Battle near Osca facts for kids

The Battle of Osca was an important fight that happened in ancient Spain. It was near a city called Osca. This battle was between the Roman Senate's army and a group of rebels. These rebels were followers of a leader named Sertorius. The battle happened about ten days after Sertorius, the rebel leader, died.

The New Rebel Leader

Perperna was Sertorius's second-in-command. He was the one who ended up taking Sertorius's life. After Sertorius was gone, Perperna took charge of the rebel army.

Meanwhile, Pompey was the leader of the Roman army in that part of Spain. When he heard that Sertorius was dead, he quickly marched his army towards Osca. Osca was Sertorius's main city.

Perperna knew he needed a big win to show everyone he was the new, strong leader. So, he led his army out of Osca to face Pompey's forces.

The Battle Begins

Perperna's army first met a smaller group of Pompey's soldiers. This group was about 2,500 to 5,000 men. Perperna's army attacked them.

Pompey's soldiers seemed to break and run away. Perperna's army chased after them. But this was a trick! Pompey's soldiers were pretending to run. They were actually leading the rebels into a trap.

The Trap and Defeat

Soon, Perperna's army found themselves surrounded on three sides. The Roman soldiers who had pretended to run suddenly turned around and attacked the rebels from the front. At the same time, the rest of Pompey's army attacked from the sides.

The rebel army quickly broke apart and tried to escape. But the Romans chased them. This was the very last battle of the Sertorian War.

After the Battle

After the battle, Perperna tried to save himself. He offered to give Pompey all of Sertorius's secret letters. These letters supposedly showed that important people in the Roman government were secretly helping Sertorius.

Pompey pretended to agree to take the papers. But once he had them all, he burned them. This stopped any chance of another big civil war in Rome.

Perperna and all the men who had been involved in Sertorius's death were put to death. Pompey then spent the rest of the fighting season finishing off any remaining rebel groups. He also captured their last strongholds.

See also

In Spanish: Batalla de Osca para niños