The growing power of the Cumaean Greeks led many indigenous tribes of the region to organise against them, notably the Dauni and Aurunci with the leadership of the Capuan Etruscans. The colony spread Greek culture in Italy and introduced a dialect of Greek, and the Euboean alphabet, a variant of which was adapted and modified by the Etruscans and then re‑adapted by the Romans and became the Latin alphabet, still used worldwide today.Īccording to Dionysius Cumae was at that time celebrated throughout all Italy for its riches, power, and all the other advantages, as it possessed the most fertile part of the Campanian plain and was mistress of the most convenient havens round about Misenum. Cuma established its dominance over almost the entire Campanian coast up to Punta Campanella over the 7th and 6th centuries BCE, gaining sway over Puteoli and Misenum. The colony thrived and in the 8th century BCE it was already strong enough to send Perieres to found Zancle in Sicily, and another group to found Tritaea in Achaea, Pausanias was told. While continuing their maritime and commercial traditions, the settlers of Cumae strengthened their political and economic power by exploitation of the land and extended their territory at the expense of neighbouring peoples.
The site chosen was on the hill and later acropolis of Monte di Cuma surrounded on one side by the sea, and on the other by particularly fertile ground on the edge of the Campanian plain. The Greeks were already established at nearby Pithecusae (modern Ischia) and were led to Cumae by the joint oecists (founders): Megasthenes of Chalcis and Hippocles of Cyme. The Greek settlement was founded in the 8th century BCE by emigrants from cities of Eretria and Chalcis in Euboea. The oldest archaeological finds by Emil Stevens in 1896 date to 900–850 BCE and more recent excavations have revealed a Bronze Age settlement of the ‘ pit-culture’ people, and later dwellings of Iron Age peoples whose memory was preserved as cave-dwellers named “ Cimmerians”, among whom there was already an oracular tradition. The lower city of Cumae seen from the acropolis The archaeological museum of the Campi Flegrei in the Aragonese castle contains many finds from Cumae. It later became a rich Roman city, the remains of which lie near the modern village of Cuma, a frazione of the comune Bacoli and Pozzuoli in the Metropolitan City of Naples, Campania, Italy. Cuma, Metropolitan City of Naples, Campania, ItalyĤ0★0′55″N 14☃′13″E / 40.84861°N 14.05361☎ / 40.84861 14.05361 Coordinates: 40★0′55″N 14☃′13″E / 40.84861°N 14.05361☎ / 40.84861 14.05361ĭirezione Regionale per i Beni Culturali e Paesaggistici della CampaniaĬumae ( Ancient Greek: Κύμη, romanized: (Kumē) or Κύμαι (Kumai) or Κύμα (Kuma) Italian: Cuma) was the first ancient Greek colony on the mainland of Italy, founded by settlers from Euboea in the 8th century BC and soon becoming one of the strongest colonies.