Siege of Numantia The Celtiberian oppidum of Numantia was attacked more than once by Roman forces , but the Siege of Numantia refers to the culminating and pacifying action of the long - running Numantine War between the forces of the Roman Republic and those of the native population of Hispania Citerior . The Numantine War was the third of the Celtiberian Wars and it broke out in 143 BC . A decade later , in 133 BC , the Roman general and hero of the Third Punic War , Scipio Aemilianus Africanus , subjugated Numantia , the chief Celtiberian city . Roman preparation . In late 135 BC , the Roman Senate reappointed Scipio consul on popular demand and sent him to Hispania to finish what lesser generals had failed to complete . Scipio found morale low among the troops stationed in Iberia . The chance of plunder being low , there were few enticements to enlistment . Scipio nevertheless raised an army of 20 , 000 with 40 , 000 allied and mercenary troops , especially Numidian cavalry led by Jugurtha . The troops were trained hard by constant marching and there were several successful skirmishes before Scipio began to surround the city of Numantia itself . He planned only to starve it out and not to storm it . Siege works . Scipio ' s army constructed two camps separated by a wall around the city ( circumvallation ) . He dammed the nearby swamp to create a lake between the city walls and his own . From ten feet off the ground , his archers could shoot into Numantia from seven towers interspersed along the wall . He also built an outer wall to protect his camps ( eventually five in total ) from any relief forces ( contravallation ) . Scipio also engineered the isolation of the city from the Duero . He towered the river at the points where it entered and exited the city and strung a cable across , with blades , to prevent both boats and swimmers from leaving or entering the city . Counterattack . The Numantines attempted one failed sally before their greatest warrior , Rhetogenes , successfully led a small band of men down the river past the blockade . Heading first to the Arevaci , his pleas were ignored . He then went to Lutia , where he was positively received by the youth , but the elders of the tribe warned Scipio , who marched from Numantia and arrested the 400 Lutian youths and cut off their hands . After Scipio ' s return , Avarus , the Numantine leader , began negotiations . Surrender . The first ambassadors sent by Numantia asked for their liberty in return for complete surrender , but Scipio refused . They were killed upon return by the incredulous populace , who believed they had cut a deal with the Romans . The city refused to surrender and starvation set in . Cannibalism ensued and eventually some began to commit suicide with their whole families . The remnant population finally surrendered only after setting their city on fire . Scipio took it and had its ruins levelled . This was late in the summer of 133 . Legacy . The siege of Numantia was recorded by several Roman historians that admired the sense of freedom of the ancient Iberians and acknowledged their fighting skills against the Roman legions . Miguel de Cervantes ( author of " Don Quixote " ) wrote a play about the event , " La Numancia " , which stands today as his most well - known dramatic work . More recently , Carlos Fuentes has written a short story about the event , " The Two Numantias , " in his collection " The Orange Tree . "