of a policy which would cause rebellion in a hostile city, hostility in a neutral one, and corrupt the garrison into the bargain".{{sfnm|Konrad|1994|1p=95|Spann|1987|2p=20. Alongside lowering taxes, the other major policy Sertorius enacted during his revolt which gained him the favour of the natives was never obligating them to quarter his troops in their cities}} The incident at Castulo earned Sertorius considerable fame in Hispania and abroad, aiding his future political career.{{sfnm|Spann|1987|1p=20|Konrad|1994|2p=52 refute the claim of [[Pliny the Elder|Pliny]] which has been taken to mean Sertorius won the [[Grass Crown]] (tied sometimes to the Castulo incident)}} During his military tribunate Sertorius became familiar with the Iberian methods of war, namely [[guerrilla warfare]], which he would later use to great effect in his revolt.{{sfn|Konrad|1994|p=137}}

Didius returned to Rome in the June of 93&nbsp;BC to celebrate a [[Roman triumph|triumph]], but it is not known whether Sertorius immediately returned with him or remained under his successor.{{sfnm|Spann|1987|1pp=21, 161 believes that as one of Didius' experienced officers, Sertorius may have remained in Hispania in 92&nbsp;BC to continue subduing the Iberian tribes under Didius' successor, [[Gaius Valerius Flaccus (consul 93 BC)|Gaius Valerius Flaccus]]. Conversely |Konrad|1994|2p=53 argues Sertorius may have spent the year in Rome gathering support for his quaestorship; as a novus homo the necessary political maneuvering would have required time and effort.}}