 Sertorius‘ victory at the Baetis brought the majority of Hispania Ulterior back under his control.While he consolidated his power in the south-west (Ulterior) he sent his trusted lieutenant, Lucius Hirtuleius, to Hispania Citerior to take care of its governor, one Cotta, and the remaining Sullan forces on the Iberian Peninsula.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.