m their ground; and, as the victory now
changed sides, Sertorius, with a view of securing a safe retreat for
his men, and contriving the means of getting together another army
without any interruption, retired to a strong city in the mountains,
and began to repair the walls and strengthen the gates, though his
object was anything rather than to stand a siege: but his design was
to deceive the enemy, in which he succeeded; for they sat down before
the place, thinking they should take it without difficulty, and in the
mean time they let the defeated barbarians escape, and allowed
Sertorius to collect a fresh army. It was got together by Sertorius
sending officers to the cities, and giving orders that when they had
collected a good body of men, they should dispatch a messenger to him.
When the messenger came, he broke through the besiegers without any
difficulty and joined his troops; and now he again advanced against
the enemy in great force, and began to cut off their land supplies by
ambuscades, and hemming them in, and showing himself at every point,
inasmuch as his attacks were made with great expedition; and he cut
off all their maritime supplies by occupying the coast with his
piratical vessels, so that the generals opposed to him were obliged to
separate, one to march off into Gaul, and Pompeius to winter among the
Vaccaei[157] in great distress for want of supplies, and to write to
the Senate, that he would lead his army out of Iberia, if they did not
send him money, for he had spent all his own in defence of Italy.
There was great talk in Rome that Sertorius would come to Italy before
Pompeius[158] to such difficulties did Sertorius, by his military
abilities, reduce the first and ablest of the generals of that age.

XXII. Metellus also showed, that he feared the man and thought he was
powerful; for he made proclamation, that if any Roman killed Sertorius
he would give him a hundred talents of silver and twenty thousand
jugera of land; and, if he was an exile, permission to return, to
Rome: thus declaring that he despaired of being able to defeat
Sertorius in the field, and therefore would purchase his life by
treachery. Besides this, Metellus was so elated by a victory which on
one occasion he gained over Sertorius, and so well pleased with his
success, that he was proclaimed Imperator[159] and the cities received
him in his visits to them with sacrifices and altars. It is also said,
that he allowed chaplets to