city state · Italy

Veii

900 BCE – 396 BCE (approx.) · capital Veii

The richest Etruscan city near Rome, its great rival for three centuries until Marcus Furius Camillus captured it in 396 BCE after a ten-year siege.

Origins

Veii stood on a defended tufa plateau about 16 km north of Rome, and grew from several Villanovan villages that merged into one large settlement by the 8th century BCE. It controlled the right bank of the Tiber and the salt and trade routes that Rome also wanted, making conflict between the two almost inevitable.

Rule and society

Veii was famed for its craftsmen: the terracotta statues of the Portonaccio temple, including the Apollo of Veii, are among the finest Etruscan works, and Roman tradition credited a Veientine sculptor, Vulca, with the cult statue of Jupiter on the Capitol. Its territory had dense rural settlement and a sophisticated system of drainage tunnels. It was ruled by kings, notably Lars Tolumnius in the late 5th century.

Decline and legacy

Rome and Veii fought repeatedly over Fidenae and the Tiber crossing. In 396 BCE, after a siege said to have lasted ten years, Camillus took the city, reportedly by tunnelling under its walls. Its land was divided among Roman citizens, doubling Rome's territory, and the city never recovered as an independent power.

Connections (3)

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Cite this page
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Veii. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/veii
MLA
“Veii.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/veii. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Veii.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/veii.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Veii’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/veii (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻