Book 1
13.113
In the following year the Roman generals plucked B.C. 73 up rather more courage and advanced in an audacious manner against the towns that adhered to Sertorius, drew many away from him, assaulted others, and were much elated by their success. No great battle was fought, but again Schweighäuser detects a lacuna here which he fills with the words there were skirmishes here and there. . . . until the following year, when they advanced again even more audaciously. Sertorius was now Y.R. 682 evidently misled by a god, for he relaxed his labors, fell B.C. 72 into habits of luxury, and gave himself up to women, and to carousing and drinking, for which reason he was defeated continually. He became hot-tempered, from various suspicions, and extremely cruel in punishment, and distrustful of everybody, Plutarch represents Sertorius as temperate, unassailable by either pleasure or fear, and very sparing and backward in punishing offenders. (Life of Sertorius, 10.) so much so that Perpenna, who had belonged to the faction of Lepidus and had come hither as a volunteer with a considerable army, began to fear for his own safety and formed a conspiracy with ten other men against him. The conspiracy was betrayed, some of the guilty ones were punished and others fled, but Perpenna escaped detection in some unaccountable manner and applied himself all the more to carry out the design. As Sertorius was never without his guard of spearmen, Perpenna invited him to a banquet, plied him and his guards with wine, and assassinated him after the feast.
