city state · Italy

Cumae

740 BCE – 421 BCE (approx.) · capital Cumae

The oldest Greek colony on the Italian mainland, home of the Sibyl, which passed the Greek alphabet to the Etruscans and Latins.

Origins

Euboean Greeks from Chalcis and Eretria founded Cumae around 740 BCE on the Campanian coast north of the Bay of Naples, having first settled the island of Pithekoussai (Ischia). The site, a steep acropolis above the sea, controlled the fertile Phlegraean Fields and gave access to Etruscan and native trade.

Rule and society

Cumae was an aristocratic city that became a major power in the Tyrrhenian world. Its version of the Greek alphabet was adopted by the Etruscans and, through them, by Rome. The cave of the Sibyl and the temple of Apollo made it a famous oracle. The tyrant Aristodemus defeated the Etruscans at Aricia around 504 BCE, and in 474 BCE Cumae and Hieron I of Syracuse destroyed an Etruscan fleet off the city. Cumae also founded Neapolis.

Decline and legacy

Around 421 BCE Samnite-speaking Campanians captured Cumae, and it became an Oscan town. It received Roman citizenship without the vote in 338 BCE, later became a Roman municipium and declined as nearby Puteoli grew. A Byzantine fortress in the 6th century CE, it was finally destroyed by Naples in 1207.

Connections (2)

  • Neapolis split from Cumae470 BCE
  • Cumae was conquered by Capua421 BCE

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Cite this page
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Cumae. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/cumae
MLA
“Cumae.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/cumae. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Cumae.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/cumae.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Cumae’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/cumae (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻