Battle of Italica
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| Battle of Italica | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the Sertorian War | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
| Roman Republic | Sertorian Rebels | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Quintus Caecilius Metellus Pius | Lucius Hirtuleius | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 4 understrength legions and an unknown number of auxiliaries and allied troops | Unknown but similar to Metellus' force | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| Unknown but significantly lower than their opponents | 20,000[1] | ||||||
  Location within Spain | |||||||
The Battle of Italica was fought in 75 BC between a rebel army under the command of Lucius Hirtuleius a legate of the Roman rebel Quintus Sertorius and a Roman Republican army under the command of the Roman general and proconsul of Hispania Ulterior Quintus Caecilius Metellus Pius. The battle was fought near Italica (a Roman colony in Spain) and ended in a stunning victory for the Metellan army.[2]
In 88 BC, Lucius Cornelius Sulla marched his legions on Rome, starting a period of civil wars. Quintus Sertorius, a client of Gaius Marius, joined his patron's faction and took up the sword against the Sullan faction (mainly optimates). After the death of Lucius Cornelius Cinna and Gaius Marius, Sertorius lost faith with his factions leadership. In 82 BC, during the war against Sulla, he left Italy for his assigned province in Hispania.[3] Unfortunately his faction lost the war in Italy right after his departure and in 81 BC Sulla sent Gaius Annius Luscus with several legions to take the Iberian provinces from Sertorius.[4] After a brief resistance Sertorius and his men are expelled from Hispania. They ended up in Mauretania in north-western Africa where they conquered the city of Tingis. Here the Lusitanians, a fierce Iberian tribe who were about to be invaded by a Sullan governor, approached him. They asked him to become their war leader in the fight against the Sullans.
In 80 BC Sertorius landed at the little fishing town of Baelo near the Pillars of Hercules (Gibraltar) and returned to Hispania. Soon after his landing he fought and defeated the Sullan general Lucius Fufidius (the aforementioned Sullan governor) at the Baetis river. After this he defeated several Sullan armies and drove his opponents from Hispania.
Threatened by Sertorius' success the Senate in Rome upgraded Hispania Ulterior to a proconsular province and sent the proconsul Quintus Caecilius Metellus Pius with a large army to fight him.[5] Sertorius used guerrilla tactics so effectively he wore down Metellus to the point of exhaustion while Sertorius' legate Lucius Hirtuleius defeated the governor of Hispania Citerior Marcus Domitius Calvinus. In 76 BC the government in Rome decided to send Pompey and an even larger army to help Metellus.[6] In the same year Sertorius is joined by Marcus Perpenna, who brought him the remnants of the army of Marcus Aemilius Lepidus the rebel consul of 78 BC.[7] Thus reinforced Sertorius decided to try and take the Iberian east coast (because the cities there support his enemies). His first target was the city of Lauron where, against Pompey, Sertorius showed himself to be the better general. Sertorius' forces massacred a large part of Pompey's army (see: the Battle of Lauron).[8]
Prelude
In 75 BC, Sertorius decided to take on Metellus and leave the battered Pompey to his legates Perpenna and Gaius Herennius. Pompey however defeated his opponents in a battle near Valentia[9] and forced Sertorius to come and take charge of the situation, leaving Hirtuleius to deal with Metellus.[10] Metellus and Hirtuleius were campaigning near the Roman colony of Italica when Hirtuleius made the mistake of trying to force his opponent into a pitched battle.