the area before leaving Spain. The reason for this slow pace across Spain, almost three months from Cartagena to the Pyrenees could probably be that Hannibal first waited for news of Roman deployments, and then marched slowly so the Romans had time to invade Spain and meet defeat, and also to give the impression of a difficult march through Iberia to the Romans before he marched to Italy. The Gallic rebellion delayed the arrival of Scipio by two to three months and foiled Hannibal's strategic goal of securing Spain, but even as Hannibal trimmed down his army by reducing its size and leaving his heavy baggage at Cissa to gain mobility and march towards the Rhône, he still expected to meet the Romans in Gaul, and kept the size of his army big enough to deal with the Romans. Hannibal probably expected Scipio to go back to Italy with his army when he chose not to fight the Romans in Gaul. His choice not to fight Scipio near the Rhône enabled him to focus on reaching his primary strategic objective, reaching Italy by crossing the Alps, over his secondary goal, which was the security of Spain. Hannibal can be criticized for not securing Spain, which should have been his primary source of recruits, so he never received any reinforcements from Spain due to the activities of Scipio. However, had Hannibal secured Spain from invasion by defeating Scipio's army on the Rhône, but as a consequence had had to winter in Gaul due to a large number of wounded that would have slowed his movement and made the crossing Alps impossible, the Romans would have been able to amass overwhelming forces in the Po to oppose his advance and attack as his army emerged from the Alpine pass, exhausted and at its weakest; and furthermore, had Hannibal thus been stuck outside Italy as the Roman strategic plan required, Sempronius might have attacked Africa, triggering the recall of Hannibal and forcing him into a unwinnable war of attrition. When Alexander the Great invaded Persia, he left Antipater as regent in Macedon, who kept the kingdom safe and sent reinforcements to Alexander as needed. Hannibal had to trust Hasdrubal Barca to secure Spain, and to trust both him and Carthage to send reinforcements, yet despite never being reinforced from Spain and only once from Carthage, Hannibal still brought Rome to the brink of