For six years he held sway over Hispania. In 76 BC, he was joined — at the insistence of the forces he brought with him — by Marcus Perpenna Vento, with a following of Roman and Italian aristocrats and a sizeable Roman-style army of fifty-three cohorts. In the same year, Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus (now better known as Pompey) was sent to help Metellus take back Hispania and crush Sertorius's rebelion. Contemptuously calling Pompey 'the young pup' and Metellus 'the old woman' Sertorius proved himself more than a match for his adversaries. After the Battle of Lauron, in which he out-generaled Pompey and massacred part of his army, he razed the city (proving Pompey and Metellus could not protect their allies). In 75 BC, Pompey and Metellus made a comeback, Pompey defeated Sertorius' legates Herrenius and Perpenna in the Battle of Valentia and Metellus was able to crush another Sertorian army when he defeated Hirtuleius at the Battle of Italica. Sertorius responded by marching against Pompey and nearly capturing him at the Battle of Sucro, when Pompey decided to fight him without waiting for Metellus. After these battles Sertorius was indecisively beaten at the Battle of Saguntum and had to revert to guerrilla combat again. Pompey wrote to Rome for reinforcements, without which, he said, he and Metellus would be driven from Hispania. With these reinforcements Pompey and Metellus were gaining the upper hand, grinding down their enemy by war of attrition, capturing stronghold after stronghold. Though Sertorius was still able to win some victories, he was losing the war, and his authority over his men was declining. He lost much of his acumen and authority, descending into alcoholism and debauchery