Simplify the following text for a Grade 7 native English-speaking person.
Original: However , Rome , fearing the growing strength of Hannibal in Iberia , made an alliance with the city of Saguntum , which lay a considerable distance south of the River Ebro and claimed the city as its protectorate .
Simplified: Rome feared the growing strength of Hannibal . They made an alliance with the city of Saguntum and claimed to be protecting the city .