Cumas

Cities of the Magna Greece, with the location of Cumas, close to Dicearquia, Capua, Neapolis and Isquia, cities that belonged to the zone of Ionic dialect

Entrance of the Cave of the Sibila

Sibila Cave

Cumae (Latin: Cumae, Ancient Greek: Κύμη (Kume) or Κύμα (Kuma); Italian: Cuma) is an ancient city of Magna Graecia, on the coast of the Tyrrhenian Sea, present-day Campania, in southern Italy, in the municipalities of Bacoli and Pozzuoli..

It was located about 10 km north of Cape Miseno, and only a few ruins remain from its existence. According to Strabo, it was the first Greek colony established in Italy and had been founded by colonists from Chalcis (Euboea) and Cime (Euboea) led by Hipocles of Cime and Megasthenes of Chalcis. Dionysius of Halicarnassus mentions that the founders of Cumae came from Chalcis and Eretria.

History

Greek Colonization

The first establishment was on the island of Enaria, but earthquakes and a volcanic eruption made it advisable to move to the mainland. Modern research places the foundation around the year 750 B.C. C. and until the end of the sixth century B.C. C. did not stop prospering and spread through Campania including the Flegrea plain and the hills that separated it from the Bay of Naples, where the ports of Miseno and Dicearquia were founded, and later the colony of Neapolis. Probably Abella and Nola were also inland colonies of Cumae. It rivaled Sybaris and Crotona in wealth and prosperity. The government was aristocratic. It was fortified. It soon became a place of intense trade from where important sea and land routes departed. From Cumas other emigrants were founding other cities along the coast. Neapolis was one of them, called Parthenope.

The increase in power of the Etruscans led to a confrontation with this people who had a superior navy. The Etruscans invaded Campania allied with the Umbrians and Daunians. The city's army was entrusted to Aristodemus, who also led a body to help the city of Aricia against the attack of the Etruscan Porsena. Cumae defeated the Etruscans in 524 BC. C., but in 505 B.C. Aristodemus usurped power with the help of the Democratic Party, and then became tyranny and ruled for about 20 years when the descendants of those he had killed rebelled and overthrew him. During Aristodemus's rule, the King Tarquinio the Proud, expelled from Rome, took refuge in Cumae where he died in 496 BC. C. In 492 B.C. C. Aristodemus received a Roman embassy to request grain to combat the famine of that year, but when the ships were already loaded with the grain offered by the people, the tyrant confiscated the cargo, claiming that its value was equivalent to the confiscated property of Tarquinio the Proud.

Cumas became very large and powerful, so he became a threat to other tribes. The Etruscans, in coalition with other peoples, attacked the city in 474 BC. C. Faced with the Etruscan attack (who were allied with the Carthaginians), Cumas asked Hieron I of Syracuse for help. Hiero defeated the attackers and dealt a great blow to the naval power of the Etruscans. Afterwards the city lived quietly for a long time until in 423 BC. C. the growing power of the Samnites threatened it. The Samnites became masters of Capua and in 421 or 420 B.C. C. they defeated Cumae and besieged the city that they assaulted and looted, killing thousands of citizens and the rest were taken prisoner and sold as slaves, only a few escaping to Neapolis. The women of the city were forced to live with Samnite men and a Samnite colony was established in the city.

Roman Republic

In 338 B.C. After the Samnites were defeated, the city passed to Rome and received Roman citizenship, but without the right to vote. Later it obtained full citizenship, but it is not known when it was, although it seems that the Romans gave it the privilege of municipality for his fidelity. For the Romans it was a seaside resort frequented by government officials.

During the Second Punic War, Hannibal attacked it, but was repulsed at the walls by Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus, and was content to ravage the territory. C. the citizens of Cumas requested permission to use the Latin language in public documents.

At the end of the Roman Republic it was a city chosen as a place of second residence by rich Romans, and the main towns were in Baiae, Bauli and Misenum and only some were in Cumae. Lucio Cornelio Sila, after his retirement from politics, moved to Cumae and lived in the city for his last years. Cicero had a villa in the city to which he gave the name of Cumanum, but it was not in the city, but in its territory.

Roman Empire

It received colonies of veterans with Augusto and Claudio and inscriptions have been found that confirm that it passed from a municipality to a colony at least temporarily. Cumae remained as a colony or municipality during the empire but it ended up depopulating.

Late Antiquity

It still had some importance during the Gothic wars between the Byzantines and the Ostrogoths, but the city was small in size and population, centered on the citadel, today Rocca di Cuma, and its surroundings. The Gothic kings, since it was a fortress of the first order, kept their treasure and it was the last place they had, until they lost their kingdom to the Byzantines.

Middle Ages

In 1205 the Neapolitans destroyed the city of Cumae, in a war against the pirates who were staying there. The citadel existed until the 13th century when, as it had become a headquarters for bandits and robbers, it was destroyed.

Near present-day Cumae are the ruins of the ancient city. Beneath these ruins there are several caves and legend has it that one of them is the headquarters where the famous Sibyl of Cumas was staying.

The city was excavated from the 19th century century.

The Acropolis seen from the forest.

The lower city of Cumas view from the Acropolis.