Marcus Perperna Veiento

Marcus Perperna (or Perpenna) Veiento (also, incorrectly, Vento; died 72 BC) was a Roman aristocrat, statesman and general. He fought in Sulla's civil war, Lepidus' failed rebellion of 77 BC and from 76 to 72 BC in the Sertorian War. He conspired against and assassinated Quintus Sertorius, and was defeated and executed by Pompey the Great.

Name The names Perperna and Perpenna are attested for this nomen gentilicium (of Etruscan origin), but Perperna is more frequent and the form used in the most reliable inscriptions, followed by the prosopographical scholarship (e.g. Broughton).

Early life and career Not much is known about Perperna before the civil wars against Sulla. Perperna was a member of the Cinna-Marius faction during their war against the Sullan faction. He governed the island of Sicily as propraetor during the second civil war. After Sulla defeated the populares faction in Italy he sent his new stepson-in-law Pompey (Pompey had married Aemilia, Sulla's stepdaughter) to recover Sicily and Africa. Perperna abandoned the island upon hearing of the size and nature of the force sent against him. After Sulla became Dictator of Rome, Perperna was proscripted and went into exile. After Sulla's death he was recalled by Marcus Aemilius Lepidus, the consul of 78 BC, whom he joined in rebellion against the Sullan faction. Lepidus marched his army on Rome but was defeated by Quintus Lutatius Catulus in a brisk military action just outside of the city while Lepidus' legate Marcus Junius Brutus was defeated by Pompey at Mutina. Perperna and Lepidus pulled their forces back through Etruria to the island of Sardinia. Lepidus died while on Sardinia - by some accounts of a broken heart - brought on not by his failed bit for power but by the accidental discovery that his wife had been unfaithful to him. In 76 BC Perperna took their army - a substantial affair of several legions - to Liguria and continued the rebellion. After he found out Pompey and a very large army had been sent to defeat him (on route to the Iberian Peninsula and the war against Sertorius) he decided to take his forces to Hispania.

Sertorian War 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.

Pompey lured Perperna's army into his ambush using 10 cohorts as bait. He allowed these to be attacked while scattered over a wide area, perhaps foraging, and as they fled they drew Perperna's army into the hidden lines of the main army. As these attacked from ambush the 10 cohorts turned and attacked their pursuers from the front. The ensuing massacre was decisive.

Pompey's successful ambush proved Plutarch's disparaging comment 'Perperna was as bad at command as he was at following orders'. Perperna attempted to plead for his life, offering to give Pompey all of Sertorius' correspondence, which would document contacts with the highest levels of Roman government and society. Pompey indicated he would accept the papers, and when they had all been gathered together, he burned them, averting the possibility of another civil war. He then executed Perperna and all of the men who had murdered Sertorius.

Ancient Sources Plutarch, Parallel Lives, Life of Sertorius. Plutarch, Parallel Lives, Life of Pompey. Velleius Paterculus, Roman History in Two Volumes, chapter 30.

Modern Sources Philip Matyszak, Sertorius and the Struggle for Spain, 2013. John Leach, Pompey the Great, 1978 (chapter 2).