Quintus Caecilius Metellus Pius
Concerned at the growing threat, the authorities in Rome upgraded Hispania Ulterior from a propraetorian to a proconsular province, and appointed Quintus Caecilius Metellus Pius, Sulla's consular partner of 80 BC, as its governor. In 79 BC, with Metellus on his way, M. Domitius Calvinus (who had taken over Hispania Citerior from Cotta) crossed over into Hispania Ulterior, he found his passage blocked by the army of Hirtuleius who had fortified Consabura.