At the start of the Second Punic War, Hannibal besieged Saguntum.
I'll summarize the shape of the wall. There was a large wall roughly elliptical in shape. This main wall pointed outward. The city was divided into three sections by other walls, which allowed people on the walls to defend on either side. In one section, a citadel had the most impressive defenses. Additions to the main wall were made as extensions, These "outer wall" additions were not too high and the defenders might have stood only 2 meters above attackers. Due to extensive additions, the main wall is only exposed to the outside on one small section of its perimeter to one side.
A lot of what is known is from Carthaginian prisoners or Saguntum slaves freed by Romans after the war. They might not be true, but it's what the Roman writers knew anyways.
Hannibal took 8 months to take the city. That much historians are pretty sure about.
His forces consisted of African soldiers and Iberian mercenaries. Three attempts to storm the city failed, even against the weaker outer extension walls. After three months of siege, the Carthaginians captured the outer walls and 3/4 of the Saguntum food supply and most of their preserved meat, forcing the garrison to subsist on grain (and maybe rats). Later the main wall fell. Finally, after eight months, the citadel fell.
Rome heard about the news almost immediately but did nothing. Cynical historians say that Saguntum was sacrificed to allow Rome to have a Casus Belli against Carthage. Some point out Rome was busy fighting Illyria and an army was needed in Cisalpine Gaul to deter the Gauls from... whatever the Romans feared.
Let's suppose that Rome did send aid. They dispatch 2 legions from Illyria and 1 newly raised one to accompany some mercenary cavalry and arrive at Saguntum once the outer wall fell, but find themselves outnumbered 3 to 1, with no way to coordinate with the defenders. Hannibal gets seven days of notice between the Roman beachhead and the time the army gets to Saguntum.
What now?
I'll summarize the shape of the wall. There was a large wall roughly elliptical in shape. This main wall pointed outward. The city was divided into three sections by other walls, which allowed people on the walls to defend on either side. In one section, a citadel had the most impressive defenses. Additions to the main wall were made as extensions, These "outer wall" additions were not too high and the defenders might have stood only 2 meters above attackers. Due to extensive additions, the main wall is only exposed to the outside on one small section of its perimeter to one side.
A lot of what is known is from Carthaginian prisoners or Saguntum slaves freed by Romans after the war. They might not be true, but it's what the Roman writers knew anyways.
Hannibal took 8 months to take the city. That much historians are pretty sure about.
His forces consisted of African soldiers and Iberian mercenaries. Three attempts to storm the city failed, even against the weaker outer extension walls. After three months of siege, the Carthaginians captured the outer walls and 3/4 of the Saguntum food supply and most of their preserved meat, forcing the garrison to subsist on grain (and maybe rats). Later the main wall fell. Finally, after eight months, the citadel fell.
Rome heard about the news almost immediately but did nothing. Cynical historians say that Saguntum was sacrificed to allow Rome to have a Casus Belli against Carthage. Some point out Rome was busy fighting Illyria and an army was needed in Cisalpine Gaul to deter the Gauls from... whatever the Romans feared.
Let's suppose that Rome did send aid. They dispatch 2 legions from Illyria and 1 newly raised one to accompany some mercenary cavalry and arrive at Saguntum once the outer wall fell, but find themselves outnumbered 3 to 1, with no way to coordinate with the defenders. Hannibal gets seven days of notice between the Roman beachhead and the time the army gets to Saguntum.
What now?