The conquest of Veii by Rome in 396 B.C. was an event of far-reaching importance. The city of Veii was captured and sacked, and may even for a short while have been deserted. Its territory was appropriated to the Roman state, and those of its inhabitants who were friendly to Rome were incorporated in the four new tribes that were created on this occasion.

It would be idle to deny the long-term significance of these events. Rome's closest political rival had been eliminated and her frontiers extended overnight to the edges of the Great Ciminian Forest. She was inexorably launched on the career of northward expansion which was to lead ultimately to the conquest and annexation of the whole of Etruria. These were indeed epoch-making happenings; but it would be a mistake to exaggerate their immediate impact upon the daily life of the Veian countryside. The fact that a great many of the inhabitants were considered to be sufficiently friendly for incorporation within the Roman franchise suggests that they may also have been left in whole or partial possession of their lands; and even where the land did fall to new masters, the latter would not necessarily have been in any hurry to change the basis of what was evidently a flourishing agricultural economy.