View source for Battle of Cumae

{{Short description|Battles between Cumae and the Etruscans (524 BC and 474 BC)}}

{{Infobox military conflict
| conflict          = Battle of Cumae
| partof            = 
| image             = Карта к статье «Киме». Военная энциклопедия Сытина (Санкт-Петербург, 1911-1915).jpg
| caption           = 
| date              = 524 BC (land battle)<br/>474 BC (naval battle)
| place             = Within the countryside surrounding Cumae (land battle)<br/>In the Bay of Naples (naval battle)
| territory         = Loss of Etruscan territory in Italy to the [[Roman people|Romans]], [[Samnites]], and [[Gaul]]s
| result            = Greek victory
| combatant1        = [[Syracuse, Sicily]] <BR>[[Cumae]]
| combatant2        = [[Etruscans]]<br/>[[Umbrians]]<br/>[[Daunians]]
| commander1        = [[Hiero I of Syracuse]]
| commander2        = [[Etruscans|Etruscan]] kings
| strength1         = 
| strength2         = 
| casualties1       = 
| casualties2       = |
}}

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.<ref>Dionysius of Halicarnassus: Roman Antiquities Book VII</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://periklisdeligiannis.wordpress.com/2014/06/04/the-battle-of-cumae-italy-524-bc/|title=The Battle of Cumae, Italy (524 BC)|date=4 June 2014|publisher=Delving into History ® _ periklis deligiannis }}</ref> 

* The naval battle in 474 BC was between the combined navies of [[Syracuse, Italy|Syracuse]] and [[Cumae]] against the [[Etruscans]].<ref name="Bonfante1986">{{cite book|author=Larissa Bonfante|author-link=Larissa Bonfante |title=Etruscan Life and Afterlife: A Handbook of Etruscan Studies|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4QaXZky58FIC&pg=PA75|year=1986|publisher=Wayne State University Press|isbn=0-8143-1813-4|pages=75–}}</ref>

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.<ref name= "Cumae">{{Cite web|url=http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/battles_cumae_474.html|title = Naval battle of Cumae, 474 BC}}</ref>

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]].<ref name="Brice2014">{{cite book|author=Lee L. Brice|title=Warfare in the Roman Republic: From the Etruscan Wars to the Battle of Actium: From the Etruscan Wars to the Battle of Actium|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7amSAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA277|date=21 April 2014|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=978-1-61069-299-1|pages=277–}}</ref> 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 [[Rome|Romans]], [[Samnites]], and [[Gaul]]s. 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 [[Athens|Athenian]] [[Sicilian Expedition|expedition]] against Syracuse in 415 BC, which contributed even further to their decline.{{citation needed|reason=these facts require attribution to a proper source.|date=February 2015}}

The battle was later honored in [[Pindar]]'s first Pythian Ode.<ref name="Cumae" /><ref>{{cite book|title=The Cambridge Ancient History|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Nqbz8Emo3PIC&pg=PA152|year=1923|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-23347-7|pages=152–}}</ref><ref name="TurnerChong-Gossard2010">{{cite book|author1=Andrew J. Turner|author2=K. O. Chong-Gossard|author3=Frederik Juliaan Vervaet|title=Private and Public Lies: The Discourse of Despotism and Deceit in the Graeco-Roman World|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vjC8ms0b1uAC&pg=PA55|year=2010|publisher=BRILL|isbn=978-90-04-18775-7|pages=55–}}</ref>

[[File:Cumae acropolis seen from lower city AvL.JPG|thumb|200px|right|Cumae acropolis seen from lower city]]

==References==
{{reflist}}
{{coord missing|Greece}}
{{Etruscans}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cumae}}
[[Category:470s BC conflicts]]
[[Category:Naval battles involving ancient Greece|Cumae]]
[[Category:Naval battles of the Etruscans|Cumae]]
[[Category:Naval battles involving ancient Syracuse|Cumae]]
[[Category:474 BC]]
[[Category:Cumae (ancient city)]]


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