The Battle of Veii, also known as the Siege of Veii is a battle of ancient Rome, approximately dated at 396 BC. The main source about it is Livy's Ab Urbe Condita. The Romans were led by a dictator (in the Roman Republic, this was an emergency general rather than a tyrant) named Marcus Furius Camillus. Their opponent, the Etruscan city of Veii, a large city close to Rome had engaged the Romans in a long and inconclusive war during which it had often been under siege. In order to break the siege once and for all, a tunnel was reputedly built beneath the city.