Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography Volume I Part 1.djvu/735

 CUMAE. driren idIo eiilo. It ma during this pcrind that Tanjninius guperbns, the Piilol kiug of Hume, link refoKfi nt Cumae, where lie shortly after ended 1 ixys, D. c. ige. (Liv. ii. 21 ; DioDji. vi. 31.) Ar todemiu whs still ruler gF the dtj when the Rom republic sent in cmbasij to beg for ssppties of K Id time of n jrreat famine (b. c. 492), but the ahi whiih had bwn already loaded wili grmi, wi atited hj the tjisnt and coulincatad, as an alleged •qniialent for the propctty of Tsrqnin. (I.iv. ii. 'y Dionys. Tii. 2, 12.) A despotiim Bueh as that of Ariitodemue repreeeiitcd, and otertliroi ealablish meut, ccoild Dot Uh proaperilf or Cnmae, and rendi cope with the iTKna^ng power of the Etnueans. Uence, the next time her name is meiitioiiBl i" history, we find her inrnking the aid of Hieran, tl then powerful despot of Syiarute, against the con blued fleets of tie Tj-rrhcnijiis nnd the Carths ginuna, who had attacked her by sea, and threat- ened bm Ttry exietenoe. The victory of Hieran on that oecB^OD (b. c. 474) not only delivered Cnmae frmn immediate danger, but appeaia to hare ^<eu a ■enre blow to the niarilime power of the Etrnstans. (Diod. iL Bli Find. Pyth. L 136—146, and Schol. ad loe.) Nor do we hear of the latter any tiirthar molesting Cnmaa by land ; and that dty appean ban enjoyed an interrai of npoae, which, so &r aa m can jndge, wonld seem to hare been a period of coDsiderable prosperity ; bat a more formidable dango DOW thmteiMd it from the growing power of tbe Samnitei, who, in b. c. 4S3, made thmuelvei maaten of Capua, and ofdy three yean atterwardi, ■ftar defeating the Cnmaeani m the fi^ laid siege to thehr dty, and after repeated attacks encceeded in carrying it by assault. No mercy was shown by Uk ccatqaenn : the unfortunate city was giren up to pillage, many of its citizens put to the swwrl, and tlu TMtsolil into slaTery,axcept sach as were able to make tbeir maps to Neapolis: while their wivee and daoghlara were fbrced to cohabit with the Campanian 0(ioqtiercn,whoestabliBhedacokiny inthedty. (Lit. W. 44 ) Diod. liL 76 ; Strab. y. p. 243.) The date of this erent is given by Livy as B.C. 430; and the aichomhip of Aristion, to which it is aasigned by Diodonis, woold give the same date (b. c. 421 — 430), but the Boman consulship, to which the Utter idem it, ia that of B. c. 426 : the former dato is probably the true one. From this period Comae ceased to be a Greek dty, though still retaining many traces of Hellenic ntee and customs, which sobsuted down to the Aaguitan age : bnt a fatal blow had been given to ita prosperity, and it sank heocrforth into the con- ditioi of a SMOnd'rate Campanian town. Having •bared in tin geDSral defedioi of the Campiniana finm Bcme and in their anbaequent defeat, it was in B.C. 338 admitted to the Boman baoctiise, Ihoa^h ■t first withoat the right of mfiage (Ijv.viii. 14): at what time it ubCained the inil franchise we know BOt, hot it seans at a Uttr period to have not only enjoyed the fullest inunici[«l privileges, bnt to have been regarded by the liomans with especial hvonr, on account of ili onvarymg fidelity to the republic. (Liv. nuii. 31; Veil. Fat i. *; Cic. <fe leg. Agr. ii. 31, •rf.dU.i. 13.) In the Secokl Funic War Hannibal made an attempt upon the dty, bnt was repalsid from ita walls by Sempronius Gracchus, sod cAiliged to content hioaelf with laying waste its CUIIAE. 717 territory. (Urxiiii, 36,37, xiir. 13.) From this time we hear but little of Cuniae, but the drcnm- Btance Ibal. in b. <:. 180, llie citizens requested and obtained permission to use the Latin language in Chdr public documents, ihowa Ihe contmuully de- creeing influence of the Greek element in the city. (Liv. il, 42.) We may probably infer from the expressions of VelleiuB (i.4) that it continned faithful to the Itomani during the Social War. In the latter ages of llie Republic its nngliboarhood began to be frequented by the Roman nobles as a place of relirc' ment and Iniurr; but these established Ilieir villds rather at Baiae and Miscnum than at Cumae itself, the situation of whii h is far less beautiful or agree- able. Both these sites were, however, included in a municipal seme in the lerritory of Cnina(in Cue- manc), and hence we find Cicero applying the name of Cumanum to hia villa, which was in full view of Futeoli {Acad. ii. 25), and must therefore have been situated en Ihe Bay of Daiae, or at least nn the £. bide of ihe ridge nbich se^eiBles it from Cmnae. The same thing is probably true of Ihe villas of Calnlus, Pompeina, ud Varro, mentioned by him. (Cic. Acad. LI, iL'iS; ad Fan. ivj. 10^ ad AtU iv. 10.) At an earlier period Sulla retired to the neighbourhood oT Cuniae after his abdication, and spent the last years of his life there. (Apjuan, B. C. 104.) Tbe incnasing popularity of Bauo, Basil, and Misenum, imder the Bonian £m|Nre, though it most have added to the local impntance uf Cumae, which always continued to be the municipal captal of the aurrounding district (Orell. Inter. 2263), was nn- favonrable to the growth of the dty itself, which appiara to have dechned, and is spdren of by Juvenal as deserted (mcikm Cinna<,&it.iii. 2) m compaii»B with the fleutishing towns around it. Statins alss cilhi it the qniet Cumae {quitta Cifwie, Silv. iv. 3. 6S). But the expreasion of the satirist mnst cot be taken too strictly ; the great extent of Ihe andent walls, noticed by Velldus (i.4], would natnrally give it a deserted appearance ; bat we know that Cumae had received a colony fX veterans under Augustus, which apfcan to have been renewed by CJandius (LU. Colon, p. 232), and though Ptiny does not give it the name of a colcmy, it bears that title in several inscriptions of Imperial date (Orell. /nnr. 1857, 2263, 2533). We learn from various other BouTTes that it continned to exist down to the clwe of the Boman Empire (Plin. ill. S. s. 9 ; Plol. iiL 1 ; J Si Itia. AM. pp. 133, 133 ; Tab. PaU.), and iiring the wars of Belissiriua Bid Narace with the Goths, it re-appears as a |dBce i£ importance. At this time, however, the dty appean to have shrunk, so as to be confined to Ihe ancient diadel or an (still oiled the Rocea t& Cunut), an isolated and predpitooa rock, very difficult of tttxas, and which w Uiat acconnl was regarded as a vsiy atrong furtrees. It was chosen by the Gothic kings as the depository tf their regalia and other valn^lo, and was the last place ui Italy that held out against Naisee. (Procop. B. G. i. 14, iii. 6, iv. 34 ; Agalh. i. 8—11, 2a) This dtadel continued to exist till the 13lh century, when having beoome a etronghokl of robbers and bsjiditti, it was taken and destniyedi and the site has remaued desolate ever since. Under the Roman Empire Ciunae was noted for a mannfactuie of a particuiar kind of red earthenware. (Uart. liv. 114.) Its territOf? also produced ex- cellent flax, which was especially adapted for the nunufiKturB of nets. (Plin. xii. 1. s.2; Grat. Falisc Cyjitg. 35.) Of the fertility of the adjoining plain.