refusal
he solemnly declared war by hurling his javelin against the walls. The
troops at once advanced to the assault, and poured flights of arrows,
masses of stones from their machines, javelins, and missiles of all
descriptions into the city, the defenders replying with equal vigour
from the walls. At the end of the first day's fighting Hannibal
perceived that his hopes of carrying the place by assault were vain--for
the walls were too high to be scaled, too thick to be shaken by any
irregular attack--and that a long siege must be undertaken.

This was a great disappointment to him, as it would cause a long
delay that it would be scarce possible to commence the march which he
meditated that summer. As to advancing, with Saguntum in his rear, it
was not to be thought of, for the Romans would be able to land their
armies there and to cut him off from all communication with Carthagena
and Carthage. There was, then, nothing to be done but to undertake the
siege in regular order.

The army formed an encampment in a circle round the town. A strong force
was left to prevent the garrison from making a sortie, and the whole of
the troops were then marched away in detachments to the hills to fell
and bring down the timber which would be required for the towers and
walls, the bareness of the rock rendering it impossible to construct the
approaches as usual with earth. In the first place, a wall, strengthened
by numerous small towers, was erected round the whole circumference
of the rock; then the approaches were begun on the western side, where
attack was alone possible.

This was done by lines of wooden towers, connected one with another by
walls of the same material; movable towers were constructed to be pushed
forward against the great tower which formed the chief defence of the
wall, and on each side the line of attack was carried onward by portable
screens covered with thick hide. In the meantime the Saguntines were
not idle. Showers of missiles of all descriptions were hurled upon the
working parties, great rocks from the machines on the walls crashed
through the wooden erections, and frequent and desperate sorties were
made, in which the Carthaginians were almost always worsted. The nature
of the ground, overlooked as it was by the lofty towers and walls, and
swept by the missiles of the defenders, rendered it impossible for any
considerable force to remain close at hand to render assistance to the
workers, and the sud