Sertorius, brave, noble, and gifted with eloquence, is just the man to impress the Lusitanians favorably, and the native warriors, whom he organizes, speak of him as the "new Hannibal."

His skill as a general is extraordinary, as he repeatedly defeats forces many times his own size.

Many Roman refugees and deserters join him, and with these and his Hispanian volunteers he completely defeats several of Sulla's generals (Fufidius, Lucius Domitius and to some less-direct extent Thoranius) and drives Quintus Caecilius Metellus Pius, who had been specifically sent against him from Rome, out of Lusitania, or Hispania Ulterior as the Romans call it at this time.