grab the ladders. Fishermen in Tarraco had told him that it was easy to approach the wall on foot at low tide. The tide was receding and strong wind made the lagoon even shallower. This opened a path to the walls for the Romans. Scipio took 500 men to the water. The ascend on this part of the wall was easy. There were no fortifications and no guards. The defenders were concentrating of the land side. The men entered the city without opposition and went to the gate where the fighting was. Caught by surprise the defenders gave up. The gate was battered from both sides and smashed. The soldiers marched to the forum. Some of the enemy went to a garrison hill to the east of the town and some went to the citadel. The hill was taken at the first assault. Mago then surrendered the citadel. This victory was of great strategic importance. It shifted the theatre of war. Scipio broke out of the area the Romans had been confined to, took the war to enemy territory, and extended Roman control to an area close to the valley of the River Baetis, which crossed southern Hispania. The Romans never fought on the east coast again. Scipio also captured the Carthaginian arsenal and treasure stored in the city. Eighty ships, 120 of the latest catapults and 281 smaller ones, 23 larger and 52 smaller ballistae (crossbow-like catapults), many larger and smaller scorpions (crossbows) and many other weapons were captured. So were large quantities of gold and silver; 63 merchant ships were seized in the harbour. Their cargo included grain, weapons, bronze, ship timber, linen and esparto (used to make ropes). Pursuing good relations with the locals, Scipio released the citizens of the town among the 10,000 free men captured and restored their property. The non-citizens and the slaves were recruited as oarsmen and 2,000 craftsmen were made public slaves, who would be freed if they made war equipment for the Romans. Scipio arranged for the hostages, which the Carthaginians had kept to bind tribes to themselves, to be collected by their relatives and friends. The wife of Mandonius and the daughters of Indibilis, the chief of the [Ilergetes], were among them. An example of Scipio's effort to establish good relations with the locals can be seen in the story of a young woman who had been captured. He learnt