The Siege of Numantia

Celtiberian Resistance in the Numantine Wars

Sep 25, 2009 Grant Sebastian Nell

The Numantines were a Celtiberian people who took their name from their principle fortress, Numantia.

The Numantine troubles began around 197 BC. The city itself was built atop a hill, known today as Muela da Garray, on the Meseta (Plateau) of Central Spain. The area was home to eight great tribes: the Vettones, Lusitani, Carpeti, Arevaci, Pellendones, Belli, Titii, and the Vaccei.

The Numantine Wars

Stirred to anger by years of harsh Roman governance, many of these tribes rebelled. Initial Roman operations met with little success; the celtiberians were an elusive enemy, and Roman morale and discipline was low. Roman campaigns were marked by thousands of casualties, usually the result of ambushes. Numantia became a focal point of anti-Roman resistance.

In 134 BC, Rome sent her finest General, Publius Cornelius Scipio Aemilianus Africanus, to deal with the Numantine problem once and for all. Scipio rapidly whipped his lax troops into shape and marched for Numantia in May 134 BC. His line of march was lengthy, partly to avoid ambushes and partly to dissuade other tribes from coming to the assistance of Numantia. By late August, he and his 60,000 strong army stood before the gates of Numantia.

The Siege of Numantia

The total number of celtiberian defenders within the city probably numbered no more than 3,500 warriors. But their defences were formidable: Numantia was surrounded by 3 concentric walls of earthwork and palisade construction, strengthened with towers. Aware that any direct assault would result in enormous casualties, Scipio proceeded to surround the entire city with a massive circumvallation.

The enormous numerical strength of the Roman force was spread evenly around the city, and Numantia was gradually surrounded by a series of walls, ditches and lethal booby traps. The encircling palisade was constructed from 16,000 wooden stakes that the Romans had brought with them, and was erected in one day. Three hundred towers were incorporated into the walls, each tower housing stone-throwing artillery. In all, it is estimated that the Roman siege-works stretched for some 9km. Once completed, the Romans settled down in their camps and waited for starvation to do it's work in Numantia.

Faced with this awesome spectacle, there was little the Numantines could do but mount desperate sorties against the Roman lines. With hunger fast becoming a serious problem, one Numantine, Retogenes Caraunios, managed to escape from the city and appealed for help from the nearby Vaccei tribe. They sent 400 warriors, but Scipio heard of the plan from the tribal elders. Taking a large force, he promptly marched to the town of Lutia and chopped off the right hands of 400 Vaccei youths as retaliation.

The Numantines were eventually reduced to cannibalism but refused to surrender. Thousands preferred to commit suicide, and large parts of the town were burnt by it's own inhabitants. Eventually, after nine months of horror, the skeletal survivors tottered out of the gates in capitulation. Almost all were sold into slavery. Scipio recieved the title of 'Numantinus' and was honoured with a triumph upon his return to Rome.

Rome and Her Enemies

Edited by Jane Penrose

Osprey, 2005

Warfare in the Classical World

John Warry

University of Oklahoma Press, 1995

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