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Plutarch · Life of Sertorius §7.1-7.4

Invasion of Annius and Retreat from the Pyrenees

Passage 7 of 27 · Greek

Summary

As Sulla's general Annius advances on Iberia, Sertorius fortifies the Pyrenees, but the assassination of his commander leads to a breakthrough, forcing him to retreat to Africa and nearby islands. When pursued again by Annius, he attempts a naval battle but loses most of his ships in a severe storm, leaving him in a desperate situation.

§7.1ὡς δὲ Σύλλαν μὲν ἐπυνθάνετο τῆς Ῥώμης κρατεῖν, ἔρρειν δὲ τὴν Μαρίου καὶ Κάρβωνος στάσιν, αὐτίκα προσδοκῶν στρατιὰν διαπολεμήσουσαν αὐτῷ μεθʼ ἡγεμόνος ἀφίξεσθαι φράγνυται τὰ Πυρηναῖα ὄρη διὰ Ἰουλίου Σαλινάτορος ἑξακισχιλίους ὁπλίτας ἔχοντος, καὶ μετʼ οὐ πολὺ Γάϊος Ἄννιος ἐκπεμφθεὶς ὑπὸ Σύλλα καὶ τὸν Ἰούλιον ἀπρόσμαχον ὁρῶν ἐν ἀπόρῳ καθῆστο παρὰ ταῖς ὑπωρείαις.
When he learned that Sulla was master of Rome, and that the faction of Marius and Carbo was ruined, immediately expecting that an army would arrive under a commander to wage war to the end against him, he barricaded the Pyrenees mountains by means of Julius Salinator, who had six thousand hoplites; and not long afterwards Gaius Annius, who had been sent out by Sulla and saw that Julius was impregnable, remained inactive in difficulty at the foothills.
§7.2Καλπουρνίου δέ τινος ἐπίκλησιν Λαναρίου δολοφονήσαντος τὸν Ἰούλιον καὶ τῶν στρατιωτῶν τὰ ἄκρα τῆς Πυρήνης ἐκλιπόντων, ὑπερβαλὼν Ἄννιος ἐπῄει χειρὶ μεγάλῃ τοὺς ἐμποδὼν ἀνιστάς.
But when a certain Calpurnius, surnamed Lanarius, assassinated Julius and the soldiers abandoned the heights of the Pyrenees, Annius crossed over and advanced with a large force, routing those who stood in his way.
Σερτώριος δὲ οὐκ ὢν ἀξιόμαχος μετὰ τρισχιλίων εἰς Καρχηδόνα τὴν νέαν καταφυγών, κἀκεῖθεν ἐπιβὰς τῶν νεῶν καὶ διαπεράσας τὸ πέλαγος, Λιβύῃ κατὰ τὴν Μαυρουσίαν προσέσχεν.
But Sertorius, not being a match for them, fled with three thousand men to New Carthage, and embarking on ships from there and crossing the sea, he landed in Libya, in the region of Maurusia.
§7.3ἀφυλάκτοις δὲ τοῖς στρατιώταις ὑδρευομένοις τῶν βαρβάρων ἐπιπεσόντων, συχνοὺς ἀποβαλὼν αὖθις εἰς Ἰβηρίαν ἀπέπλει· καὶ ταύτης μὲν ἀποκρούεται, Κιλισσῶν δὲ λῃστρίδων αὐτῷ προσγενομένων Πιτυούσσῃ νήσῳ προσέβαλε, καὶ ἀπέβη τὴν παρʼ Ἀννίου φρουρὰν βιασάμενος.
But when the barbarians fell upon his soldiers while they were getting water unguarded, he lost many men and sailed back again to Iberia; and being repulsed from there, and when Cilician pirate vessels joined him, he made an attack on the island of Pityussa, and landed after overpowering the garrison of Annius.
Ἄννιος δὲ μετʼ οὐ πολὺ παρῆν ναυσί τε πολλαῖς καὶ πεντακισχιλίοις ὁπλίταις, πρὸς ὃν ἐπεχείρησε μὲν διαναυμαχεῖν, καίπερ ἐλαφροῖς καὶ πρὸς τάχος, οὐ πρὸς ἀλκήν, πεποιημένοις σκάφεσι χρώμενος, §7.4ζεφύρῳ δὲ λαμπρῷ τοῦ πελάγους ἀνισταμένου καὶ τὰ πολλὰ τῶν τοῦ Σερτωρίου πλοίων ὑπὸ κουφότητος πλάγια ταῖς ῥαχίαις περιβάλλοντος, αὐτὸς ὀλίγαις ναυσὶ τῆς μὲν θαλάσσης ὑπὸ τοῦ χειμῶνος εἰργόμενος, τῆς δὲ γῆς ὑπὸ τῶν πολεμίων, ἡμέρας δέκα σαλεύων πρὸς ἐναντίον κῦμα καὶ κλύδωνα τραχὺν ἐπιπόνως διεκαρτέρησεν.
But Annius not long afterwards was present with many ships and five thousand hoplites, against whom he attempted indeed to fight a naval battle, although using vessels built light and for speed, not for strength; but as a strong west wind rose from the sea and, owing to their lightness, cast most of Sertorius's ships broadside upon the rocky shores, he himself, being barred from the sea by the storm and from the land by the enemy, held out with difficulty with a few ships, tossing for ten days against an opposing wave and rough surge.

Notes

  1. 7.1διὰ Ἰουλίου Σαλινάτορος — The preposition διά with the genitive indicates the agent or intermediary ("through" or "by means of"). The following participle ἔχοντος is in the genitive, modifying the proper name Ἰουλίου Σαλινάτορος and describing his possession of the six thousand hoplites.
  2. 7.3ἀφυλάκτοις δὲ τοῖς στρατιώταις ὑδρευομένοις τῶν βαρβάρων ἐπιπεσόντων — This is a highly condensed double structure: the genitive absolute τῶν βαρβάρων ἐπιπεσόντων ("when the barbarians fell upon") governs the dative complement τοῖς στρατιώταις ὑδρευομένοις ("the soldiers who were getting water"), which is further modified by the predicate-position adjective ἀφυλάκτοις ("unguardedly" or "without guard").
  3. 7.4περιβάλλοντος — A present active participle in the genitive singular. It can be construed as agreeing with the neuter genitive singular noun τὸ πέλαγος from the preceding genitive absolute τοῦ πελάγους ἀνισταμένου ("the sea rising"). Alternatively, it represents a grammatical shift (anacoluthon) where the subject of action is the west wind (ζέφυρος, mentioned in the dative ζεφύρῳ), treated as if it were in the genitive absolute. In either case, the wind or the sea is the agent driving the ships onto the rocky shore.

Cite this passage

Plutarch, Life of Sertorius §7.1-7.4. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0007.tlg042.humanitext-grc2:7.1-7.4

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