Quintus Sertorius, an able Roman general earlier…

Quintus Sertorius, an able Roman general earlier appointed governor of Lusitania, had been forced to flee to North Africa after Sulla became dictator and took vengeance upon all his former enemies, including Sertorius.

He had carried on a campaign in Mauretania, in which he defeated one of Sulla's generals and captured Tingis (Tangier).

The North Africa success had won him the fame and admiration of the people of Hispania, particularly that of the Lusitanians in the west (in modern Portugal), whom Roman generals and proconsuls of Sulla's party have plundered and oppressed.

The Lusitanians now offer Sertorius to be their general.