Tarentum in the Second Punic War

In OTL, Hannibal devised a scheme to take Tarentum with local cooperation. They opened a gate for his troops at night and most went in while some scaled by ladder. 3/4 of the Roman garrison was destroyed. The survivors and Tarentum's pro-Roman faction retreated to a citadel, which would be resupplied for several years before Fabius retook it by.. treachery too using an outside army and no coordination ith the Roman garrison.

What if the Romans decided Tarentum was a lost cause and ordered ships to evacuate the fortress by night and redeploy the men to Sicily? And I suppose Tarentum's pro-Roman faction can join the Etruscans who are housing a lot of pro-Roman factions of various defected cities.
 
Top