The construction of the Via Augusta was undertaken within the context of the administrative reorganisation of the provinces of Hispania initiated by Augustus. The immediate precedent of this roadbuilding project was the network of roads, the Via Agrippa, built in Gaul under the supervision of Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa at Augustus' command in 20-19 BC. Strabo (IV, 6, 11) alludes to Agrippa's laying out of the roadways. Agrippa then went to Hispania in 19-18 BC to personally direct the war against the Cantabrians in the north of the peninsula; Augustus himself returned to Hispania and remained for a period between 16-13 BC doing administrative work. He and his advisors set about devising an ambitious programme to restructure the administration of the territory, its primary objectives being the establishment of new cities, the construction of roads connecting them, and the distribution of large areas of land to be parcelled out among veteran professional soldiers.