were rumours that he was going to conquer Britannia to perform a great military feat. Instead, he undertook the reorganisation of Gallic provinces that had been left largely unsupervised since their conquest by Julius Caesar in his Gallic Wars (58–50 BC). He might have seen the war in next door Hispania as a chance for military glory. He reached Tarraco (Tarragona) in eastern Hispania in 27 BC, but he arrived in the area too late for fighting before winter set in. In terms of personal propaganda these wars became his war, even though he fought only one campaign. In 25 BC, he retired to Tarraco due to illness. Cassius Dio wrote that he fell ill from over-exertion and anxiety. González Echegaray, places the involvement of Augustus in the political context of his task of delineating and defending the frontiers of the Roman Empire after the Roman civil wars. After the conquest of Gaul there was no more room for expansion and there was the task defence from attacks of the borders in Europe in the face of a reduction in size of the Roman army. In an economic context there was the question of control over the rich gold mine at Las Medullas (the richest in the empire) in Asturia and the abundant iron ores of Cantabria. Towards the end of the Roman Civil Wars there was a shortage of gold and silver. In 29 BC, the Roman commander was Titus Statilius Taurus. In 28 and 27 BC it was Sextus Appuleius, who celebrated a triumph in 26 BC. Augustus started his campaign in 26 BC after having established his quarters in Segisama (today's Sasamon, in the province of Burgos), the capital of the Turmodigi who must obviously have been Roman allies. Three divisions attacked three points. The first one fought a battle under the city walls of Vellica and the enemy fled to Mount Vindius. This opened the way north, enabling the division to join the forces who had landed on the coast, and attack the enemy at the rear. Due to the ragged terrain the Romans decided to starve the enemy into surrender. The second division moved east and destroyed Aracelium. The third division moved west into Gallaecia. The enemy made a final stand at Mount Medullus in the Sierra de Mamed, close to the River Sil. It was besieged with a ditch 15 miles long. It capitulated