Ancient Rome defeated Veii in the Capture of Fidenae in 435 BC. Plutarch provides us with two versions of how Fidenae was taken. The first goes that Romulus sent his cavalry swiftly to cut the pivots of the gate, enabling him to unexpectedly appear. Another version of events goes that the Fidenates began attacking and destroying much of the land on and around the outskirts of the city. This led to Romulus setting an ambush which killed many of the raiding Fidenates. After this, Romulus marched on and took Fidenae. While both these accounts differ, Plutarch stresses the fact that Fidenae was not destroyed, but rather colonised by twenty-five hundred people by the Romans, in the middle of April.