---
title: "Seven Books of History against the Pagans"
author: "Paulus Orosius"
translator: "S. Alexander Laurent (AI-assisted, 2026)"
title_ru: "История против язычников"
title_fr: "Histoires contre les païens"
title_de: "Sieben Bücher Geschichte gegen die Heiden"
languages: [la, en]
shelf: "Church Fathers"
section: 111 of 177
url: https://scriptura.si/works/orosius-historiae/111/
cite: "Paulus Orosius, tr. S. Alexander Laurent (AI-assisted, 2026), Seven Books of History against the Pagans, section 111. Scriptura (scriptura.si), https://scriptura.si/works/orosius-historiae/111/"
---

# Seven Books of History against the Pagans

*Paulus Orosius, tr. S. Alexander Laurent (AI-assisted, 2026)*

Russian: История против язычников · French: Histoires contre les païens · German: Sieben Bücher Geschichte gegen die Heiden

Augustine's pupil tells the whole of world history to prove that the Christian times are not the worst.

## 111. Book 5 · Chapter 23

Source: https://scriptura.si/works/orosius-historiae/111/ · cite a paragraph as https://scriptura.si/works/orosius-historiae/111/#p-N

[¶0] In the year 673 from the founding of the City, as the crash of wars resounded on every side — one of them in Spain, another in Pamphylia, a third in Macedonia, a fourth in Dalmatia — the Roman commonwealth, still bloodless and exhausted by destruction within, as if by fevers, was forced to repel with arms the strongest nations of the west and the north.

> Latin: 1 Anno ab urbe condita DCLXXIII, sonantibus undique bellorum fragoribus, quorum unum in Hispania erat, aliud in Pamphylia, in Macedonia tertium, quartum in Delmatia, exsanguis adhuc atque exhausta intestina pernicie tamquam febribus Romana respublica propulsare armis occidentis septentrionisque fortissimas gentes cogebatur.

[¶1] For Sertorius, a man powerful in guile and daring, who had belonged to the Marian party, fleeing from Sulla, slipped away from Africa into Spain and roused the most warlike nations to arms.

> Latin: 2 Sertorius siquidem, uir dolo atque audacia potens, cum partium Marianarum fuisset, Syllam fugiens ex Africa dilapsus in Hispanias, bellicosissimas gentes in arma excitauit.

[¶2] Against him, to put it briefly, two generals were sent, Metellus and Domitius, of whom Domitius was crushed with his army by Hirtuleius, Sertorius’s general.

> Latin: 3 aduersus hunc, ut breuiter definiam, duo duces missi Metellus et Domitius: quorum Domitius ab Hirtuleio Sertorii duce cum exercitu oppressus est.

[¶3] Manlius, proconsul of Gaul, having crossed into Spain with three legions and 1,500 horsemen, joined an unequal battle with Hirtuleius; stripped by him of camp and forces, he fled almost alone to the town of Ilerda.

> Latin: 4 Manlius, proconsule Galliae in Hispaniam cum tribus legionibus et mille quingentis equitibus transgressus, iniquam cum Hirtuleio pugnam conseruit: a quo castris copiisque nudatus, in oppidum Ilerdam paene solus refugit.

[¶4] Metellus, worn out by many battles and roaming through pathless places, wore the enemy down by delay until he could unite with Pompey’s camp.

> Latin: 5 Metellus multis proeliis fatigatus, per deuia oberrans hostem mora fatigabat, donec Pompei castris consociaretur.

[¶5] Pompey, having gathered an army at Palencia, tried in vain to defend the city of Lauro, which Sertorius was then attacking, and fled defeated.

> Latin: 6 Pompeius contracto apud Palantiam exercitu Lauronem ciuitatem, quam tunc Sertorius oppugnabat, frustra conatus defendere uictus aufugit.

[¶6] Sertorius, having overcome and routed Pompey, took Lauro and ravaged it most bloodily; the rest of the people of Lauro, who had survived the slaughter, he carried off into Lusitania in pitiable captivity.

> Latin: 7 Sertorius superato fugatoque Pompeio Lauronem captam cruentissime depopulatus est; reliquum agmen Lauronensium, quod caedibus superfuerat, miserabili in Lusitaniam captiuitate traduxit.

[¶7] He boasted, moreover, that he had defeated Pompey — that is, that famous general of the Romans — whom, endowed with great confidence, Rome had sent to this war not in place of a consul but in place of the consuls.

> Latin: 8 Pompeium autem, hoc est illum Romanorum ducem, a se uictum fuisse gloriatus est, quem magna praeditum fiducia ad hoc bellum non pro consule sed pro consulibus Roma misisset.

[¶8] Galba writes that Pompey then had thirty thousand foot and a thousand horse, and records that Sertorius had sixty thousand foot and eight thousand horse.

> Latin: 9 fuisse tunc Pompeio triginta milia peditum, mille equites Galba scribit, Sertorium autem sexaginta milia peditum, octo milia equitum habuisse commemorat.

[¶9] Afterwards, however, Hirtuleius engaged Metellus near Italica, a city of Baetica, lost twenty thousand soldiers, and fled defeated into Lusitania with a few men.

> Latin: 10 postea uero Hirtuleius cum Metello congressus apud Italicam Baeticae urbem uiginti milia militum perdidit uictusque in Lusitaniam cum paucis refugit.

[¶10] Pompey took Belgida, a famous city of Celtiberia. Then Sertorius engaged Pompey and killed ten thousand of his soldiers; while Pompey was victorious on the other wing, Sertorius himself lost almost as many.

> Latin: 11 Pompeius Belgidam, nobilem Celtiberiae urbem, cepit. Sertorius deinde cum Pompeio congressus decem milia militum eius interfecit; ex alio cornu uincente Pompeio tantundem paene ipse perdidit.

[¶11] Many battles besides were fought between them. Memmius, Pompey’s quaestor and also his sister’s husband, was killed. The brothers of Hirtuleius were slain. Perperna, who had joined himself to Sertorius, was crushed.

> Latin: 12 multa inter eos praeterea proelia gesta sunt. Memmius, quaestor Pompei idemque uir sororis eius, occisus est. Hirtulei fratres interfecti. Perpenna, qui se Sertorio iunxerat, comminutus est.

[¶12] Finally Sertorius himself, at last in the tenth year from the war’s beginning, killed through the treachery of his own men, as Viriathus had been, made an end of the war and gave the Romans a victory without glory; although part of his army afterwards followed Perperna, who, defeated by Pompey, was killed together with his whole army.

> Latin: 13 postremo ipse Sertorius decimo demum anno belli inchoati isdem quibus et Viriatus suorum dolis interfectus finem bello fecit Romanisque uictoriam sine gloria dedit; quamuis Perpennam postea pars exercitus eius secuta sit: qui a Pompeio uictus cum uniuerso exercitu suo interfectus est.

[¶13] All the cities were received in surrender of their own accord and without delay, and only two held out, namely Uxama and Calagurris: of these Pompey overthrew Uxama, while Afranius, having worn down Calagurris by continuous siege and driven it by pitiable want to infamous food, destroyed it with final slaughter and fire.

> Latin: 14 ciuitatibus uero cunctis ultro ac sine mora per deditionem receptis, duae tantum restiterunt, hoc est Uxama et Calagurris: quarum Uxamam Pompeius euertit, Calagurrim Afranius iugi obsidione confectam atque ad infames escas miseranda inopia coactam ultima caede incendioque deleuit.

[¶14] The assassins of Sertorius did not think a reward should even be asked of the Romans, remembering, of course, that it had earlier been refused to the assassins of Viriathus.

> Latin: 15 percussores Sertorii praemium ne petendum quidem a Romanis esse duxerunt, quippe qui meminissent antea Viriati percussoribus denegatum.

[¶15] And although they had then secured Roman safety for no reward, nevertheless Spain, ever strong in loyalty and in strength, though she has given the commonwealth the best and most invincible rulers, has never from the beginning down to the present day either sent forth any tyrant born of herself, or let any who invaded her from outside depart alive or in power.

> Latin: 16 Et quamuis nullo tunc praemio patrauerint Romanam securitatem, tamen fortis fide ac uiribus semper Hispania cum optimos inuictissimos reges reipublicae dederit, nullum umquam tyrannorum ab initio usque in hodiernum diem uel de se editum misit uel in se extrinsecus incurrentem uiuum potentemue dimisit.

[¶16] Meanwhile Claudius, to whom the Macedonian war had fallen by lot, [turned against] the various nations that are spread about the Rhodope mountains and were then ravaging Macedonia most cruelly —

> Latin: 17 Interea Macedonicum bellum Claudius sortitus uarias gentes, quae Rhodopaeis montibus circumfusae sunt ac tunc Macedoniam crudelissime populabantur -

[¶17] for among other deeds dreadful to tell and to hear which they practised on their captives, when they needed a cup they would snatch up the bones of human heads, still bloody and hairy and smeared in their inner hollows with brain badly scooped out, and use them greedily and without horror as though they were real cups; and of these nations the most bloodthirsty and savage were the Scordisci —

> Latin: 18 nam inter cetera dictu audituque horrida quae in captiuos agebant, raptis, cum poculo opus esset, humanorum capitum ossibus cruentis capillatisque adhuc ac per interiores cauernas male effosso cerebro oblitis auide ac sine horrore tamquam ueris poculis utebantur: quarum cruentissimi atque immanissimi Scordisci erant -

[¶18] these nations, then, as I have said, Claudius attempted to drive by war from the borders of Macedonia, and threw himself against great masses of evils; whence, sick at heart and beset by cares, and seized by illness besides, he died.

> Latin: 19 has itaque, ut dixi, Claudius pellere Macedoniae finibus bello adtemptauit magnisque se malorum molibus obiecit: unde cum animo aeger et curis circumsaeptus, morbo insuper correptus esset, interiit.

[¶19] His successor Scribonius, avoiding the strength of the nations attacked in the earlier war, turned his arms against Dardania and overcame it.

> Latin: 20 huius successor Scribonius adtemptatarum superiore bello gentium uim declinans, in Dardaniam arma conuertit eamque superauit.

[¶20] Publius Servilius, the ex-consul, attacked Cilicia and Pamphylia most cruelly, and in striving to subdue them almost destroyed them.

> Latin: 21 Publius uero Seruilius exconsule Ciliciam et Pamphyliam crudelissime adortus dum subdere studet, paene deleuit.

[¶21] He besieged, overwhelmed, and took Lycia and its cities. Ranging over Mount Olympus besides, he overthrew Phaselis and destroyed Corycus; searching out, too, the slopes of Mount Taurus that face towards Cilicia, he broke the Isaurians in war and brought them under dominion. He was the first of the Romans to lead an army across the Taurus, and he made a road of his route. After three years had passed, during which the war was waged, he took the name Isauricus.

> Latin: 22 Lyciam et urbes eius obsessas oppressasque cepit. praeterea Olympum montem peruagatus Phasidem euertit, Corycum diruit, Tauri quoque montis latera in Ciliciam uergentia perscrutatus Isauros bello fractos in dicionem redegit; primus Romanorum per Taurum duxit exercitum ac limitem itineris fecit. triennio emenso, quo bellum gestum est, Isaurici nomen adsumpsit.

*Note: Orosius writes “Phasis”; the city is Phaselis in Lycia.*

[¶22] Cosconius, having received Illyricum by lot as proconsul, crushed and subdued Dalmatia and at last, after two years, stormed and took Salonae, a most flourishing city.

> Latin: 23 Cosconius proconsule sortitus Illyricum, protrita subactaque Delmatia Salonas, urbem florentissimam, post biennium tandem expugnauit et cepit.