Perperna's soldiers were dissatisfied with his leadership, and when they learned that Pompey was crossing the
Pyrenees, they demanded that Perperna take them to Sertorius, or they would abandon him to Pompey's mercies while they took themselves to Sertorius. Perperna yielded to the demands of the legions, and handed them over to Sertorius. This was not done with good will, and Perperna, conscious of his noble bloodline and wealth, viewed the entire affair as a humiliation. Sertorius welcomed Perperna and his troops (a sizeable force of 53 cohorts) and put them to good use. He sent Perperna with 20,000 infantry and 1,500 cavalry to join Gaius Herennius (one of Sertorius'
legates) in the territory of the
Ilercavones, with instructions to guard the crossing of the lower Ebro and try and lure Pompey into an ambush. Pompey managed to cross the Ebro unhindered and marched to the plain of Valentia where he came to grips with Sertorius himself (see:
Battle of Lauron). At the beginning of the campaigning season of 75 BC Perperna, Herennius and their army were defeated by Pompey in a bloody
battle near Valentia. Herennius was among the 10,000 casualties and the city of Valentia was taken and sacked. Perperna gathered what was left of his army and retreated westward towards Sertorius who was campaigning in Hispania Ulterior. After the Valentia disaster Sertorius himself returned to the eastern theatre (he had been in the west of the Iberian Peninsula campaigning against Metellus) to take command of the fight against Pompey. Perperna was given command of a substantial force to block
Metellus from coming to Pompey's aid. Sertorius tried to take out Pompey at the
Battle of Sucro while Perperna tried to stop Metellus, both failed. At the
battle of Saguntum Perperna was in command of one of the wings of Sertorius' army. He fought Pompey then had to switch places with his commander and took on Metellus. During the battle, the biggest of the war, Perperna lost 6,000 men. After the battle Sertorius and Perperna withdrew inland and reverted to guerilla warfare. In 74 BC, while Sertorius focused his attention on defending his allies in celtiberia, Perperna circumvented the Romans operating in the interior and marched to the Iberian westcoast where he took the city of
Portus Cale. The war was not going well and the Roman nobles and senators that made up the higher classes of his domain became discontented with Sertorius. They grew jealous of Sertorius' power, and Perperna, aspiring to take Sertorius' place, encouraged that jealousy for his own ends. They took to damaging Sertorius by oppressing the local
Celtic tribes in his name. This stirred discontent and revolt in the tribes, which resulted in a cycle of oppression and revolt, with Sertorius none the wiser as to who was creating such mischief. Perperna then proceeded to invite Sertorius to a feast to celebrate a supposed victory. While under most circumstances, any festivities to which Sertorius was invited were conducted with great propriety, this particular feast was vulgar, designed to offend the skillful general. Disgusted, Sertorius changed his posture on the couch, intent on ignoring them all. At this, Perperna gave the signal to his fellow conspirators, and they murdered the unsuspecting Sertorius on the spot. Upon learning of the death of Sertorius, some of his Iberian allies sent ambassadors to Pompey or to Metellus and made peace, most simply went home. Now that Sertorius was dead, his virtues were remembered, and his recent atrocities forgotten. ::People are generally less angry with those who died, and when they no longer see him right in front of them they tend to dwell tenderly on his virtues. So it was with Sertorius. Anger against him suddenly turned to affection and the soldiers clamorously rose up in protest against Perperna. When Sertorius's will was read his people found out he had named Perperna his chief beneficiary. Perperna had already dishonoured himself in the eyes of many by slaying his commander, the man who had given him sanctuary, and now it was revealed he had killed his main benefactor as well. ==Death==