Battle of Cumae

Battle of Cumae
Date524 BC (land battle)
474 BC (naval battle)
Location
Within the countryside surrounding Cumae (land battle)
In the Bay of Naples (naval battle)
Result Greek victory
Territorial
changes		 Loss of Etruscan territory in Italy to the Romans, Samnites, and Gauls
Belligerents
Syracuse, Sicily
Cumae		 Etruscans
Umbrians
Daunians
Commanders and leaders
Hiero I of Syracuse Etruscan kings

The Battle of Cumae is the name given to at least two battles between Cumae and the Etruscans:

  • In 524 BC an invading army of Umbrians, Daunians, Etruscans, and others were defeated by the Greeks of Cumae.[1][2]

The Greek-colonised city of Cumae in southern Italy was founded in 8th century BC in an area towards the southern Etruscan border.

By 504 the southern Etruscans were defeated by the Cumaeans, but they still maintained a powerful force. In 474 they were able to raise a fleet to launch a direct attack on Cumae.[4]

In the naval battle, after he was called on for military assistance, Hiero I of Syracuse allied with naval forces from the maritime Greek cities of southern Italy to defend against Etruscan expansion into southern Italy. In 474, they met and defeated the Etruscan fleet at Cumae in the Bay of Naples.[5] After their defeat, the Etruscans lost much of their political influence in Italy. They lost control of the sea and their territories were eventually taken over by the Romans, Samnites, and Gauls. The Syracusans dedicated a captured Etruscan helmet at the great panhellenic sanctuary at Olympia, a piece of armour found in the German excavations there. The Etruscans would later join the failed Athenian expedition against Syracuse in 415 BC, which contributed even further to their decline.[citation needed]

The battle was later honored in Pindar's first Pythian Ode.[4][6][7]

Cumae acropolis seen from lower city
  1. ^ Dionysius of Halicarnassus: Roman Antiquities Book VII
  2. ^ "The Battle of Cumae, Italy (524 BC)". Delving into History ® _ periklis deligiannis. 4 June 2014.
  3. ^ Larissa Bonfante (1986). Etruscan Life and Afterlife: A Handbook of Etruscan Studies. Wayne State University Press. pp. 75–. ISBN 0-8143-1813-4.
  4. ^ a b "Naval battle of Cumae, 474 BC".
  5. ^ Lee L. Brice (21 April 2014). Warfare in the Roman Republic: From the Etruscan Wars to the Battle of Actium: From the Etruscan Wars to the Battle of Actium. ABC-CLIO. pp. 277–. ISBN 978-1-61069-299-1.
  6. ^ The Cambridge Ancient History. Cambridge University Press. 1923. pp. 152–. ISBN 978-0-521-23347-7.
  7. ^ Andrew J. Turner; K. O. Chong-Gossard; Frederik Juliaan Vervaet (2010). Private and Public Lies: The Discourse of Despotism and Deceit in the Graeco-Roman World. BRILL. pp. 55–. ISBN 978-90-04-18775-7.