Arse – Saguntum
Time of Tiberius (14 – 36 CE)
Ae Semis 22.7mm, 7.2gms
Obv: TI CAESAR DIVI AVG F AVG; Bust of Tiberius right
Rev: Galley right; SAG above, L AEM MAXVMO M BAEB SOBRINO AED around
Abh-2092; Heiss p. 219 No. 22
Sagunto may have been colonized by settlers from Zakynthos in the 5th century BCE. We do know that the first signs of settlement are from 5th century walls, and that during the Phoenician times it was known as Arse.
When in 219 BCE the town sided with Rome over Carthage, it was besieged by Hannibal and was one of the primary causes for the Second Punic War. After eight months, Hannibal took the city. The city became a major center in Roman times, including an amphitheater that houses 50,000 people. Many of its ruins were destroyed by a marshal under Napoleon, but others remain visitable today.
219 BCE
Carthaginian general Hannibal attacks Saguntum in Iberia, leading to the Second Punic War with Rome.
212 BCE
Saguntum retaken by the Romans