For the defenders, sieges are terrible times. Starvation is a constant threat: what food is within the walls is all that there will be until the siege is ended. Those who cannot fight must be made to leave, preferably before the siege begins. Food supplies then last longer. At the Battle of Alesia in 52BC the decision to expel women and children from the fortifications was made too late. Throwing out non-combatants meant more food for the fighters, but by this point the Romans would not allow refugees through their lines. The women and children starved in the no-man’s land between the two armies. Their agonies were watched, from the safety of the walls, by their own menfolk.
