Sagunto: City of Ages. Pt.1. When Hannibal attacks.....

Sagunto - City of Ages

Part 1 - When Hannibal attacks….

The modern city of Sagunto holds a unique place in the historical and cultural heritage not just of Valenciana, but of Spain itself and, in a wider context, of the Mediterranean as a whole.  It sits on the Mediterranean coast some 30km north of Valencia and has historical origins going back over 2500 years to before the Roman occupation began in the area c.219 BC.  

The most compelling reason explaining the initial settlement here, as early as the 5th century BC, is the strong strategic position that the slopes and ridges of (what is now called) Castle Hill provided and where today the extensive remains of Castle Murviedro, the centrepoint of ancient life in the area, can still be explored.  With the Espadán mountains to the north, the Calderona mountains to the west, the fertile plain (the Horta Nord) of Valencia to the south and the ocean to the east, the first walled settlement, unfortunately named Arse, was in a strategically strong defensive position that allowed it to dominate the locality.  This fact is backed up by local archaeological evidence where from over 20 contemporary Iberian sites, Arse-Sagunto was clearly the largest.  Furthermore, with a flourishing port established at Grau Vell, the early inhabitants were able to exploit existing trade routes around the Mediterranean coast, particularly with the Phoenicians (from North Africa) and Hellenics (the Greeks) spreading their influence far beyond the Iberian peninsula.

The castle battlements line the top of the mountain looking much like a sleeping crocodile from afar.

Today the remains of the castle can be seen from every approach road into Sagunto as they tower over the city like a benevolent protector.  They stretch for approximately 800m atop the last ridge of the Calderona mountains with the castle walls running in an east-west direction.  However, any description of the castle, with it’s vast and varied history telling of the many alterations, repairs and restructuring undertaken in turn by the Romans, Muslims and Christians cannot ever encompass the true story of this amazing fortress.  

Following the signs for the ‘historic centre’ you wind your way through the modern houses and pisos to the old town with it’s distinctly Medieval flavour and ancient cobbled streets that lead you inevitably upwards towards Castle Murviedro.  On the way you pass by the excellent and aesthetically pleasing Museum of Archaeology for Arse-Saguntum and Castle Murviedro sited in La Casa del Mestre Peña (Master Peña’s House) and housing artefacts and collections from over 400 years of archaeological excavations.  

As you continue up the hill, passing by numerous quaint café’s, restaurants and souvenir shops the castle begins to dominate the vista more and more.  

When the castle itself first comes into unobstructed view, sprawling across the rocky promontory high above, the immediate feeling it conjures is one of heroic bygone days, of mythical heroes steeped in romance and mystery, of courageous, embattled defenders withstanding the onslaught of relentless, fearsome invaders as they throw themselves at the walls in the vain hope of gaining a foothold, whatever the cost, on the impressive walls or a first step onto the towering bastions, to etch their name forever into folklore, their story told around campfires for generations afterwards.  

It is not hard to stand at the base of the walls and be filled with a sense of awe for the courage and resolve of the men and women, defenders and attackers both, who sacrificed everything for the glory, advancement and future of their people and families.  It is a fearsome castle to behold, making one feel small, almost insignificant, besides the seemingly impregnable walls and all the blood that has been spilled here over the centuries.  

The site of the original Iberian settlement took the rather unfortunate name (for English speakers at least) of Arse, which it kept until adopting the Romanised name of Saguntum probably sometime in the early 2nd century BC.  Arse, built by the Celt-Iberian tribe, the Edetani, is thought to have covered about 8-10 hectares and was protected by a double defensive enclosure consisting of an outer wall (usually the biggest structure) and an inner perimeter wall and perhaps provided shelter and probably housing several thousand people.  Today the only part of the Iberian settlement that remains is a small section of the inner wall which can be seen at Tres Pouels (Three Little Wells), just outside the existing castle walls at the western end.  This wall was constructed of cyclopean limestone boulders, probably quarried locally, which were basically large, roughly worked polygonal blocks which would have had their exterior faces hammer-dressed in situ by masons and then assembled without mortar in an amazing feat of engineering when you consider the difficulty of transporting rocks of such a size to the location (each rock must weigh several tons), and the staggering precision and longevity of the construction itself.

As fearsome as the ramparts are today the exact scale of the structure facing Hannibal and his army in 219BC is unknown but they are thought to have been substantial.  The siege itself lasted 8 months, with Hannibal’s army destroying the castle defences bit by bit until finally, the end came.  

However, this wasn’t a mindless foray by an overeager young Commander hoping to merely stoke up the enmity with the Romans and maybe make a name for himself along the way.  Hannibal was a man with a plan and Sagunto was just the first step on what was to be a very long road.  For several years before Hannibal had been sending envoys across the Pyrenees into Gaul, and further still across the Alps into Cisalpine Gaul, to survey putative routes for his future Italian campaign and to sound out possible anti-Roman feelings among the native peoples en route.  So by the time Hannibal laid siege to Saguntum the plans for his monumental expedition were already well formed in his head.  Revenge would be sweet!

The lessons of the loss of the First Punic War were ingrained well into Hannibal by his father, Hamilcar, and so Hannibal was well aware that his people’s main weakness, when compared with Rome, was their lack of a native army.  The Carthaginians were a nation of traders and their armies had always been mercenaries, so that when, following the death of his father in battle and brother-in-law, Hasdrubal (assassinated), and at the age of 24, Hannibal gained command of the Carthaginian forces in Iberia, he purposefully set out to build a new type of army.  Using his (doubtless) immense personality and force of will Hannibal firstly consolidated the military and economic gains of his predecessors, then construed to pull those ‘conquered’ Iberian tribes south of the Ebro river under his banner making them allies and, in so doing, procuring the best parts of their armies for himself and to further his own precocious ambitions.

He then trained this army in almost constant warfare for nearly 3 years against any remaining Iberian peoples, engendering the loyalty of his multi-cultural band to his banner, so that by the time they arrived at Sagunto they were a well-oiled military machine.

Having been watching the Carthaginian progress from afar the Romans were more than a little disconcerted at what they saw.  With Hasdrubal having built upon Hamilcar’s initial successes the Romans now sought to stifle the progress of the Carthaginians in Iberia which, in the long-term, they themselves coveted.  Yet with insufficient military resources available to mount any sort of campaign in Iberia, the Romans thought to tie Hasdrubal to a treaty which limited the extent of his (and Carthage’s) ambitions to land (and hence, tribes) south of the Iberus and furthermore, it compelled both sides to ‘avoid’ annoying each other’s allies in the region.

Sagunto, which lay far south of the Iberus, (so in theory within Hasdrubal’s agreed territory) was a protectorate of Rome and, as the wealthiest city on the Iberian Mediterranean coast, was considered an important ally.  Hannibal would have been well aware of this and of the potential consequences of violating the treaty.  But his hatred for Rome and all things Roman was awe-consuming.

Having sworn an oath of enmity against the Romans at the age of 9 (which he honoured till his death in c.181BC) in the wake of the economic and social hardships suffered by the Carthaginian people and imposed by the Romans after the First Punic War, Hannibal had pre-meditatively set out to provoke his hated enemy.  And as we know, he more than succeeded.  

The Saguntines had pleaded with their Roman protectors to send help, but the Romans were preoccupied elsewhere with the Gauls and Ilyricans and had no manpower to spare and their pleas only received a mute response, such that when Hannibal finally offered terms the Saguntines knew there would be no Roman salvation for the city.

However, Hannibal’s terms were harsh, but after 8 months fighting and many lives lost he was in no mood to be generous.  He had insisted that the city be evacuated, the population to leave unarmed and with only two garments apiece.  When they refused these terms, returning to their homes to begin destroying what valuables they had left, Hannibal, upon entering the city, put every adult to death; a sorry end for what had been a stoic and brave resistance.

Having plundered the city, Hannibal returned to New Carthage, modern day Cartegeña, to regather his resources and recuperate before beginning his epic journey in May 218BC.  The Romans voiced their disapproval by sending emissaries to Carthage to demand Hannibal be turned over to them for justice.  When the Carthaginian Council refused, War was declared and the Second Punic War had begun.