Veii, the southernmost town of the Etruscans, was a major on-again-off-again competitor of Rome in the fifth and in the beginning of the fourth centuries BC. The towns were in close proximity to each other, approximately 10 miles (16 kilometers) apart.

In 405 BC, the two city-states went to war again. Rome had just established pay for its soldiers. Before, the Roman citizen had to provide military service to the state at this own expense, now he was paid for his military service by the state. This allowed year round-campaigning because there was income throughout the year.

The siege of Veii lasted 10 years. But if that were the case, then the siege could not have been an absolute circumvallation because no city could resist that long a siege without starvation or disease.

Here is what Livy had to say about the siege and conquest of Veii: