The city of Veii, situated about 15 km north of Rome occupied what is now a broad plateau of gently rolling countryside about 190 ha in extent.

The best way to begin discussion of this sample area is perhaps to quote from the introduction by Christopher Smith to the volume dedicated by scholars of British School at Rome to a reconsideration of the survey work conducted by John Ward-Perkins in the 1950s:
‘To understand Veii is in part to understand both what Rome might have been, had history not favoured her rise to power, and to understand better what made Rome the success she was, for in many respects Veii is Rome through a sort of looking glass. In their early history there were more similarities than differences between the two settlements, and Veii was more like Rome than she was like other Etruscan cities.’ (Smith 2012).

That comparison faces us with a great challenge in undertaking further work at Veii.