that would slow his march and force him to winter in Gaul, thus giving the Romans the opportunity to amass overwhelming forces in the Po valley the following spring, and defeating his strategy to gain an operational base, provisions and reinforcements from the Gauls. Scipio marched north from his base to engage Hannibal, while Hannibal marched east towards the Alps. Arriving at the deserted Carthaginian camp, Scipio learned that Hannibal was three day's march away. Scipio decided against following Hannibal into the Alps, as his army was not equipped and provisioned for a winter campaign, and marching in unknown territory risked being ambushed by Gauls or the Carthaginians. Hannibal had scuttled the Roman plan by reaching the Rhône faster than the Romans expected, and made Publius Scipio fail in his mission to contain Hannibal in Spain or Gaul, and this risked ruining the entire Roman strategic plan. After marching back to the seacoast, Scipio decided to send the bulk of his forces to Iberia under the command of his elder brother Gnaeus (who had been consul in 221 BC), while he himself returned to Northern Italy with a small escort to organize the defenses against Hannibal. This move served a dual purpose: Gnaeus Scipio would be able to block reinforcements from reaching Hannibal overland, thereby reaping fame and spoils; while Publius Scipio, if he could defeat Hannibal in Italy, would become the Savior of Rome; thus this would also ensure, in the Roman aristocratic competition for fame and fortune, that the glory of the entire campaign belonged to the Scipio family. The Roman scouts had discovered Hannibal's Camp in late September, which was an eight-day round trip from the Roman camp in the Rhône estuary, so Gnaeus Scipio probably reached Spain by sail in mid October. Prelude The Romans had arrived in Iberia within four to five weeks of the departure of Hannibal from Catalonia, and caught Hanno, the Carthaginian commander in Catalonia, by complete surprise. Hanno had an army containing 10,000 infantry and 1,000 cavalry, and he was originally stationed to keep watch over the Bargusii, a pro-Roman tribe, but he had to march 150 miles south of Emporiae to subdue a rebellion, so the Carthaginians were in no position to oppose the Roman arrival, and Hanno probably did not have enough soldiers to do so even if he wished. Since the pro-Carthaginian tribes were located in the interior,