The terror of our Roman name means that all will know that the exhaustion of a long siege or a bitterly harsh winter cannot dislodge a Roman army from any city it has surrounded. Only victory ends the army’s fight, and it will make war more by perseverance than speed. Such perseverance is necessary in every kind of warfare, but especially when conducting sieges, for the fortifications and natural defences of many cities make them impregnable, so only time itself can defeat them through hunger and thirst.
Livy (History of Rome 5.6.8-9)
So says Claudius Crassus in his speech supporting the siege of Veii, a city near Rome, traditionally dated to c.396 BC. Although the siege is largely mythical and Livy probably crafted the speech when writing about it some 400 years after the supposed event, Crassus/Livy could well reflect the Romans’ idealised view of sieges and the steadfastness of their army in conducting them successfully. Livy’s Roman readers who had been involved in sieges would know, however, that grim reality hides behind the simple ‘exhaustion of a long siege’ and a besieging Roman army could fail.
