Cumae was one of the earliest datable Greek colonies, established by Euboean Greeks who moved ashore from their nearby island holding of Pithecusae around 750 BC.
In 730/725 the trading station at Cumae achieved the status of a Greek colony and city, and became independent.
The city reached the height of its powers in the fifth century BC when the tyrant Aristodemus defeated the Etruscans, a people who had settled farther north on the Italic peninsula.
Cumae thrived, supplying the Etruscans with Corinthian painted pottery, Euboean bronze, and other wares.
In 524 BC, Cumae repulsed an attack launched by a coalition of Etruscans, Umbrian and Dauni. The invading army was motivated by greed, around by the city’s prosperity.
In 421 BC, the city fell to another Italian people, the Samnite, and later passed to the Romans.
Under the Roman Empire Cumae was noted for a manufacture of a particular kind of red earthenware. Its territory also produced excellent flax, which was especially adapted for the manufacturing of nets.
Ancient city of Cumae in Italy
