Sertorius

So the fathers were wonderfully pleased to see their sons, in purple-bordered togas, very decorously going to their schools, and Sertorius paying their fees for them, holding frequent examinations, distributing prizes to the deserving, and presenting them with the golden necklaces which the Romans call bullae.

It was the custom among the Iberians for those who were stationed about their leader to die with him if he fell, and the Barbarians in those parts call this a consecration. Now, the other commanders had few such shield-bearers and companions, but Sertorius was attended by many thousands of men who had thus consecrated themselves to death.

And we are told that when his army had been defeated at a certain city and the enemy were pressing upon them, the Iberians, careless of themselves, rescued Sertorius, and taking him on their shoulders one after another, carried him to the walls, and only when their leader was in safety, did they betake themselves to flight, each man for himself.

And not only were the Iberians eager to serve under him, but also the soldiers who came from Italy. At any rate, when Perpenna Vento, who belonged to the same party as Sertorius, came to Spain with much money and a large force, and was determined to wage war on his own account against Metellus, his soldiers were displeased, and there was much talk in the camp about Sertorius, to the annoyance of Perpenna, who was puffed up over his high birth and his wealth.

However, when word came that Pompey was crossing the Pyrenees, the soldiers caught up their arms and snatched up their standards and made an outcry against Perpenna, ordering him to lead them to Sertorius, and threatening, if he did not, to abandon him and go by themselves to a man who was able to save himself and save those under him. So Perpenna yielded and led them off and joined Sertorius with fifty-three cohorts.