CUMA'CEA. See Car STACE.A.
CII'211E (Lat., from Gk. Ki5m), Eyto. An ancient city on the coast of Campania. founded conjointly by colonists from Chaleis and Cymtc in Eubtea. According to Strabo, it was the earliest of all Greek settlements in either Italy or Sicily, and it is probable that it was founded before the middle of the eighth century B.C., about the same time as the first colonies in Sicily. It soon attained to wealth and power. built sev eral harbors or port towns of its own, including Diexarehia ( Pozznol i ) and Neapol is ( Na pies ) , and carried on an extensive trade with the in terior. From the Chalcidian alphabet of Cilium the Etruscan and Italian alphabets seem to have been derived. Its prosperity led to wars with OK Etruscans and other`Italian tribes, and in n.c. 524 a great land army was routed by the Cunucans. while in s.c. 474, when entitle was allied with Hiero of Syracuse, the sea•power of the Etruscans was broken in a naval battle near the city. The victory seems to have left Cumm dependent upon Syracuse, for its power now rapidly waned, and in n.c. 421 it was captured by the Samnites and became an Ocean community. In n.c. 334. along with Caplan, it passed under the control of the Romans, and from this period steadily adhered to the fortunes of Rome. In the Second Punic War Hannibal
tried to capture it. but was repulsed by Sem pronius Gracchus. Toward the close of the Re public it became the municipal capital of the district in which the Roman nobles had their villas and seacoast residences. It continued to exist as a 'quiet' place down to the close of the Roman Empire, but reassumed a momentary importance during the wars of Belisarius and Narses, Its strong fortress, garrisoned by the Goths, was the last place in Italy that held out against the Byzantine Army. The town was finally destroyed. as an abode of pirates, by the Neapolitans in A.D. 1205. Of the ancient forti fications considerable remains may still be traced, and both on the Acropolis and in the lower city there are fragments of architecture and scanty ruins. Underneath the Acropolis are a number of grottoes and subterranean passages of unknown origin and purpose. One of these caverns was the seat of the oracle of the Cnma.an Sibyl (q.v.). Consult Beloch, Campanien ins Al terthum (Breslau, 1890).