I recently re-watched Apocalypse Now and I cannot help but wonder whether this type of fictional scenario ever occurred in reality on the fringes of the early Roman Empire. If anybody doesn't know the film's story, Colonel Kurtz is a decorated and respected commander who goes mad during the Vietnam War and starts leading an army of locals, and he is then targeted for assassination by the US military.
Are there any historical parallels to this story, in the early Roman Empire?
There is a figure that bears some similarity, in the late Republic. There was a rebel named Quintus Sertorius, who fought in Spain alongside local Hispanic tribes against Roman generals, including the famous Pompei, who were aligned with the Optimates, the leading patrician faction, and its leader, Sulla. Sertorius was aligned with the opposing Populares faction, which had previously been defeated in a civil war by Sulla.
Sertorius had earlier been appointed as commander in Spain to represent the cause of the Populares there during the aforementioned civil war, but he had been driven out of Spain and into North Africa, where he defeated a general of Sulla.
As a result of that victory in North Africa, he was invited to fight back to Spain by the Lusitanian tribes to fight alongside them against Sulla, and with their help he waged a long guerilla war, as well as fighting a few conventional battles, until he was assassinated by his Roman lieutenant. His Roman lieutenant tried to continue the fight, but Sertorius' local allies deserted him and he was defeated by Pompei.
Sertorius didn't go ''native'' or completely ''rogue'' like Colonel Kurtz in the movie, and his actions must be seen in the prism of the Roman civil war between the Populares and the Optimates.
Earlier questions regarding him:
https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/18z91d/in_reality_how_much_of_a_threat_did_quintus/
/u/Grombrindal18, /u/XenophonTheAthenian, /u/Tiako.