The Fall of Veii occurred in 396 BC during the Roman-Etruscan Wars. The genius Roman generals and brothers Marcus Furius Camillus and Lucius Furius Medullinus, commanding two greatly depleted legions, succeeded in destroying the sortying Veiian army in a triumph against all odds, and they then proceeded to storm the weakened city. Veii was captured and looted by the Romans, bringing an end to one of Rome's most powerful enemies. Shortly after, a Veiian uprising was crushed at the Battle of Bocceum, putting an end to the Veiian cause forever.
Background[]
In 399 BC, the Roman Republic launched a campaign to bring an end to the stalemate with the Etruscan city-state of Veii to the north. Veii had proved to be a strongly-defended city with a powerful army, and the Romans sent the brothers Marcus Furius Camillus (commanding Legio I Alaudae) and Lucius Furius Medullinus (commanding Legio II Augusta) to conquer Veii. In 399 BC, Camillus conquered the port city of Cisra, and Legio II Augusta was raised in the city. For a year, the two legions were forced to winter and resupply back on Roman soil, and the war's bankrupting effect on the Roman economy led to the legions being inadequately reinforced. Nevertheless, the two legions proceeded to advance on Veii in the spring of 399 BC, knowing that the Veiians could only grow stronger as the Romans remained weak. Camillus' legion laid siege to Veii as Medullinus' legion waited nearby, serving as reinforcements when the time for battle came. The Etruscans were overconfident in their chances of victory; they had a similar number of soldiers, although the Roman soldiers were mostly small groups of survivors from the badly-bruised legions which had survived a battle near the city a year earlier. Four Etruscan armies attacked the two Roman legions outside the city walls in a sortie which they were confident would succeed.
Siege[]
Battle[]
The Roman dispositions
Camillus' army, the more depleted of the two forces, was the first to be on the battlefield. This legion initially only faced Aule Visnai's 160 Etruscan heavy hoplites, but the main Etruscan army began to march on the rear of Camillus' legion. Camillus decided to deploy his skirmishers to weaken Visnai's hoplites as the main army turned about and prepared to hold back the main Etruscan force. Meanwhile, Medullinus' legion, which had been better-replenished, marched towards Camillus' force, and Camillus agreed to withdraw in order to form a combined defensive line with Medullinus. The two legions formed an obtuse "V" formation, and the Etruscans attacked the center of the Roman force, which was deliberately composed of the smaller units; Camillus sacrificed their lives in order to have his more numerous cohorts charge around the attacking Etruscans and assault them from behind.
The aftermath of the battle
As the two main forces locked in a deadly melee, of which the Etruscans held the upper hand, Medullinus, his bodyguards, and a troop of mercenary cavalrymen charged around the Etruscan flanks and began to ride down their slingers, repeating a successful Roman strategy. Although the Romans were clearly losing the battle with the Etruscan melee infantry, the panic caused by the rout of the Etruscan slingers was enough to lower the morale of the rest of the Etruscan army. Medullinus and his cavalry then charged the rear of the Etruscan infantry, and some of the more successful Roman cohorts joined them in flanking and enveloping the Veiians. The Etruscan army collapsed, and the Romans gave chase, thoroughly massacring whole units of the Veiians as they attempted to escape back to the city. With heaps of Etruscans dead on the battlefield, it was clear that Veii's days of holding out were numbered.
Assault[]
A heap of dead Veiians
The Romans emerged as the victors on the battlefield, taking 360 Veiian prisoners and selling them into slavery. The Romans then maintained their siege, having defeated the sortie. In the summer which followed, the Romans decided to assault the weakened city. Using a catapult, the Romans breached the walls and stormed the city, slaying all but 46 of the remaining 420 defenders; these 46 were massacred in an act of revenge for Veii's resistance. Camillus then allowed for his men to loot the city, and they burned several buildings and stole 4,920 denarii. Veii's power, like the city, was burned to cinders.
Aftermath[]
The conquest of Veii was a highlight of Camillus' career, making his cognomen a household name; his brother Medullinus, the Consular Tribune, also gained a boost in his reputation. The Romans would soon disband their mercenaries in order to solve the bankruptcy issue, and they used the funds gained from this (as well as their offering of asylum to a wealthy Carthaginian exile) to rebuild Veii and Cisra as Roman cities. Resistance to Roman rule led to a rebellion in Cisra, led by Tite Apaiatrus, in 396 BC, but the Romans crushed the uprising and butchered the surviving rebels. This caused Veii and Cisra to fall in line, and Rome would begin attempts to assimilate the Etruscans as Romans and thus not only expand their republic, but also their nationality.